Accadde a Brooklyn

Musicals, especially from MGM and the "classic era", were a large part of my childhood and an even larger part of my lifelong fondness for them. Even if the stories for a lot of them weren't so great, the performances, chemistry, production values, music and choreography more than compensated.

'It Happened in Brooklyn' may not be one of the all-time greats, but the talent it promised was immense and that talent was more than lived up to. More could have been done with the ending. It could have done with being much more rounded off and less unsatisfyingly abrupt.

Another flaw is that 'It Happened in Brooklyn' (am not sure whether this is going to be a popular opinion) also did very little to cure my general indifference to Peter Lawford, not even giving him a swing number, who again brings little charm and personality and his trademark stuffy, pompous character is annoying. The role also displayed his limited acting, awkward dancing and his inability to sing a note in tune.

However, the production values are very pleasing to look at and beautifully shot, the lack of Technicolor didn't bother me at all. The music is wonderful and beautifully and entertainingly choreographed, the highlights being the timeless and ageless "Time After Time" and the show-stopping and enormously enjoyable "The Song's Gotta Come from the Heart" between Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Durante. In terms of the operatic excerpts, "La Ci Darem La Mano" from Mozart's 'Don Giovanni' also comes off well, with Sinatra sounding remarkably lovely in operatic music and "The Bell Song" from Delibes' 'Lakme' is enchantingly sung by Kathryn Grayson and for a long aria doesn't stop the film dead.

While at times fluffy, the script is also very witty and so much fun and endearing that it is very difficult to fall for its charm. For a "classic era" MGM musical too, the story is actually pretty good, somewhat silly but it is more eventful, better paced and easier to remember than most. The direction does nothing to undermine the visuals or the impact of the songs.

The performances, with the exception of Lawford, are very good indeed. Sinatra is immensely likable in the lead, and Durante is a hoot, managing to still be hilarious even when slightly subdued. Grayson is spunky and charming, with the voice of a nightingale. Gloria Grahame also shows up and does a lovely job in a role that is somewhat underused.

On the whole, brings so much joy as long as not too much is demanded. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Before they became members of The Rat Pack, Frank Sinatra and Peter Lawford were both M-G-M contract players taking any picture offered them. So it was that one of their early teamings was in the studio's black-and-white musical entry, It Happened in Brooklyn. The other stars are Kathryn Grayson and the ever scene-stealing Jimmy Durante. The thin plots concern show biz aspirants in a romantic triangle helping an aspiring piano prodigy one age-17-shy of the requirement for a scholarship. That's pretty much it in a nutshell but despite that the acting performances, which includes another player from my favorite movie It's a Wonderful Life-Gloria Grahame-who plays an army nurse from Frankie's New York State hometown, are passably witty especially Durante who's hilarious whenever he starts talking in a falsetto. Among the nice original songs written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne was one called "Time After Time" which was nicely song by Sinatra and Grayson in separate segments. Grayson also has a beautiful fantasy sequence from the opera "Lakme" and Lawford warbles an entertaining swing number in front of a bunch of teenagers. Sinatra and Grayson also share an Italian opera number. The highlight, however, was Durante and Sinatra's duet on "The Song's Gotta Come From the Heart" with The Voice during his Schnozzola impression at the end. While the movie seemed a little longish at 103 minutes, I quite enjoyed It Happened in Brooklyn and the way things ended up. P.S. The "Time After Time" song here is definitely not the same as the one later sung by Cyndi Lauper in the '80s!

It occurs in the cafe scene in "It Happened in Brooklyn." Sinatra joins Katherine Grayson in the famed duet, "La ci darem la mano" from Mozart's "Don Giovanni." What a novelty--and the two don't do too badly together, though the presentation is somewhat in a buffo style.

It points up the fact that Sinatra was born to be a singer; indeed, if he'd been endowned with an operatic vocal instrument, he probably would have been an opera singer. In fact, when he was coming out of his Palm Springs "retirement" to return to the stage, he reportedly got Met Opera baritone Robert Merrill to coach him. And in his latter days, became quite of fan and friend of Pavarotti and the "other two tenors." He also recorded Brahm's "Lullaby," (which he featured in "Anchors Aweigh") and an impressive "Soliloquy" from "Carosel."

