CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Steven Torrey Isn't here a line in a movie where one of the characters is singing an old time favorite and attempting to pass it off as new--and the auditor says something like--"Yeah, I already remember that..." This 1951 movie brought out the old songs in a revue format--so that they are not old songs in new garb--but old songs in old garb.Doris Day sings "Just one of those things" in a tux and steals the show at the outset. Never mind she gives verve to a song about dumping a flame after a few dates. "Bye Bye mien Herr" from 'Cabaret' gives the same jazzy up-temps to the same topic of moving on quickly from one affair to another. But in any event--Doris Day knocks the song out of the park--so to speak.The comedy team of Billy de Wolfe and Anne Triola are a delightful comedy duet--actors acting as servants so they don't starve to death."Lullaby of Broadway" is a delightful romp, showcasing many talents to produce something lite and frothy and surprisingly enduring. The froth disguises something dark and central to the acting profession. People who are washed up too early for the wrong reasons--yet endure beyond reasonable expectations. The song "Lullaby of Broadway" is itself a ballad/ode of what amounts to frenzied and self-destructive lifestyle. Gene Nelson pretending he can't dance when he is a great dancer--all to seduce Doris Day; well that's trickery and deceit which she rightfully resents. And Doris Day's own mother is not a world class performer but a barely and rarely sober cabaret singer in a gin joint. "Your getting to be a habit with me" is one of those nightmare scenarios of addiction that no actor wants to fall into--and yet many do. And, of course, the whole premise of the movie to fool Doris Day into thinking this palatial residence actually belongs to her mother.Despite the dark central themes to the move, it appears light and frothy--one more deception, this time on the movie goer.One wonders how this movie could have been made with different actors and one suspects it couldn't be made any better.

gkeith_1 I called Doris a good dancer in Tea for Two, 1950, one year before this movie Lullaby of Broadway. Doris had a car accident in 1937, which strongly curtailed her dancing future. In this movie, again, her tap steps are somewhat slower than those of Gene Nelson, but I have never heard that Gene's legs had earlier been injured. Doris wasn't just a great singer; she could dance. She must have done a lot of work to even dance for these musical movies, which I must admit I probably like better than her later movies with Rock Hudson, et al. I even liked Doris in her Calamity Jane movie, in which she leaps, bounds and jumps all over the place. That is certainly athletic.I loved Doris' gold gown in this movie; the billowing skirt was the best, but the neck straps I did not care for. Her daytime costuming was demure and ladylike as befitted the day, with high blouse necklines along with strands of white pearls.Gene Nelson was an awesome dancer. His leaps onto the piano and over the head of the pianist were dazzling, but it's too bad he didn't learn from the Nicholas Brothers School of Leaps and Bounds. He was still a great dancer, however, and I just loved his dancing in his 1955 Oklahoma movie.SZ Sakall and Florence Bates are always great scene stealers. They weren't children or animals, against whom other actors traditionally hate to play, but they always are unforgettable. SZ and Florence are always great at playing 'thorns in the side'. I remember Florence as Madame Dilyovska in On the Town.De Wolfe is his usual ditsy insane self, a comic with perfect timing and verbal inflection. Anne Triola is great as his sidekick, but I detected a lot of second class citizenship where her character was concerned. She was always saying she was not as good as that all superior Lefty played by De Wolfe.You can tell that I studied Women's Studies at university. Movies today should not be putting women's characters down as second class and inferior to men.Lefty was such a loser, however, that he had to act as a starving butler to the local brewer. The brewer couldn't even afford to feed Lefty. Lefty should have spent his time going on auditions to try and get back into show business, or was Lefty ever really, truly in show business? Perhaps he used to sing in a crummy dive in the worst sections of the city? Putting on airs, eh, Mr. Lefty?????I love dance movies. This is not 42nd Street. This is not The Red Shoes. It is a classic to me, however. I like to see Doris Day dance with Gene Nelson. I like to see SZ Sakall over and over again in several different movies. I still like the Nicholas Brothers, whom due to period racism I feel were not put in as many dance movies as I would have liked.I am a theatrical historian and movie reviewer. I have a Bachelor of Arts Degree in American History, with close to a minor in fine arts and performing arts of theatre, dance and voice, plus theatrical censorship and critiquing studies.All in all, I rate this movie as Excellent: 10/10

wes-connors After living in England, bubbly American singer-dancer Doris Day (as Melinda Howard) sails for New York. Aboard ship, Ms. Day meets likewise inclined Gene Nelson (as Tom Farnham), a Broadway star, homeward bound. The two are mutually attracted, but Day finds Mr. Nelson too forward. Day expects to return to her mother's mansion, but the house had been sold to blustery German brewer S.Z. Sakall (as Adolph Hubbell). A former Broadway star, Day's mother Gladys George (as Jessica Howard) has hit the skids, and is trying to lay off the sauce. Butler Billy De Wolfe (as Lefty Mack) tries to hide the truth from Day..."Lullaby of Broadway" wisely brings Gene Nelson back for more singing and dancing with Doris Day. They had created momentary magic in a previous minor picture, "Tea for Two" (1950). Jumping on a piano and dancing incredibly with Day on a staircase, Nelson moves up to leading man, herein. While the co-stars are wonderful, the production has the appearance of quickly being thrown together, with familiar songs and reheated story lines. Strangely, Nelson's singing is dubbed. However, Day and Nelson are marvelous. One wonders what they would do at MGM, if afforded material like "Singing in the Rain" (1952).****** Lullaby of Broadway (3/26/51) David Butler ~ Doris Day, Gene Nelson, Gladys George, S. Z. Sakall

didi-5 Doris Day searches for her mother (Gladys George) who she imagines to be a great Broadway star. On arriving in New York she finds things don't always go to plan, but she finds her own talents become in demand. Romantic interest from hoofer Gene Nelson (and their duet number "Somebody Loves Me" has plenty of zip); and the usual Warners irritation factor from "Cuddles" Sakall, never really all that funny. Like other musicals from the studio during the 50s, "Lullaby" steals its score from older and better showcases of the 1930s; in this case, even apeing the final title number on its early sighting in "Gold Diggers of 1935". The other numbers include "Zing Went The Strings of My Heart", better associated with Judy Garland than Miss Day.