Moviecut—Broadway Rhythm

source: Broadway Rhythm

Broadway Rhythm

Plot is so banal and shopworn I won't mention it here. George Murphy isn't appealing enough to carry a movie as the male lead. And Ginny Simms has so much makeup packed on to her face she must have been personally responsible for 37% of Revlon's profit that year. Yet I still award this movie 3 stars -- one for each of the Ross sisters. Their disturbingly compelling freak show acrobatic act is worth the price of admission. By the end of their shtick they're performing contortions that are so odd I started to wonder what they - or their choreographer or the film-makers - were trying to suggest. Ahem. Lena Horne acquits herself well. As usual, she's the best part in an otherwise terrible movie. That woman was radiant.

Talented Eddie "Rochester" Anderson stars in another fine example of racism at work in America, namely the unwritten rule of black actors not being allowed to perform with their white counterparts unless they are domestic servants. The exception here is the George and Ira Gershwin number "Somebody Loves Me," performed by Lena Horne. Many scenes with black performers, including the Hazel Scott piono swing version of "Minute Waltz," are positioned in such a way that theaters in the South could cut them without losing the storyline.Archie Savage is Horne's dance partnet in "Brazilian Boogie-Woogie," another noteworthy number, and leading lady Ginny Simms does a good job with "All the Things You Are." Nancy Walker and Ben Blue are hilarious in the "Milkman Keep Those Bottles Quiet" number with Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra.

Just before Murphy and Simms go to see the Palm Reader, the man at the visual machine, with his back to us, when responding to Murphys comment looks quickly back. He looks life Paul Ford of the Music Man and You'll Never Get Rich (Bilko). He looks very young too. The color is fantastic and the opening number is first rate. It is great to see Nancy Walker in her youth. The dancers are superb and the music is great. Ginny Simms looks great coming out of Kay Keysers band. She was also with Abbott and Costello in a movie called "Hit the Ice." Her voice is great and the band compliments her voice. Lorne looks great but the Brazilian number was a little dull. They could have used her better in another dance scene.I give the movie a strong seven.

Ginny Simms was at her best in acting and at the height of her beauty. The movie is worth watching just to see Ginny. Tommy Dorsey was great as usual, wish he had played more tunes. George Murphy, Ben Blue, Rochester, Lena Horne, Nancy Walker all helped make the movie very enjoyable.

I've always enjoyed this movie and consider it one of the better musicals of the 1940's. There has been quite a bit of interest in the Ross Sisters as they have popped up all over the internet due to their performance in Broadway Rhythm. They were billed as Aggie, Maggie, and Elmira but their real names were Vicki, Dixie, and Betsy. They hailed from Colorado City, Texas and were daughters of dirt farmers during the dust bowl days. They trained on their own and began working theaters and fairs in the Midwest. Pooling their money, they bought a trailer and moved to New Jersey to a trailer park about a mile from the George Washington bridge on Route 6. They earned minor roles in a George Kaufman play, Count Me In, and went on to Broadway Rhythm then Pickadilly Hayride at the Prince of Wales Theater in London. They were summoned before the King and Queen for a command performance on Nov. 4, 1946.

Another typical Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland like film with a family rehearsing for a show in the barnyard. How many times has this theme been used in Hollywood musicals? That being said, the film is long on entertainment. Song and dance man George Murphy is wonderful as the son who feuds with his dad (an excellent Charles Winninger) over which show to produce. The supporting cast is great with Ginnie Simms just wonderful in a lead role. Too bad that her career was short circuited by Louis Mayer. I just loved Nancy Walker with her long hair and devilish looks. She with Ben Blue dance up a storm in "The Milkman" song-dance segment. The guy who did those fabulous imitations of James Stewart, Clark Gable, Ronald Colman and Bette Davis was phenomenal. How can I forget his take-off on FDR as well? This is a high entertaining musical even if the theme has been repeated.