ScoobyWell
Great visuals, story delivers no surprises
Comwayon
A Disappointing Continuation
Roman Sampson
One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
MartinHafer
It's surprising when you watch "Broadway Rhythm" that it's a full-color film. After all, the actors are mostly second-tier and the songs are, for the most part, awful and have nothing to do with the original Broadway production. So why film it in very expensive color film stock? Well, the answer probably lies in the star of the film--Ginny Simms. At the time this film was made, she and studio chief Louis B. Meyer were, according to IMDb, REALLY, REALLY good friends (wink, wink)! The fact that he'd spend so much studio money on color film is less of a surprise than the rest of the film being so incredibly poor.George Murphy plays a fat-headed Broadway producer. Although he's successful, he thinks he knows everything--and treats his father and sister like they are idiots. He never trusts them and is very controlling. This comes back to haunt him when he wants to produce his next play, as the actress he wants (Simms) is convinced by his father and sister to star in THEIR production--a sort of homage to the Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland films where they produce a HUGE mega-show supposedly in a humble barn.The film has a lot of glitz and I am sure a lot of money was spent making it. However, there are too many songs and too many bad songs--which makes the film drag. The only number I liked was the great piano piece. Otherwise, the songs were just limp and forgettable...well, except for the first number when Murphy danced with a woman who looked for all the world like a giant banana!! Very easy to avoid--very hard to watch to the end!
edwagreen
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.
dwgraham1950
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.
Shane Crilly
Hey Gang let's put on a musical! We can use that barn down the road and I know a Hollywood star who's just dying for a launching pad to Broadway. She's read the script and she's sure that it's a winner, much better than that new one that Uncle Johnny wrote. Boy we'll show him won't we? There's the story of Broadway Rhythm in a nutshell. With a great cast it might have made a passable time waster. But then great casts usually steer clear of lame scripts. So this movie got a pretty uneven cast. When Tommy Dorsey is a standout in the acting department you know you have to worry. Apparently Gene Kelly and Eleanor Powell were originally slated for this movie, fortunately they took different paths in their careers. The movie would have been much much better, but it might have sandbagged their careers. Unfortunately the leads went to George Murphy and Ginny Simms. Simms wears more make-up than a Macdonald's clown and always has a fake TV commercial smile plastered on her kisser. The effect is eerie. She gets to sing one of the finest songs of that era, "All the Things You Are" and it is almost a complete waste. It's her best moment but it certainly isn't the song's. Murphy's idea of wooing Ms Simms appears remarkably similar to dickering for a used car. According to the plot he's supposed to be a much better dancer than the youngster he won't give a break to even though he's the son of his father's former partner. To prove that he's such a great dancer, he doesn't dance. There is some dancing and singing that is worth watching. Most of it comes from Gloria deHaven, who looks gorgeous and natural next to Simms. She may just have inspired the term hot pants with her outfit in one of the scenes from their little musical. Nancy Walker, the comedy relief in "MacMillan and Wife" appears as a wannabe performer and she is a standout especially in her musical number. In an unrelated sighting (to the plot that is) we also see Lena Horne, who is given the number "Brazilian Boogie Woogie". For some that alone will be worth watching. The strangest bit has to be a trio who pop out of nowhere as the kids are negotiating for the barn. They sing like the Andrew Sisters and dance like Chinese acrobats. Was it a measure of the times that everybody seems to be under the impression that Spanish is the language of Brazil? Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!
