Broadway Melody of 1938
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| Broadway Melody of 1938 | |
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 Eleanor Powell, left, performs during the climactic musical routine of Broadway Melody of 1938 |
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| Directed by | Roy Del Ruth |
| Produced by | Jack Cummings Irving Thalberg |
| Written by | Sid Silvers |
| Starring | Eleanor Powell Robert Taylor Buddy Ebsen |
| Music by | Nacio Herb Brown |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release date(s) | August 20, 1937 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 110 min |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) |
| Followed by | Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940) |
| IMDb profile | |
Broadway Melody of 1938 is a 1937 musical film, produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film is essentially a backstage musical revue, featuring high-budget sets and cinematography in the MGM musical tradition. Among its many stars are Eleanor Powell, Robert Taylor, Judy Garland, Sophie Tucker, Buddy Ebsen, George Murphy, and Binnie Barnes.
Powell plays a young horse trainer who befriends George Murphy and Buddy Ebsen who have been hired to look after a horse her family once owned. Concerned for the horse's well-being, she sneaks aboard a train taking the horse and its caretakers to New York City. En route she meets a talent agent (Robert Taylor) who, impressed with her dancing and singing, sets her on the road to stardom and romance blossoms between the two. A subplot involves a boarding house for performers run by Sophie Tucker, who is trying to find a big break for young Judy Garland.
The film is most notable for young Garland's performance of "Dear Mr. Gable" (also known as "You Made Me Love You"), a tribute to Clark Gable which turned the teenage singer, who had been toiling in obscurity for a couple of years, into an overnight sensation, leading eventually to her being cast in The Wizard of Oz.
[edit] Trivia
- The finale of the film takes place on a giant set upon which neon signs are visible showing the names of famous stage and screen stars. During Sophie Tucker's final number, all of the signs in the background actually change to read "Sophie Tucker" in tribute.
[edit] External links
| The films of Eleanor Powell |
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| Feature films Queen High (1930) | George White's 1935 Scandals (1935) | Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) | Born to Dance (1936) | Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937) | Rosalie (1937) | Honolulu (1939) | Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940) | Lady Be Good (1941) | Ship Ahoy (1942) | I Dood It (1943) | Thousands Cheer - cameo (1943) | Sensations of 1945 (1944) | The Great Morgan - cameo (1946) | Duchess of Idaho -cameo (1950) |
| Short films No Contest! (1934) | Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 12 (1936) | Screen Snapshots: Famous Hollywood Mothers (1947) | Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Holiday (1948) | Have Faith in Our Children (1955) |
| Television series The Faith of Our Children (1953-1955) |
