Bloodhounds of Broadway

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Love, laugh and a tragic comedy from the Broadway of the 1920s. Based on novells by Damon Runyon director Howard Brookner (who died of AIDS) in his first and last movie "Bloodhounds" shows the world of gangsters, go-go girls and other bastards. Madonna, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Grey, Esai Morales , Steve Buscemi are all very good, but Randy Quaid takes the palm. Gotta see it!

This film is "narrated" as a New York City reporter's memories of New Year's Eve 1928, called "The last big blowout of the Jazz Age," on Broadway. There are murders, crap games, and other assorted mayhem. It begins at Mindy's "infamous" restaurant. That's where, as you may (or may not) recall, Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando contemplated the sales of cheesecake and strudel. Like Mr. Sinatra, these folks say "beautiful" in all four syllables. They get the lingo, but it never really seems like genuine Damon Runyon. And, the film has good trappings, but fails to catch anything resembling a good story.

**** Bloodhounds of Broadway (5/15/89) Howard Brookner ~ Matt Dillon, Jennifer Grey, Madonna, Randy Quaid

Hmmm, unreleased, huh. This film might be the At Long Last Love of gangster musicals. From a Guys and Dolls perspective, BLOODHOUNDS is a funny and quite lavish Damon Runyan inspired semi musical with an astonishing cast. It was not released in cinemas in Australia and it really should have been. There is nothing at all preventing this film from doing good business if it has been promoted to be exactly what it is: an all star gangster musical with a huge and famous cast. I saw it on tape promoted as "Found! The lost Madonna movie" which is an outrageous deceit, given the many other more interesting actors, all gussied up and frantically rushing about from one nightclub to the other in snowy city streets. Madonna's great duet with Jennifer Grey, fresh from Dirty Dancing would alone have been enough to propel this funny pretty pic into any number of luxury cinemas (we still had them in the 80s). But, no, it wasn't to be and this easy to love 30s farce is still rather lost. What a waste! Lets see if a DVD release (with possibly fascinating interviews and extras) sees BLOODHOUNDS OF Broadway deservedly find its delighted audience. Apparently it opened in ONE New York cinema in 1989 with a reel missing. It was reviewed that way and unknowingly played like that for several weeks. Thus damaging its survival and any further plans.

"Bloodhounds of Broadway", which is set in 1928 New York, is actually a film ahead of its own time (1989) in some aspects; with its interlocking stories of tough guys, beautiful dames, underworld figures, bars, gambling, all taking place in a dark megacity, it reminded me of an early "Sin City"! But the filmmakers have put a lot more care in getting the "look" of the film right than in engaging us in the stories and the characters, some of whom are even difficult to keep straight in the first half. The all-star cast is not used to its full potential, although Madonna looks great with a dark bob haircut and has a brief and PG-rated but still hot "strip" number. ** out of 4.