Drei Frauen erobern New York

Two Tickets to Broadway was to be Howard Hughes's answer to MGM type musicals and in fact he engaged the two leads from MGM, Tony Martin and Janet Leigh. The usual criticism was voiced with Martin being 15 years older than Leigh, but in this case it works because part of the plot is fresh faced Ms. Leigh avoiding being taken in by older Broadway sharpies.

No memorable songs were written by composers Jule Styne and Leo Robin for this film and that's a pity because if a hit had come out of it, the film would be better remembered. Martin, I'm sure realized no hits were coming out of this and he probably had two of his own songs put in there. He had hit records around this time of the Prologue from Pagliacci and There's No Tomorrow (O Sole Mio). He performs them well.

I would love to know if Janet Leigh was dubbed and by who. I don't believe she ever sang in any other film. For that reason I suspect a dubbing if for no other reason that she wouldn't want to be going up against a singer with as powerful a voice as Tony Martin.

Ironic that two of the players in this Ann Miller and Janet Leigh died this year. Nobody had to worry about dubbing Ann Miller in any department. She performs her big number, Let the Worry Bird Worry for You in classic style.

Bob Crosby who by that time was known as the afternoon Crosby because his radio and later TV show came on in the afternoon unlike his legendary brother. Being the Bing Crosby fan that I am, I have a soft spot in my heart for his Let's Make Comparison where he's comparing himself to brother Bing. Bob led a pretty good jazz band at that time and had a modest career in B films.

Eddie Bracken who was so good in his Paramount films was cloying and annoying in this one. His machinations trying to get his clients on the Bob Crosby show were downright stupid here and not terribly funny.

The ending though was an unintentional hoot. Janet Leigh comes from Pelican Falls, Vermont and early in the film she's given a send off by the high school band performing their alma mater song. I thought the ending with the high school band, interrupting Bob Crosby's broadcast to reprise their high school song was ridiculous. Was that Howard Hughes's idea? Well he didn't do as much damage here as he did on The Outlaw.

The film had a lot of potential and it could have been done better even at RKO, but I suspect Howard Hughes meddled a bit too much here.

Designed partially as a showcase for RKO owner Howard Hughes girlfriend, Janet Leigh. Hughes could afford to import quite a lot of first rate talent in the effort, mostly from best in the musical business MGM. Current or former MGM talent included Leigh, Ann Miller, Gloria DeHaven, and Tony Martin, along with musical number director Busby Berkeley. Leigh proved herself competent as a singer and dancer, and is certainly pleasant in personality and a pleasure to look at.

In the musical numbers featuring the four "girls", Gloria DeHaven is the standout (sorry Ann Miller fans). DeHaven sings superbly, handles the dancing with aplomb, has just the right mix of charisma, humor, sincerity, and takes a back seat to no one in the beauty department.

I thought the musical numbers well staged and mostly very pleasant (exception the very banal Pellican Falls school song). The comedy of Smith and Dale, I could live without, if you'll excuse the expression. And Eddie Bracken is too frenetic and broad in his comedy for my taste.

Though none of the songs became a standard, a couple are excellent; I especially enjoyed "The Worry Bird", and "The Closer You Are" has a gorgeous melody.

All in all, the film is the equal of many of the lower budget MGM musicals, and that ain't bad at all.

I was getting ready for work this morning, but almost didn't come in thanks to this movie being on TCM. This was a totally silly, frothy, fun movie to watch, and was reminiscent of "Bye Bye Birdie" (at least in the opening) and a thousand other movies that involve a small-town girl moving to the Big Apple to pursue her dreams of being a Broadway star.

Tony Martin was a revelation to me; I don't think I'd ever heard of him or heard his singing, but I thoroughly enjoyed his performances, solo and with "his girlfriends". Janet Leigh was a solid choice for the ingenue. Bob Crosby looked and sounded like a slightly more famous man with the same last name, and even did a song poking fun at that.

:LIke I said in the title, you'll never mistake this movie for "Citizen Kane", but it's a funny take on the girl-makes-good genre.

The initial commenter wondered if Janet Leigh was dubbed in this film since he couldn't remember her singing in any of her other pictures. Well, she did sing in other films, most notably in "Bye Bye Birdie", and "My Sister Eileen", and while she was not known as an accomplished singer or dancer, she managed to give fairly good performances in both films and to demonstrate a competent ability in numerous guest appearances on variety television programs of the '50's and the '60's. I hope this will help to answer your questions. You might also look at her work in "Rogue Cop", where she plays a singer, and "Walking my Baby Back Home", a musical she made with Donald O'Connor, as well as "Fearless Fagan" where again, she is a singer/entertainer. She speaks at length about her musical experiences in her autobiography, "There really was a Hollywood", and gives a great accounting of her early career.

First of all, to those upset about the Indian number - get a life. This was '51. Don't take it so seriously - and keep away from pictures with Mantan Moreland, etc.

Then there are the criticisms about Tony Martin. He has the dark look, so some people automatically assume he should portray gangsters. Prejudice, prejudice against dark-haired people. Tsk.

Martin sang grand opera in this movie, pop songs, novelties and did beautifully with all of them. Not all of the music was memorable, but even the songs that might be described as mediocre were beautifully presented. The girls were attractive and personable. Miss Leigh was a doll and, yes, she did her own singing and dancing.

No one can knock Ann Miller. What a great talent. Speaking of talent, The Charlivels were outstanding as a high wire act, and as dancers.

Interesting casting was Max Baer's bro, Buddy, also a boxer, as a tough swabbie.

The Bob Crosby number, where he compares himself with brother Bing was very well done - real life situation. The one thing I missed - I wish his band had played some of its trademark Dixieland. OOoops - is that word offensive to northern ears? The plot was ancient but, who cares. Howard Hughes put this together and came up with a fun, pleasant movies.