Broadway Bill

Frank Capra, who gave us so many well known films, such as "It Happened One Night," "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," and "It's a Wonderful Life," also gave us the lesser known "Broadway Bill" in 1934.

The movie was remade later as "Riding High" with Bing Crosby, though it is not a favorite of Frank Capra.

The story concerns Dan Brooks (Warner Baxter), married to a wealthy woman and working for her father (Walter Connelly). Dan is miserable. He walks away from the job and his wife, who refuses to accompany him, to pursue his dream of working in the racing industry. He gets behind a horse named "Broadway Bill." Bill is super-fast, but even with everything stacked against the horse, Dan knows he can win.

Myrna Loy costars as Dan's sister-in-law, who believes in what he's doing and is secretly in love with him.

"Broadway Bill" is a sentimental film, with some satisfying moments. However, I have to admit I'm not crazy about the racing footage - I believe wire was used to trip the horses, which is disturbing.

Not Capra's best, but not bad either if you can stomach accidents with horses.

Broadway Bill (1934)

*** (out of 4)

Wonderfully charming film about Dan Brooks (Warner Baxter), a man who walks away from his wife's family business so that he can enter his horse, Broadway Bill, in the Derby where the hopes to become a winner. The only one who believes in Dan is his wife's sister (Myrna Loy) and the not-all-there Colonel Pettigrew (Raymond Walburn). This film followed IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT so that's probably the main reason this here isn't as well remembered but apparently not even the director himself liked it as he would never speak about it an only discussed it in his book when talking about its remake RIDING HIGH. With that said, I personally found the film to be quite charming due in large part to the wonderful cast with Baxter and Loy leading the way with some very strong supporting performances. Baxter gets to play the fast-talking, go getter and he's wonderful in the part. He brings to so much energy and good charm to the role that you can't help but want to see him succeed. Loy is at her very best as she has no problems getting smiles and making for a good love interest even though the film keeps their relationship rather watered-down considering you really couldn't have a married man wrapped up with his sister in law. The supporting cast features Walburn getting plenty of laughs playing a lovable moron, Walter Connolly, Douglas Dumbrille, Margaret Hamilton and Raymond Walburn. Clarence Muse plays the servant in the film but he nearly steals the film as he's given plenty of a very good scenes and works extremely well with the entire cast. I was a little surprised to see how the movie ends but it's quite touching as only Capra could do. This isn't one of the director's greatest films but it's a pleasant little "B" movie that has a terrific cast, some nice laughs and a winning story so recommending it is easy.

Extremely heart-warming depression era movie by director Frank Capra about a big-hearted race-horse who ran his heart out to the point that it burst leaving those who believed and loved him, in the audience as well as those in the movie, in tears: Broadway Bill.

Marrying into money Dan Brooks, Warren Baxter, just couldn't take being big business tycoon J.L Higgins' son-in-law anymore and left him as well as his wife Margaret, Helen Vinson, to go back to his life on the racetrack with his horse Broadway Bill and his horses groom Whitey, Clarence Muse. Dan got Broadway Bill into a number of low purse money races at the local Imperial Racetrack to get the horse, if he won them, into the big race at the track The Imperial Derby against Kentucky Derby favorite Gallant Lady.

With that wonderful Frank Capra spirit the movie is about the little man standing up to the powerful establishment and with both his hopes and dreams prevail against the establishments money and power in the end. Warren Baxter and Myrna Loy were both wonderful as Broadway Bill's owner trainer and Dan's sister-in-law Alice who, unlike her older sister Margaret, saw the good that Dan had inside of him. A goodness that was reflected on Dan's caring and feeling for the horse and for the people who, unlike Alice's father, had to live day by day with no hope for the future but for their next meal and a place with a roof over their heads to sleep overnight.

Everything was stacked against Broadway Bill in the movie but like the champ that he was he overcame all of them and ended the film with a heart-stopping as well as heart-breaking finish on the racetrack. Re-made 16 years later in 1950 with Bing Crosby in the movie "Riding High" which even has a number of scenes from the movie " Broadway Bill" inserted into it but the original is still by far the best of the two and the one to watch.

Noble and uplifting with Frank Capra using the betting at the racetrack to make a point about the conditions in the country at that time, 1934. With most of those betting on Broadway Bill being down on their luck and looking for the gallant and courageous equine to give them back the hopes and dreams that they lost because of the Great depression that hit America as well as the world after the stock market crashed on October 29, 1929. Tremendous final race sequence with a both heart-lifting as well as heart-breaking stretch run that will leave you totally speechless as well as reaching for your handkerchief.

Incredibly up-lifting ending that only Frank Capra could have dreamed up with Dan's hopes and dreams as well as Broadway Bill's courage and determination making even Dan's father-in-law the greedy and unfeeling J.L Higgins finally see the light in that being a kind and giving human being was worth more that all the wealth that he had."Broadway Bill" has everything going for it: a great story with great acting and directing and last but not least a great star Broadway Bill.

From 1934 to 1946, Frank Capra's movies are all well known and beloved...except this one. His golden age started the year before with It Happened One Night and would last through his second film after returning from his efforts to help document the Second World War, but this little horse racing comedic drama is all but forgotten. It's not at that high level of something like American Madness, but it's a perfectly fine little film about one man using his moxie to make his own way, something much more typically Capraesque than It Happened One Night, ironically enough.

