Broadway Melody of 1936

The songs in this film are classics. "Dream of You", "Lucky Star" are just two of the best every written. The choreography is what you learn to expect from the likes of Eleanor Powell, Buddy Ebsen and Nick Lang. And you get a rare chance to glimpse the talents of Vilma Ebsen, Buddy's sister. (One of the few negatives of the film is Vilma's lack of acting ability. But this is a very small distraction.)

Robert Taylor is his silky smooth self. Normally easy to dislike in other films, his character (the producer) comes off as likable and honest.

If you are an Una Merkel fan, as I am, she would be reason enough to spend the time watching this picture. She is her adorable self, as Taylor's secretary.

Powell shows up as an ex girl friend from Albany, with stars in her eyes, looking for a break in show business, only to be turned away by Taylor, who honestly believes Broadway is no place for this innocent. Eleanor has a tough time emoting with the veteran actors here, and her shallow acting talent can be a little grating at times. But her dancing and off beat beauty far over ride any real distractions.

Jack Benny has a chance to display an edgier side; one which we are not used to seeing from him, and it both surprising and gratifying to see how well he carried it off.

This is one of those films you can dust off and watch any time you're feeling the need for a shot of simpler, easier times.

When critics talk about the Thirties being the era of escapist entertainment, believe me they have Broadway Melody of 1936 in mind.

For people like my parents growing up in the midst of The Depression this world where everyone wore tuxedos and danced away at rooftop parties in between Broadway shows can only be described as escapist.

The nice thing about escapist films is that the plot really doesn't have to make sense. You couldn't have a Broadway producer as young as Robert Taylor, he was 25 when this came out. And certainly a talent like Eleanor Powell would certainly have been discovered long before Taylor rediscovers his old grade school chum from Albany.

The plot such as it is involves producer Taylor and Walter Winchell like columnist Jack Benny engaging in a feud. During the course of things Benny creates a fictitious French stage star who is visiting New York. Later Taylor "discovers" Eleanor Powell masquerading as the fictitious Mademoiselle Arlette and signs her for his show.

Taylor and Benny are fine and Jack Benny gives a good performance in a character that is free of the usual Jack Benny clichés he so carefully created for his radio persona. But the film really belongs to Eleanor Powell. You look at her dance and then you look at Ruby Keeler over at Warner Brothers and there just ain't a contest. Powell was primarily a dancer, but she had good comic timing, could put over a song, and even act decently.

You will also like June Knight as the rich girl Taylor is courting for financial backing of his show. And Sid Silvers as Benny's sidekick is pretty funny especially in drag and with his scenes with Una Merkel.

A musical that does just what you expect, really. Decent songs, a sarcastic comedy foil (Jack Benny), a romantic couple (Robert Taylor and Eleanor Powell), a couple of talented friends (Buddy and Vilma Ebsen), and a wafer-thin plot which includes female impersonation, silly accents, and a daydream musical sequence.

The 'Broadway Melody' series didn't really tax its viewers with complicated plot lines, but certainly delivered in big spectacle numbers, decent casting of both singers and dancers, and mushy happy endings. Just what America needed during the Depression, and something which has stayed as standard, with slight variation, ever since.

The plot of Broadway MELODY OF 1936 is a classic of its kind. Bob Gordon (popular matinée idol Robert Taylor) is producing a Broadway musical--but he runs afoul of actress and financial backer Lilly Brent (June Knight), who sees herself not only as the star of the show but Bob's ladylove as well. When their "romance" is played up by gossip columnist Bert Keeler (Jack Benny) fireworks ensue, and matters are further complicated by the arrival of Bob's old flame Irene Foster (Eleanor Powell) who has come to make her fortune as a dancer on the Great White Way.

The twists and turns of the story are fairly obvious and the outcome is a foregone conclusion--like many Hollywood musicals of the mid-1930s the story really exists as an excuse for comic turns and musical numbers--but the film has a great deal of charm and catches a host of performers moving up to stardom. The big news here is Eleanor Powell and Jack Benny, both fairly new to film and both somewhat stiff in front of the camera... but whatever their faults in this film there's no denying that Powell clearly poised to become a great musical star or that Benny is a comic genius in the making.

Powell, Taylor, and Benny are backed by a truly solid host of character actors and cameo performers, most notably Sid Silvers, Una Merkle, Frances Langford, and Harry Stockwell. But most film buffs will be particularly interested in the brother-sister team of Buddy and Vilma Ebsen, a popular vaudeville act; Vilma would soon retire, but Buddy's scruffy look, dunderheaded comedy, and hilariously eccentric dance style would propel him to a series of popular musicals and a very long career indeed. The musical numbers--which include such perennials as "Broadway Melody," "You are My Lucky Star," and "Gotta Feeling You're Fooling"--are all lots of fun to hear and see as well.

When all is said and done, Broadway MELODY OF 1936 is hardly a "classic musical;" it is too disjointed, too cliché in plot and character to measure up to the truly great musicals of the era. But it is quite a bit of fun, and hardcore 1930s musical fans should enjoy it quite a bit.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Why would anybody spend two hours watching a 77 year old movie? The short answer is "because it's a lot of fun." But there are other reasons. It is an interesting relic of the dirty thirties when 25 cents bought you a two hour escape from depression, dust, despair and dire news from Europe. Hollywood catered to this need with wildly happy, unrealistic schmaltz about glamorous people in fancy clothes dancing and singing at posh cabarets in exotic places. And it was great! Just as wars give us great songs, the depression gave us fabulous movies. To a student of either film or history, films such as this are a hugely interesting window on the era. Such films are also revealing lessons in production: staging, choreography, special effects and lighting. Remember this was before digital technology and less than ten years after the arrival of sound. And the lighting! Immaculate highlights and shadows, razor sharp detail. (Thanks to Turner Classic for presenting top quality prints of these old films. I doubt if the theatre audiences of 1935 saw it as well as I did at home on my plasma TV.) Thankfully the trend to colourize these old films was thwarted. The beautiful B&W photography only adds to the fascination. It made for a memorable evening!