Broadway Rhythm

Just before Murphy and Simms go to see the Palm Reader, the man at the visual machine, with his back to us, when responding to Murphys comment looks quickly back. He looks life Paul Ford of the Music Man and You'll Never Get Rich (Bilko). He looks very young too. The color is fantastic and the opening number is first rate. It is great to see Nancy Walker in her youth. The dancers are superb and the music is great. Ginny Simms looks great coming out of Kay Keysers band. She was also with Abbott and Costello in a movie called "Hit the Ice." Her voice is great and the band compliments her voice. Lorne looks great but the Brazilian number was a little dull. They could have used her better in another dance scene.I give the movie a strong seven.

Of course some folks want everything in a musical, and there are very few musicals that offer everything. What this one has in profusion is brilliant color, the MGM Technicolor that infuses almost every frame and dazzles in a nice variety of musical numbers.

While the viewer is stuck with the singularly charmless George Murphy, he is surrounded with folks that offer everything from a strange, unforgettable contortionist act, the Ross Sisters in polka dots to a double dose of Lena Horne at her best, singing some Gershwin with her usual sophisticated aplomb.

Character actor Charles Winninger is at his best here, and turns on an authentic folksiness, even getting to do some vaudeville dancing with a knowledge born of past triumphs. One of the musical highlights, and good fun it is, is watching Winninger and orchestra leader Tommy Dorsey in a friendly trombone duet, instruments gleaming as gold as MGM could make it!

The plot really doesn't matter much, as it's the old saw "Hey Kids--Let's Put On A Show," but if you just want some dazzling escapism and can immerse yourself in some MGM musical cotten candy, this fills the bill.

What's not to like about this film of the early musical genre? Although it lacks any very big star names for the time, it's a fun and entertaining variety show put on film. I'll give something more on that genre later. There are a lot of acts with a lot of talent – all very good. As most musicals of its genre to that time, it doesn't have much of a plot. And, it apparently underwent considerable changes in the original plans and casting. The hit songs are repeats from 1943 or earlier. But, I decided to chance it for two reasons. First, all the usual musicals of the early genre were of the stage revue type. They usually were very entertaining, and they often had performers that one may not have seen before. Second, the film has Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra.

I will always try a movie that has any of the big name swing bands in it. I grew up with that music in the 1940s and 50s, before rock 'n roll; and the swing era had so many super talented musicians and bands that it showcased. Since it made the vocalists so popular, we've not had another time (other than classical or pops concerts) in which the music makers have been in the spotlight. And yet, swing era music lives on more than any other genre as background and theme music in movies.

So, the cast in this one is quite good and all the technical aspects of the show are fine. Tommy Dorsey has a decent role with some good lines beside his playing and leading his band. I think he's one of the better of the band leaders at acting too. Lena Horne has two dazzling numbers in "Brazilian Boogie Woogie," and "Somebody Loves Me." Ginny Simms sings three romantic songs: "Amour, Amour," "Irresistible You," and "All the Things You Are." Gloria DeHaven has a couple of nice songs and dances. Walter B. Long is one of those unknowns who only appeared in two films – but here he does some dazzling dancing. Another person I might not have heard play was Hazel Scott, an outstanding classical and jazz pianist, born in Trinidad. She really makes the piano sing and dance in this movie. A number of other people sing and dance their way through this film with lots of fun. Of course, that includes George Murphy in the lead as Broadway producer Johnny Demming, and his pop, Sam, played by old-hand actor and terrific performer Charles Winninger. One other act in this film was very interesting and entertaining – again something one would only see in a stage revue or show like this. The Ross sisters – Aggie, Elmira and Maggie, do a nice song and dance number – I think it's called "Potato Salad" that include some fantastic acrobatics on their part. They all three must have been triple-joined.

The popularity of this type of entertainment didn't wane for decades. But it took to new venues. In the 1950s, singing stars left the big bands that 'discovered' them, and began performing on their own. Some would develop their own bands. They toured the country giving concerts. They would usually include other performers and acts – to the give stars a break, if for no other reason. There were crooners like Bing Crosby and Dean Martin, jazz and blues singers like Louis Prima and Lena Horne, pop singers from the swing bands such as Frank Sinatra and Kay Francis, and rock and roll singers such as Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. Early television began to sponsor variety shows, and helped discover more talents – or propel them into the spotlight and fame, as it did Elvis Presley. Ed Sullivan was the king of the variety and review type show on TV for many years. The Ed Sullivan Show (aka, The Toast of the Town) ran for 23 years from 1948 to 1971. It was the longest running variety show broadcast in history. That was a new venue for the revue type of shows.

I enjoy all types of musicals, and think that the type of entertainment we see in films such as "Broadway Rhythm" just doesn't have a public venue in the 21st century. To see something like this film today, one would have to go to a concert and buy tickets that would cost in the range of $50 to $100 or more. But, here we have it on film, and can watch it in the uncrowded comfort of our homes. I highly recommend "Broadway Rhythm" just for the music and dancing entertainment alone.

Ginny Simms was at her best in acting and at the height of her beauty. The movie is worth watching just to see Ginny. Tommy Dorsey was great as usual, wish he had played more tunes. George Murphy, Ben Blue, Rochester, Lena Horne, Nancy Walker all helped make the movie very enjoyable.

I can hardly believe that Broadway Rhythm started out as Very Warm For May on Broadway, one of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein, II's flop musicals. A look at the biography of Jerome Kern by Gerald Bordman tells me that other than it being a backstage story, the plot of Very Warm For May and Broadway Rhythm is completely different. The character names have been changed and almost an entire new score was written for the film.

The one song retained from Kern's score is one of the best he ever wrote, All The Things You Are. It happens that way sometimes, a flop musical can yield a gem of a hit. Ginny Simms sings it beautifully.

Don Raye and Gene DePaul wrote the original songs, nothing terribly memorable. Some other material was interpolated among them my favorite George Gershwin song, Somebody Loves Me which guest star Lena Horne sings to perfection. Oddly enough the song Broadway Rhythm isn't heard here or may have wound up on the cutting room floor.

George Murphy plays a Broadway producer and son of an old time vaudeville performer Charles Winninger. Winninger thinks Murphy has gone too high hat and feels that sentimentality and schmaltz will always sell on Broadway. To prove it he and movie star Ginny Simms who Murphy is trying to get to star in a new show he's producing go out and invest their money and produce an old show that Murphy had discarded years ago.

Broadway Rhythm has a lot of good talent in the cast like Nancy Walker, Ben Blue, Hazel Scott, and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Sad that it was all wasted on a very trite backstage story.