''Broadway Melody of 1936'' is a musical film released by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

in 1935. In New York, the film opened at the Capitol Theatre, the site of many prestigious MGM premieres. In New York, the film opened at the Capitol Theatre, the site of many prestigious MGM premieres. It was a follow-up of sorts to the successful ''

The Broadway Melody ''The Broadway Melody'', also known as ''The Broadway Melody of 1929'', is a 1929 American pre-Code musical film and the first sound film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It was one of the first musicals to feature a Technicolor seque ...

'', which had been released in 1929, although, there is no story connection with the earlier film beyond the title and some music. The film was written by Harry W. Conn,

Moss Hart Moss Hart (October 24, 1904 – December 20, 1961) was an American playwright, librettist, and theater director. Early years Hart was born in New York City, the son of Lillian (Solomon) and Barnett Hart, a cigar maker. He had a younger brother ...

, Jack McGowan and

Sid Silvers Sid Silvers (January 16, 1901 in Brooklyn, New York – August 20, 1976 in Brooklyn) was an American actor, comedian, lyricist, and writer. Silvers began his career in vaudeville in the early 1920s as a comedy partner of Phil Baker. As part of ...

. It was directed by

Roy Del Ruth Roy Del Ruth (October 18, 1893, Delaware – April 27, 1961) was an American filmmaker. Early career Beginning his Hollywood career as a writer for Mack Sennett in 1915, Del Ruth later directed his first short film ''Hungry Lions'' (1919) ...

and starred

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...

Eleanor Powell Eleanor Torrey Powell (November 21, 1912 – February 11, 1982) was an American dancer and actress. Best remembered for her tap dance numbers in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s, she was one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's top dancing stars duri ...

, Robert Taylor, June Knight,

Frances Langford Julia Frances Newbern-Langford (April 4, 1913 – July 11, 2005) was an American singer and actress who was popular during the Golden Age of Radio and made film and television appearances for over two decades. She was known as the "GI Nighting ...

Buddy Ebsen Buddy Ebsen (born Christian Ludolf Ebsen Jr., April 2, 1908 – July 6, 2003), also known as Frank "Buddy" Ebsen, was an American actor and dancer, whose career spanned seven decades. One of his most famous roles was as Jed Clampett in the CBS ...

and Vilma Ebsen (in their film debut). It was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...

Plot

Irene Foster (

) tries to convince her high school sweetheart,

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

producer Robert Gordon ( Robert Taylor), to give her a chance to star in his new musical, but he is too busy with the rich widow ( June Knight) backing his show. Irene tries to show Gordon that she has the talent to succeed, but he will not hire her. Things become complicated when she begins impersonating a French dancer, who was actually the invention of a

gossip columnist A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially a gossip magazine. Gossip columns are material written in a light, informal style, which relates the gossip columnist's opinions about the personal li ...

(

, parodying

Walter Winchell Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and co ...

Cast

as Bert Keeler *

as Irene Foster * Robert Taylor as Robert Gordon *

Una Merkel Una Merkel (December 10, 1903 – January 2, 1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress. Merkel was born in Kentucky and acted on stage in New York in the 1920s. She went to Hollywood in 1930 and became a popular film ...

as Kitty Corbett *

as Snoop Blue *

as Ted Burke * June Knight as Lillian Brent * Vilma Ebsen as Sally Burke * Nick Long, Jr. as Basil Newcombe *

Robert John Wildhack Robert John Wildhack (August 27, 1881 - June 20, 1940) was an American illustrator and comic, who was known on stage, screen and radio for various monologues purporting to analyze sneezes, snores, and hunting. Biography He was born on August 27, ...

as Hornblow (credited as Robert Wildhack) *

Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...

as Scully *

as herself *

Harry Stockwell Harry Bayless Stockwell (April 27, 1902 – July 19, 1984) was an American actor and singer. Stockwell made his film debut in the 1935 film '' Here Comes the Band''. However, his claim to fame came in 1937, when he provided the voice of The Princ ...

as himself ;Cast notes This was Powell's first leading role, and her first film for MGM. She would appear in the next two entries in the Broadway Melody series: ''

Broadway Melody of 1938 ''Broadway Melody of 1938'' is a 1937 American musical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film is essentially a backstage musical revue, featuring high-budget sets and cinematography in the MGM musical traditio ...