The small town of Higginsville was established by the Higgins family, and the current patriarch J. L. (Walter Connolly) has four daughters. His eldest, Margaret (Helen Vinson) is married to Dan Brooks (Warner Baxter), a former owner of horses who came into town three years prior and charmed his way into her heart, but he's so caught up on making his own way through horses again, namely through his mount, the titular Broadway Bill, that he's ignoring the box factory J. L. put him in charge of, letting it falter, and getting into an argument that leads him to leave Higginsville with Bill and his helper Whitey (Clarence Muse), leaving behind Margaret's youngest sister, Alice (Myrna Loy) who had helped him with Bill's training.

The problem is that Dan wants to do this entirely on his own, so he does not bring any Higgins money with him, meaning he brings no money with him other than pocket change. With just that, he has to find a way to pay $550 in fees to get Bill into the big $25,000 race. He connects with an old friend, the Colonel (Raymond Walburn), just as penniless as himself, and they work to figure out how to con their way to the funds. It's a combination of amusing bits as the Colonel tries to trick people into the idea that he has secret knowledge then falling for it when the cry for it becomes loud enough (something very intelligently used since the same behavior affecting betting odds plays in the film's finale) along with serious efforts to keep Bill healthy especially in the face of an unexpected rainstorm. It's primarily a drama, but Capra would never do something single-mindedly dramatic, peppering in comedic bits through even his most serious films.

I suppose the one thing that is just too oddly built is the romance that develops between Dan and Alice. I mean, it's obvious from her introduction in a car with him at the beginning of the film that they have more in common than he has with his own wife, but we have to have this chaste little dance between them throughout the film, especially once she shows up near the track to hand over Bill's mascot, a rooster that he won't race without. It just feels like extra stuff that doesn't really feed into the central idea of Dan making his own way in the world. I suppose you could say that it does feed it because Dan had to marry Margaret to get into the family, Alice being too young when he showed up, except that's a trick of timing, not of Dan being forced into one marriage when he wanted another. Meh, I'm just saying that them being unmarried was enough. The fact that Dan is already married feels like an unnecessary barrier, though he needs to be married to be that head of the box factory. Eh, I'm putting too much thought into this. I don't think it quite works, but that's not to say that their interactions are bad. Loy and Baxter have good chemistry (even if he looks like he could be her father), and the attraction makes sense since she's young, pretty, and loves his horse, and he's got an independent streak that none of the men around her share.

Challenges are mounted and overcome, and we get our big race. It's an exciting bit of filmmaking that has quite an unexpected ending providing a surprisingly somber tone to the film's finale, though Capra would never let an audience go out on a sour note, providing one final bit of happiness and joy when J. L. learns his lesson about what's important (Capraesque spoiler: it's not acquiring wealth and new businesses).

Is it a great film? Not at all. The business around getting the money to enter the race feels over busy while the romance with Alice is needlessly complex. However, the central story of one man finding his own way in the world and inspiring those around him is pure Capra and works fairly well with a fun little stinger to let the audience out of the theater on. It's not quite "Nobody's perfect", but it's pretty good. Broadway Bill is all but forgotten, but it's emblematic of the kind of good fare that Capra had been learning to churn out with regularity for about a decade.

My main reason for seeing 'Broadway Bill', what the film is called in my country, was Frank Capra, who was responsible for many great films ('It's a Wonderful Life' is an all-time favourite for instance and 'It Happened One Night' and 'Mr Smith Goes to Washington' are also classics). He was one of the kings when it came to the feel good, sentimental films and his style was easy to recognise. The cast is also a talented one, the most familiar name to me being Myrna Loy.

'Broadway Bill', 'Strictly Confidential' is another title the film is known under, is not one of Capra's best and falls short of being a classic. Did find myself thoroughly enjoying it with that being said, with there being a lot to admire, and it is easy to see why Capra's films connect with many from seeing 'Broadway Bill'. Even if other films of his do that even better. Not one of my favourite films centered around horse racing, but more than worthy all the same.

There is very little wrong here with 'Broadway Bill'. The very ending is a bit on the too neat side, though admittedly very postively uplifting in the lead up to it.

It was not easy at first to like Dan and took a while to warm to him, with the character having a lot to him to make one hate him outright. Luckily, this didn't stay for the whole film.

Conversely, 'Broadway Bill' is well made visually. Especially in some very beautifully framed shots and some quite thrilling editing in the climax. Capra takes things seriously while not being too heavy, and he avoids making the film get corny or sickly sweet while maintaining the feel good factor present in many of his films. There is a nice whimsy in the scoring, while the script brings a smile to the face with some charming humour and a big heart.

Found the story, while not always surprising, very heart-warming and easy to be uplifted by. Also got a good deal of emotion out of it, especially in the beautifully staged climax. A climax that was exciting and tear-inducing where one really roots for the right outcome. While it took me time to warm to Dan, Warner Baxter infuses a lot of enthusiasm and energetic charisma when he gets into the role. Loy is alluring and very charming and amusing Clarence Muse and particularly the joy that is Raymond Walburn are great fun. Broadway Bill himself is adorable and easy to root for.

Summing up, very well done. 8/10