Made on Broadway

One thing politicians and public figures always need is a PR guy. They could have a squeaky clean image, but gaffes happen. An average PR guy can fix a gaffe, but it takes a super PR person to fix a genuinely flawed image.

Jeff Bidwell (Robert Montgomery) was a fixer. He charged top dollar to make corrupt politicians look good. One of his biggest challenges wouldn't be a politician at all but a regular woman he saved from drowning.

When Mona Martine (Sally Eilers) attempted suicide by jumping from a boat, Jeff dove in and saved her. Then he really saved her. He made her his own project. He would clean her up, educate and culture her, then release her upon the world.

"Made on Broadway" was a decent movie for a lazy weekend. The characters were just interesting enough as was the plot. The performances weren't powerful nor did the story have me at the edge of my seat. It had enough of my positive attention and that's a plus.

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Robert Montgomery is great in this comedy of manners. It should have been a screwball comedy, and if it had been released eighteen months later, it would have been, but there was no such genre at that time; even a year later, IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT was considered a screwball comedy instead of a romantic one.

But at this time, Screwball was BOUDU SAVED FROM DROWNING, and the Production Code hadn't closed down the sex comedy, which is what made the American screwball comedy. So this movie about how ace press agent Robert Montgomery saves Sally Eilers from committing suicide by jumping off the Staten Island Ferry, makes her the toast of the town and then orchestrates her defense after she shoots someone just misses.

Montgomery is perfect, exuding an air of genial, self-aware corruption, but everyone else seems to be taking matters far too seriously, even the old ladies he hires to pose as Eiler's sniveling aunts in the courtroom.

MGM's Harry Beaumont, their resident expert on making bricks without straw and stars without talent somehow fails... Eilers lacks the subtlety and range for her role, which weights down this work. Madge Evans is present and steady, but the entire movie lacks the sense of madness that infuses screwball. Ah well. Good try.

A lot of the ground and issues that were covered two decades later in Sweet Smell Of Success are covered also in this before The Code era film. Made On Broadway goes J.J. Hunsecker one better. Instead of just having a permanent table at the swankiest club in midtown Manhattan, Robert Montgomery as Jeff Bidwell owns his own club where New York's elite drink, gamble, and pay through the nose for the privilege. Montgomery has his eyes and ears everywhere as Broadway's number one press agent and has a genius for manipulating public opinion for a very steep price.

He's got a roving eye and wife Madge Evans left him for it. But one night on the ferry to New Jersey Montgomery jumps in the river and saves the life of a would be suicide Sally Eilers. At this point the film takes a Pygmalion like direction.

Eilers is one interesting character herself and the master manipulator gets himself used in some interesting ways. There's a key scene in the film when Eilers gets herself in a nice jackpot she let's down her hair with lawyer Joseph Cawthorn where you get a view of the real character. Takes Montgomery a bit longer to catch on.

If chronology did not label this a pre-Code film the plot would. There are a few things that Mr. Breen's book of rules would not have permitted after 1934.

Eugene Palette as Montgomery's valet is always good, but he's strangely subdued here. I always like to see more of Palette as he appears in My Man Godfrey.

Made On Broadway is a strangely forgotten film and should be better remembered. It definitely could be remade today.

This 1933 MGM comedy is a rarity. It was filmed before the Hays Code arrival, as Harry Beaumont, its director, shows a freedom that would be rare in movies about the same theme that were done after. "Made on Broadway" is a delicious comedy that as another comment points out, its heroine seems to have been a precursor for Roxie Hart, the heroine of the film of the same name that later served as the basis for "Chicago".

The strength of this film is Robert Montgomery. Mr. Montgomery was one of the best comedy actors working in the films of that era. He brought a lot to the role and runs away with the picture. As Jeff Biidwell, the actor makes a tremendous impression as the man about town whose wife can't put up with him. Jeff is dazzled by Mona, the girl he had rescued from a sure death when she jumps from the ferry that is bringing them to Manhattan.

Sally Eilers' Mona is a calculating woman who realizes the effect she has on men. Jeff enlists his ex-wife Claire, to guide Mona through the ropes in becoming a sophisticated woman who will make Jeff proud. Sally doesn't count with the effect she has on Ramon Salinas, her dance instructor, who wants more from her. The ensuing trial will give Sally an even higher status as she becomes front page news of all the newspapers.

Among the supporting cast we see the excellent Eugene Palette who plays Jeff's valet. The beautiful Madge Evans is perfect as Claire. Ivan Lebedeff plays Ramon Salinas, the dance instructor.

At 65 minutes running time, "Made on Broadway", packs a lot of action, something that would have required another hour if it had been done for today's audiences. Harry Beaumont had everything under control and got wonderful performances all around.

The fact that I cannot even remember the name of this picture which I watched yesterday is indicative of the impact this has. At 68 minutes it's just too shallow and superficial to engage with you. Watchable - yes, well made - yes but entertaining - not really.

This is a typical B-feature. It's something made just to fill the cinema screen whilst the audience were settling into their seats preparing for the main feature. Being MGM, it's got high quality production values but no great effort has gone into this to make it stand out. Maybe if it had been made by Warner Brothers, who specialised in short, high impact pictures, it might have had more punch - you can imagine James Cagney relishing a role like this.

As has already been commented, the story is similar to CHICAGO/ROXIE HART. That's true but because Sally Eilers' suicidal protagonist is so unpleasant, she's much more like Mae Busch in Laurel and Hardy's COME CLEAN (the one with the chocolate ice cream!) COME CLEAN is however a comedy - this isn't but neither is it a serious drama. You don't feel like you know the characters. You're told what they're doing but we don't really know why and how. Depth and evocative thought were not high on the tick list for most MGM supporting features, they were just an hour of attractive people playing out a simple story.