The Big Broadcast

"The Big Broadcast" marks Bing Crosby's first full-length film. Before this, he'd been a member of The Rhythm Boys who sand with Paul Whiteman's orchestra and Bing also starred in several short films. But this film helped to establish him as a movie star...and before this he was much more a recording and radio star. It is fitting, then, that this story is set at a radio station.

When the story begins, Bing is late for a radio broadcast and it's not all his fault. Like many famous crooners, he's attacked by adoring fans and barely makes it to the studio in one piece! But the sponsor is furious with Crosby and demands he be fired...and the station's owner (George Burns) complies. However, soon they regret it because Bing is such a big star.

In the meantime, Bing's life goes from bad to worse, as not only is he off the radio, but his girlfriend has just run of with another man! He soon meets Les (Stu Erwin) in a bar and he, too, has girl trouble...so they both decide to kill themselves! Wow...talk about a dark turn. Now all this happens in the first 10-15 minutes of the film...so rest assured...they'll be alright. What's next? See the movie and find out yourself.

While much of this film was an excuse to feature various radio acts (not just Crosby but Kate Smith, the Mills Brothers, Cab Calloway and a few others), it actually had more story than I expected from a movie like this. Overall, an interesting look at some wonderful musical acts and a decent story as well...made better by Erwin and his pleasant persona.

Paramount made the first of its Big Broadcast films, the first and best of them. This first one gave Bing Crosby his first role in a feature film, previously he had done guest appearances and also short subjects for Mack Sennett. Not wanting to mislead anyone about who was numero uno in this film, Paramount had him play a radio crooner named Bing Crosby. Eleven years later Frank Sinatra would make his feature film debut as Frank Sinatra.

Bing's the star attraction of this one horse town radio station, appearing for Griptight Girdles on the Griptight Girdle Hour. That is when he can get to the studio. His job is being threatened and he's also coming between Stu Erwin who buys the station and Leila Hyams who's manager George Burns's secretary.

It's a thin plot, but nicely done and it's to show off some of radio's greatest talents of that year. In addition to Bing Crosby, appearing are Kate Smith, Arthur Tracy, the Boswell Sisters, Burns and Allen, Cab Calloway and Vincent Lopez with their respective orchestras, the Mills Brothers and tenor Donald Novis.

Bing gets to sing three numbers, Please and Here Lies Love which were written for this film and Dinah. Crosby made a classic recording of Dinah with the Mills Brothers and I wish they'd reprised that for the movie. Instead it's done with a black shoeshine boy giving him a beat with the rag while Bing is scatting like Ella Fitzgerald. Bing was great, but the staging is something that black people would find offensive. Please became a great early hit for him.

Here Lies Love is sung by Crosby, but he reprises it after it's been introduced by Arthur Tracy. Tracy, a Jewish immigrant from Russia, was billed as the Street Singer and had an almost operatic quality to his voice. He rivaled Crosby, Russ Columbo, Rudy Vallee, and Morton Downey in popularity as a radio singer, but American movie audiences didn't take to him. He went to Great Britain in the mid-30s and there he became a movie star. He went back to the US after World War II and only appeared sporadically after that. Tracy was fabulously wealthy due to good investments and lived to the age of 97. He did a cameo appearance in Crossing Delancey, you'll see him briefly discussing issues of the day over the pickle barrel there.

For Kate Smith, radio was a godsend. That beautiful and powerful voice was also trapped in an elephantine body like a Wagnerian opera soprano. She was never going to be a film star. But she was radio's most popular female vocalist, no one else was ever even close and she sings a great rendition of It Was So Beautiful in The Big Broadcast.

Burns and Allen did surreal comedy that was probably only equaled by Monty Python years later. Gracie Allen was in her own world and the ever patient George gave up trying to deal with her reasoning. They did some great guest bits in films like this one and two more with Bing Crosby. But they never really carried a film by themselves with the exception of Here Comes Cookie. I did a review of that and it's the best example of their work.

Donald Novis was a popular radio tenor, totally forgotten now. He also was on the Broadway stage and in Rodgers&Hart's Jumbo introduced their classic, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World. They give him Trees to sing, Joyce Kilmer's poem put to music. I wish he'd sung something more popular.

With all these radio stars it's hard to remember that the nominal star of the film is Stu Erwin. Erwin did a fabulous job in creating some great milquetoast characters from the early talkies. The climax of the film involves a long running gag with him trying to get a recording of Bing singing Please to the studio to substitute for Crosby who's AWOL. It's done almost without dialog and it is interspersed with several of the stars previously mentioned. It's a hilarious bit of slapstick.

The Big Broadcast is enjoyable nostalgic fun and a piece of history since it's the feature film debut of America's greatest entertainer, Bing Crosby.

THE BIG BROADCAST (Paramount, 1932), directed by Frank Tuttle, is what one might classify to be the 'granddaddy' of all radio musicals, or the first of its kind. A satire, if ever there was one, from Mack Sennett type-comedy from the silent movie era to plenty of songs performed by notable radio personalities of the day. Historians will delight at the film's two-and-a-half minute opening of assortment of lobby frames coming to life with brief segments of radio entertainers doing what they do best, singing signature numbers as Bing Crosby's "When the Blue of the Night Meets the Gold of the Day," Kate Smith's "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain", The humming Boswell Sisters; Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher," Arthur Tracy's "Marta, Rose of the Wildwood," Vincent Lopez and his Orchestra; and Burns and Allen doing part of their funny verbal exchanges before the titles begin to roll. While Stuart Erwin heads the cast, it's the second billed Bing Crosby, in his first leading role in a feature film, who gets most of the attention.

