Strettamente confidenziale

Warner baxter and the amazing myrna loy. The picture quality is pretty washed out in some parts, but this film is so old, i don't see a restoration anytime soon! When dan leaves the family business, he puts everything on his horse broadway bill. But the horse is so nervous, he won't stay in the chute. Margaret is dan's wife, but her sister alice seems to care about him more. Trials and tribulations. Can they ever get the horse ready to race? Will they ever get out of debt? It's pretty good. Some familiar character actors here also. Funny guy walter connolly, douglas dumbrille. Also frank darro and charles lane. Many of these actors were in the remake "riding high" in 1950. And of course, margaret hamilton, five years before wizard of oz! Myrna loy was pretty busy this year.. this film came out the same year as manhattan melodrama and the first "thin man"! Directed by frank capra. Capra, loy, and baxter had all started in the silent films.

Once upon a time, horse racing was considered the sport of kings. In the first half of the 20th century, it was the most popular sport in America - believe it or not. Baseball may have been America's favorite pastime then, but more people followed the horses than any other sport.

Of course, well into the second half of the 20th century, horse racing had come to lose its moniker as a sport. And, the public's interests had then grown to include more organized and competitive sports such as football, soccer, basketball, tennis and golf. Horse racing in America has itself continued to decline in all aspects - the numbers of tracks, horse farms and animals, trainers and followers.

But, with that background, one can understand why a considerable number of movies were made about horse racing during Hollywood's Golden Era. The plots of many were built around the race track or the horses, while others had days at the races. Some were crime and mystery films, some were comedies and romances, others were dramas. "Broadway Bill" is a combination drama, comedy and romance.

Many of these dramas had similar plots. This is a fairly good story with a top cast of the period. Warner Baxter is Dan Brooks and Myrna Loy is Alice Higgins. Behind those leads are some top supporting actors of the day. Walter Connolly is J.L. Higgins, Alice's father. Raymond Walburn plays Col. Pettigrew and Douglas Dumbrille is Eddie Morgan.

Brooks is one of three men married to daughters of J.L., each of whom has been installed as president of one of the self-made millionaire's companies. All seem happy with their lot, and Dan did for a while because he loved his wife, Helen Vinton plays Margaret, who basks in the comfort of her hierarchically demanding father, J.L., played by Connolly. But, Dan's yen for race horses begins to sway his heart away from giving his all to the box company he has headed since marrying Helen.

Myrna Loy is the youngest, as yet unmarried of the Higgins daughters. While J.L. has one last company presidency to install on whomever Alice marries, she has her heart set more on Dan. There's no hanky panky going on here, but she shares Dan's enthusiasm for racing and his prize colt, Broadway Bill. Dan hopes to start racing his horse, and is aiming for the big derby. When he finally leaves his job and the family to put everything into racing his horse, wife Margaret doesn't go after him. Her thinking is that he will either come back to her or they are through. So, it's not hard to imagine how the film ends.

Columbia Pictures had been a Poverty Row studio in the 1920s, and was a second-tier studio by the early 1930s. But director and writer Frank Capra's work for Harry Cohn was gaining the studio wide recognition. After a 1933 Oscar nomination for "Lady for a Day," Cohn and Capra made "It Happened One Night" in February 1934. It would win the studio its first Academy Awards, and be the first movie to win the top four Oscars - for best picture, director, actor and actress. But after that, and before the next major story that Capra would work on ("Mr. Deeds Goes to Town"), he made "Broadway Bill" for Columbia.

A number of things about this production show that Columbia (and Capra, perhaps?) were still in that second tier of studios. The opening scene of "Broadway Bill" is an example. Dan Brooks is driving alongside a racing horse. It had to seem phony even way back then - it was a stage setting with a stationary car filmed with a video of a horse running behind - to the side of the car. The film shows some other deficiencies as well. Its scenes are choppy in places, and some seem to have poor direction or editing. And the screenplay itself is weak. There are some scenes when one waits for Baxter to say his next line, while he stands there tearing hay apart in his hands.

Capra himself didn't think too much of this film in later years. He wanted to remake it, which he did in 1950 as "Riding High." While the plot stayed the same, it was a musical comedy with Bing Crosby in the lead.

This isn't a rollicking comedy, but it is a somewhat interesting, if jumbled story. Those who enjoy old films may like this one. Others might find it too slow or boring. Here are some favorite lines.

Col. Pettigrew, played by Raymond Walburn, "Milked by my own chicanery."

Oscar 'Happy' McGuire, played by Lynne Overman, "First time I ever saw a guy sucked in by his own gag."

Col. Pettigrew, "Well, I guess I'm just a child of impulse."

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

Dan Brooks is tired of his dull life as the manager of a paper box manufacturing company, given to by his father in law, J.L. Higgins, a man obsessed with acquiring as many businesses and properties as he can. The only thing Dan seems to enjoy is racing his horse, Broadway Bill. When Higgins forces Dan to choose between his work or the horse, Dan continues the movie by choosing the latter, which causes his wife, Margaret, to stay behind and be disowned by the family. Dan, along with his stablehand Whitey, plans to race Broadway Bill in the $25,000 sweepstakes (and show Higgins that he wasn't wasting his time working on Broadway Bill), but needs to come across $500 for the entry fee. Dan, Whitey, Margaret's sister Alice (who really has a crush on Dan) and one of Dan's old friend's from his racetrack days, Col. Pettigrew, come up with every trick they know to get the money, while still dealing with a gambling syndicate trying to clean up on a rival horse by driving up the odds, Broadway Bill suffering from a cold, and Dan locked up for failing to pay the stable & feed bill. Very good film, but lacks the magic Capra had with his other films (It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, etc.) Baxter is good as Dan, but just doesn't seem right for the hopeful characteristics needed. Loy is a delight as Alice/Princess, Connelly repeats the same role he played in It Happened One Night, & Muse, Walburn, & Overman lend fine support as Whitey, the Colonel, and Happy respectively. Good script, using nice humorous touches, and a touching ending. Rating, 8.

In his memoirs Frank Capra gave very short shrift to Broadway Bill. In fact he only mentions it when he starts to talk about the remake of this film Riding High. The remake was in 1950 and Broadway Bill was done immediately after It Happened One Night.

In just a couple of paragraphs he mentions that he did a film called Broadway Bill sandwiched between It Happened One Night and Mr. Deeds Goes To Town. He was dissatisfied with it because the leading man, Warner Baxter, was afraid of horses and it showed. Capra then said he resolved to do the film over again with an actor who loved horses. Of course he got Bing Crosby and second to golf Crosby did love horses and horse racing. It was a perfect fit.

I didn't notice anything too terribly wrong with Baxter's performance away from the horse playing the title role. Baxter's a footloose sort of guy who's married to the daughter of millionaire Walter Connolly, Helen Vinson. Baxter's heart is at the racetrack, he loves the life and the people there. Vinson's younger sister Myrna Loy understands him though and it does take Baxter a while to figure out he married the wrong sister.

Frank Capra filled out his cast with many of the regulars who appeared in his more well known classics and they all look like they were born and bred at the racetrack. In this and in Riding High, my favorite is Raymond Walburn, the larcenous and lovable old 'Colonel' Pettigrew ready to make the ultimate sacrifice and marry 'Vinegar Puss' Margaret Hamilton.

Broadway Bill is not up there with Capra's more populistic films nor is it as good as Riding High, but it still is a wonderful heartwarming story of a horse who showed us in the higher species, the meaning of courage and heart.