'' and ''

Broadway Melody of 1940 ''Broadway Melody of 1940'' is a 1940 MGM film musical starring Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell and George Murphy (Astaire's first male dancing partner on film). It was directed by Norman Taurog and features music by Cole Porter, including "Begin the ...

''. (These films were not related to each other in terms of storyline.) This also marked Ebsen's film debut. Though she was dubbed in this film by Marjorie Lane, Eleanor recorded "You Are My Lucky Star" with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra (Victor 25158). Don Wilson, Jack Benny's regular announcer on ''The Jack Benny Program'', is not credited in ''Broadway Melody of 1936'', but his presence in the movie is evident at the beginning where he is the radio show host.

Soundtrack

* "Broadway Rhythm" (1935) ** Music by

Nacio Herb Brown Ignacio Herbert "Nacio Herb" Brown (February 22, 1896 – September 28, 1964) was an American writer of popular songs, movie scores and Broadway theatre music in the 1920s through the early 1950s. Amongst his most enduring work is the scor ...

** Lyrics by

Arthur Freed Arthur Freed (September 9, 1894 – April 12, 1973) was an American lyricist and Hollywood film producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture twice, in 1951 for ''An American in Paris'' and in 1958 for '' Gigi''. Both films were musicals. ...

** Performed by

, Vilma Ebsen, June Knight, Nick Long Jr., and

* "You Are My Lucky Star" (1935) ** Music by Nacio Herb Brown ** Lyrics by Arthur Freed; Played during the opening credits ** Performed by Frances Langford and chorus ** Performed by Eleanor Powell (dubbed by

Marjorie Lane Marjorie Lane (February 21, 1912 – October 2, 2012) was an American singer of the 1930s who is best known for providing the singing voice of actress Eleanor Powell's characters in the movies ''Born to Dance'' (1936), ''Broadway Melody of 1936'', ...

) and chorus ** Performed by

Roger Edens Roger Edens (November 9, 1905 – July 13, 1970) was a Hollywood composer, arranger and associate producer, and is considered one of the major creative figures in Arthur Freed's musical film production unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the "go ...

and Eleanor Powell ** Performed by Robert Taylor and chorus * "Broadway Melody" (1929) ** Music by Nacio Herb Brown ** Lyrics by Arthur Freed ** Performed by

* "I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin'" (1935) ** Music by Nacio Herb Brown ** Lyrics by Arthur Freed ** Sung by June Knight, Robert Taylor and chorus ** Performed by June Knight, Nick Long Jr., and chorus ** Performed by

* "Sing Before Breakfast" (1935) ** Music by Nacio Herb Brown ** Lyrics by Arthur Freed ** Performed by Buddy Ebsen, Vilma Ebsen, and Eleanor Powell (dubbed by

) * "All I Do Is Dream Of You" ( French version) (1934) ** Music by Nacio Herb Brown ** Lyrics by Arthur Freed * "On a Sunday Afternoon" (1935) ** Music by Nacio Herb Brown ** Lyrics by Arthur Freed ** Performed by Buddy Ebsen and Vilma Ebsen * "The Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)" (1851) ** Written by

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Minstrel show, minstrel music during the Romantic music, Romantic ...

** Performed by

Accolades

The film was nominated for three

Oscars The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

at the

8th Academy Awards 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

Best Picture This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

, Best Writing (Original Story), and Best Dance Direction, winning the last one. As this film is the second in a film series (though not a direct continuation), it could be viewed as the first "sequel" to ever be nominated for Best Picture. The film is recognized by

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

in these lists: * 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs: ** "You Are My Lucky Star" – Nominated

Box office

According to MGM records, the film earned $1,655,000 in the US and Canada and $1,216,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $691,000.

References

*Green, Stanley (1999) Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.), pub. Hal Leonard Corporation page 48

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Broadway Melody Of 1936 1935 films 1935 musical films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1930s English-language films Films about musical theatre American black-and-white films Films directed by Roy Del Ruth American musical films 1930s American films