The slight plot revolves around Bing Crosby (Bing Crosby), the most popular singer at WADX Radio Station in New York City. Due to his constant lateness, Mr. Clapsaddle (George Barbier), the upset sponsor, forces radio manager, George Burns (George N. Burns) to have Crosby fired. Anita Rodgers (Leila Hyams), Burns' secretary, silently loves Bing, though he fails to notice her. Bing is engaged to marry dancer, Mona Lowe (Sharon Lynn), the one responsible for his irresponsible behavior. While celebrating his final days as a bachelor with his friends at a speakeasy, Bing sees a newspaper article of Mona eloping with a broker and jilting Crosby. After befriending an equally depressed Leslie McWhinney (Stuart Erwin), a Texas oil man jilted by the girl he loves and being taken for $100,000 by a gold-digging widow, Bing invites the poor soul to his apartment where he plans a double suicide. Bing's plot fails with the arrival of Anita, Leslie's girlfriend from back home, with the news of Mr. Burns agreeing to give Bing his job back now that he's no longer engaged to be married. As Bing arranges to find Leslie a job at the studio, warrant officers turn up to close down the station. With his remaining $900,000, Leslie buys the radio station and becomes its president. All goes well until Mona Lowe returns to Bing life again, making him irresponsible once more. Here lies love.

With old and new tunes (by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger) combined for THE BIG BROADCAST, the musical program features that of "Dinah" (sung by Bing Crosby); "Speakeasy" (sung by telephone operators, Major, Sharp and Minor); "Here Lies Love" (sung by Arthur Tracy); "Here Lies Love" (reprised by Crosby); "Please" (Crosby); "Tiger Rag" (sung by the Four Mills Brothers); "Please" (reprise by Crosby); "I'm the Drummer" (sung by Vincent Lopez); "Trees" (sung by Donald Novis); "Crazy People" (sung by The Boswell Sisters); "It Was So Beautiful" (sung by Kate Smith); "Kicking the Gong Around" (sung by Cab Calloway); and "Please" (finale). At one point in history, a motion picture soundtrack of THE BIG BROADCAST was available through Sandy Hook records in the 1980s, but the movie itself thus far has never been distributed to home video.

The comedy team of George Burns (radio manager) and Gracie Allen (the receptionist) incorporate their vaudeville routines as part of the plot on two separate occasions rather than during the on-screen radio broadcast. The movie also acquires the brief glimpses of actual radio announcers (James Wallington, Donald Ball, William Brenton and Norman Brokenshire) introducing the upcoming acts. Paramount pulls no stops on broad comedy, whether cartoonish, the use of high speed projection, laughing toy horses or even allowing material reminiscent to those silent comedy era through situations enacted through radio theme music but no inter-titles as the hapless Leslie tries in vain to acquire a Bing Crosby record and prevent himself from either losing or damaging it.

Commonly presented on broadcast television in the 1970s and public television a decade later, the only known cable TV showing in latter years for THE BIG BROADCAST happened to be from American Movie Classics (1990-91). Due to its enormous popularity and career launching of Bing Crosby, Paramount repeated its success with follow-up sequels in name only: THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1936 (1935), 1937 (1936) and 1938 (1938), with the 1938 edition being notable for the feature film introduction of Bob Hope, Crosby's on-screen partner in seven installments to "The Road to" comedy series from 1940-1962. Regardless of surreal plot and situations, THE BIG BROADCAST is nostalgic in its own little way, and should still be of entertaining value even today. One final note: Why do many references refer to Crosby's role as Bing Hornsby? He's addressed and billed as Bing Crosby throughout the entire story. And now, The Big Broadcast. (**1/2)

The Big Broadcast was the first major film of singing sensation Bing Crosby in which he had a starring role. Playing a fictional version of himself, Bing puts his comedic skills (that he had worked on for the shorts he made for Mack Sennett) to great use. The songs, direction by Frank Tuttle, the crazy special effects (that are amazing for 1932), and the list of famous radio stars of the day make this a really fun and entertaining film. This has recently been restored by UCLA but as yet there has been no official DVD release which is a pity. I rate this amongst the best of Bing's early films as it shows his complete naturalness in front of the camera whilst his renditions of Dinah, Here Lies Love and the hit song Please highlight his wonderful voice.

I first watched this movie 32 years ago when I moved to Jacksonville, FL, at 19 and was watching lots of afternoon TV during days I was looking for a job living at an aunt's house. This was Bing Crosby's big break in the movies having previously appeared In shorts and cameoed in other features. Also appearing are the comedy team of George Burns & Gracie Allen with Gracie's logic only making sense to Burns! Also, some of the most popular music stars of the time like Kate Smith, Donald Novis, Arthur Tracy, Vincent Lopez and His Orchestra, the Boswell Sisters who came from New Orleans which is a two-hour drive from where I now live in Baton Rouge, the Mills Brothers who perform "Tiger Rag" which is the theme song for my hometown's beloved LSU Tigers football team, and Cab Calloway and His Orchestra being his own crazy, hip self. In fact, he appears at the beginning as well! Director Frank Tuttle employs some great visual comedy whether through some silent comedy scenes or with some cartoonish effects with inanimate objects. There's even some surrealistic touches during a suicide attempt that's played for laughs. Stuart Erwin makes a good foil for Crosby. Leila Hyams is a fine leading lady, and Sharon Lynn is amusing as the lady that initially jilted Crosby. By the way, I mainly think of her as Lola from Way Out West, my favorite Laurel & Hardy movie. So on that note, I recommend The Big Broadcast.