There's just no doubt about it: the man loved to sing. In his second major musical for MGM, "It Happened in Brooklyn" Sinatra solos in some marvelous songs by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, including "Time After Time," "It's the Same Old Dream," and "The Brooklyn Bridge," while Grayson reprises the first and is featured in the complete "Bell Song" from Delibes' opera, "Lakme." Grayson is also featured in an novel arrangement based on Bach's "Two-Part Invention in F Major," featuring a children's choir and strings. Other delights are "I Believe" and "It's Gotta Come from the Heart," in which the "Ol' Snazolla," Jimmy Durante, joins Frankie for a comic romp.

With all these tunful treats, plus fine support from Peter Lawford and Gloria Graham, one would think this musical were a blockbuster. Not really so, surprisingly. It seems to be a case of the parts not quite equalling the whole. However, it's still a personal favorite, as these musical selections are just plain fun to hear and enjoy. So "It Happened in Brooklyn" is a staple in my video collection, which I replay with great pleasure and downright good fun.

As it happens this writer made his earthly debut in 1947 in Brooklyn, so I have a soft spot for this film.

Considering that this was all done in Hollywood, the film does have a nostalgic glow to it as it recaptures Brooklyn of 1947. Interspersed throughout the film are references to Brooklyn places and streets that a native would immediately know. There is a scene towards the beginning of the film when Frank Sinatra first meets Kathryn Grayson and she gives the newly discharged soldier a lift to the armory and in the background they pass shots of rows and rows of brownstone houses. Looks just like Park Slope on the way to the armory located there.

Sinatra has his personal songwriting team of Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn come up with a good selection of tunes for him. Time After Time was the biggest hit out of this film and that song is also repeated in good style by Kathryn Grayson. He does I Believe with Jimmy Durante and young Bobby Long who sings and dances up a storm in number done at a school gymnasium. It's a philosophical song in the style that Sinatra's rival Bing Crosby normally would have sung. He also sings a song Brooklyn Bridge, dedicated to same, on the footpath across. The footpath is deserted which is impossible. And there's another ballad entitled It's the Same Old Dream.

Jimmy Durante is the kindly school custodian who takes Sinatra in. I found this part of the picture sad. Durante has an apartment right on the public school premises and Sinatra moves in with him because he has no family at all. I guess he loved Brooklyn a lot because normally someone with no family and recently discharged from the service would have had the world to choose from in where to settle. Durante and Sinatra have a great old time with The Song Gotta Come From the Heart.

They did love sopranos over at the Lion studio. In addition to Grayson at one time they had Jeanette MacDonald, Ann Blyth, and Jane Powell all at the same time. Grayson had a porcelain delicacy to her and her voice that was magnetic, never more so here. She sings the Bell Song from Lakme and makes it memorable. Sinatra shows some guts here also as he and Grayson tackle La Ci Darem la Mano from Don Giovanni. Grayson and Mozart took it easy on Frank. Grayson did three films with Sinatra and in only one did she wind up with him.

Peter Lawford plays the shy gentlemanly scion of an aristocratic family who Sinatra befriends while in England. This was years before the Rat Pack was started and before Lawford married into the Kennedy clan. The role was no stretch for Lawford since that's what he was in real life. I wonder if Peter Lawford would still be here and have a career if the Kennedys and Sinatra had never entered his life.

And there were only minimal references to the Dodgers for a film about Brooklyn in a year they won the pennant.

Very enjoyable musical romp. Wonderful songs and adaptations.

The stars bring us much to smile about. JIMMY DURANTE steals every scene he's in - even when SINATRA is with him. A great tribute to the magnetic personality of the great and good-hearted "snoz".

Young BOBBY LONG charms us with spectacular dancing and fresh voice in "I BELIEVE". Too bad we never saw him again. Show business is sure a tough business.

In the world of colorful musicals, the quiet charm of this one never leaves you feeling cheated just because it's in B&W.