Ombre di Broadway

This is an interesting film as it starred George Raft as George Raft, reminiscing on the good old days of the 1920s when he was trying to become famous as a hoofer at a nightclub. Flashback to a time when Raft flailed around like a knock-off James Cagney amid a group of girls who look suspiciously more like 1940s pin-up girls than 1920s flappers. Broadway has plenty of action and a great cast, although it is relatively predictable and Raft's last line leaves us with a pressing, unanswered question.

See it for Raft in an unusual role. I caught a screening at Cinevent in 2012. Broadway is definitely entertaining and worth searching out.

Film star George Raft on a trip to New York takes a nostalgic visit to a nightclub where back in those wonderful days of Prohibition he was a hoofer in the same nightclub. On one night he almost got pinched for a murder.

In fact there were two murders that night. Gangster Broderick Crawford who supplied the booze to the club that was owned by S.Z. Sakall and Marjorie Rambeau bumps off a rival in the club. Crawford was also putting moves on Janet Blair who is Raft's dancing partner. So when homicide cop Pat O'Brien starts nosing around, Raft gets nicely set up for a fall guy.

Well we know it didn't stick because this film is all in flashback with Raft telling the tale to Arthur Shields. But justice is done all around in this film.

With three leads like George Raft, Pat O'Brien and Broderick Crawford, that in itself is reason enough to watch Broadway. But a whole host of familiar character players who really make Broadway something to highly recommend. Besides those mentioned when you have Marie Wilson, Iris Adrian, Anne Gwynne, Edward Brophy, Abner Biberman, Nestor Paiva, etc. etc. you know you are in for a treat.

It was nice to see Raft doing some dancing. He started out that way and his debut was in a New York based film Queen Of The Nightclubs where he was a featured player in a movie showcasing the fabulous Texas Guinan. Marjorie Rambeau's character is based on Guinan in fact. You can see Raft dance in such films as Bolero, Rumba and a very few others. Raft hanging around the nightclub scene and growing up in poverty in New York's Hells Kitchen he started rubbing shoulders with some really prominent criminals. So much so it saturated the man's whole screen image. But in this urban milieu there was no one who could touch Raft, including Warner Brothers gangster stable of stars. He really lived on the periphery of this life.

Broadway is a semi-autobiographical tale of George Raft's early days in show business. Highly recommended for his fans.

I first saw this movie in 1941 when I was 12 years old, I thought it was a great movie then. Later on it came out on the late show in 1965 and it was still a great movie especially since it featured some of my favorite actors: George Raft, Pat O^Brien, Broderick Crawford and of course the lovely Anne Gwynne. I wish I could find this movie on video but alas....it is not available.

With only a brushing acquaintance with the truth, "Broadway" offers a glimpse of the early speakeasy life of George Raft. Raft plays himself, a good idea as later attempts would prove no one else could ever portray him. It is a bowdlerized version of his time as a dancer employed in the nightclub of Texas Guinan - here renamed Lil. This George Raft is all about work, pines for only one woman, and never met a gangster he liked - so far from reality it has to provoke a smile. But its heart, and his, is in the right place.

The movie is completely worth seeking out for the all too brief George Raft style of dance. Too rare were the films that allowed him to exhibit that "fastest dancer in New York" technique. Raft was past 45 when he shot this and was recreating moves from his 20s, and that alone is impressive. The boy could still move! Raft's poker pal Pat O'Brien gets to play a wise cop again, and bombastic Broderick Crawford is a real scene-stealer as the bootlegging gang leader with a penchant for murder.

A major problem with the film is its complete neglect of setting. There is no attempt to create the styles of the late 1920s, which would have added so much atmosphere (and truth). It could have used a lot more grit as well.

"Broadway" is a semi-biopic/gangster movie in which the stars align and everything works. It has all the elements of a hit movie; good idea, good script, good cast, good music, good pacing. It is listed as a musical but the musical is almost incidental; the movie takes place backstage at a theater (which is also a speakeasy) and it contains a couple of old songs for the chorus girls to perform. George Raft tells the story in flashback, as he visits New York and reminisces about the old days, particularly about his gangster involvement.

I don't care for George Raft. He was a wooden actor and had an unattractive persona and appearance. But here I feel he did his best work, even creating a little sympathy for his character as well as showing his dancing feet - remember, he is a middle-aged guy playing a young guy. He was better here than in "Souls At Sea". The picture gets a big lift from Broderick Crawford as the heavy, and his acting here rivals his AA performance in "All The King's Men". Pat O'Brien plays a 'flatfoot'(no surprise) and comic relief comes in the form of SZ Sakall and Edward Brophy. Janet Blair and Anne Gwynne were very pretty in slight roles; too bad their careers weren't more prolific.

The picture moves at a good pace, and I really can't think of a drawback or a valid complaint. Thoroughly entertaining from start to finish, a quick 90 minutes. It was shown at Cinevent, Columbus,O. 5/12.