Babes on Broadway

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
Original title Babes on Broadway
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1941
length 121 minutes
Rod
Director Busby Berkeley
script Fred F. Finklehoffe
Elaine Ryan
production Arthur Freed for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
music Léo Arnaud
George Bassman
George Stoll
camera Lester White
cut Fredrick Y. Smith
occupation

Babes on Broadway is a 1941 American romantic musical film directed by Busby Berkeley and starring Vincente Minnelli . Screenwriter Fred Finklehoffe is also the writer of the original story. The main roles are cast with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland . The story deals with young people who put their own show on their feet. After Babes in Arms (1939) and Strike Up the Band (1940), this is the third film in a series of backyard musicals about children and young people who have worked their way up. Critics were of the opinion that the stars in the third film were a little too old for their roles.

action

Tommy Williams, Ray Lambert and Morton "Hammy" Hammond, who perform their song "The Three Balls of Fire", which features singing and dancing, in Nick's Bar in New York, have to leave because they are not very successful with it. Although Tommy is as good as bare, he looks for the woman who put a five-dollar bill in the tip box, believing that it was a mistake on her part. He finds her and learns from Miss Jones that she deliberately gave the bill. Tommy then offers to show her the city and especially Broadway. To their great surprise, the three men received a call the next day from Thornton Reeds' office, Broadway's biggest producer, which it turns out was thanks to Miss Jones, Reed's right-hand man. She arranged an audition appointment for the three of them.

While Hammy and Ray tell their pals about the audition, Tommy runs into the crying singer Penny Morris, to whom he is immediately drawn. He encourages her and then accompanies her to her home, where Tommy meets Penny's father, a piano teacher, and his pupil, little Barbara Jo.

The audition the next day turns out to be more difficult than expected, until Tommy comes up with the idea of ​​posing as his own producer at the same time. It is also necessary to provide evidence of financial support for a charity. When Tommy learns that children from disadvantaged families will not be able to spend the summer in the country this year because of a lack of funds, he sees an opportunity in this. Mr. Stone, a manager, agrees with Tommy's and Penny's idea of ​​raising money for the children by holding a neighborhood party with a program in a rented housing estate that the children should also be involved in. Rehearsals are going well and there is general enthusiasm for the party on July 4th. However, Tommy's idea of ​​twenty British refugee children does not go down well with Penny. On the day of the show, however, he has come to terms and there is enough money raised for the settler children.

At a meeting with Miss Jones, who was also at the party, she offers him and his friends on behalf of Reeds to appear on his new show. Tommy asks Penny to come with him, but she cannot and does not want to disappoint the children. Thereupon Tommy also declines the offer because he doesn't want to be without Penny. Miss Jones is so impressed that she allows them to use the long-closed Duchess Theater for their show and can even get Reed to accept the show. After exhausting renovations and intensive rehearsals, the opening night brought them a sold-out house, but Reed has withdrawn. And then a city inspector comes along and bans the show with reference to fire regulations that have not been observed. Demoralized, Tommy steps in front of the audience to apologize and learns that nobody wants their money back, on the contrary, some have paid more to enable the children to take a summer vacation in the country.

After Barbara Joe's parents and a few others want to give Tommy money to put on his show, which he refuses, Reed arrives and is convinced by Miss Jones to see a private performance of the show. Some time later, Reed presented the trio's show under the title "Babes on Broadway" in an elaborate production on the famous Broadway.

production

Production notes, background

The film, made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, was shot between July 14th and October 15th, 1941, additional scenes were shot from November 7th, 1941.

Producer Arthur Freed chose a title that reflected the two earlier films and hired Fred Finklehoffe, who had already written the script for Strike Up the Band , to once again invent a story about young people who want to step into show business. He engaged Burton Lane for the music numbers that he should write together with his brother Ralph Freed and EY Harburg . Freed then wrote the Oscar-nominated song How About You?

Berkeley caused a sensation with its lavish staging of the production, including the song Hoe Down , with which co-star Ray McDonald helped. He spent nine days rehearsing and starring in the minstrel finale, which cost more than $ 100,000. For Garland's big solo of Franklin D. Roosevelt Jones , the director planned a single picture with 38 different tracking shots. It all turned out to be difficult, but ultimately agreed that Berkeley was right and saved the studio thousands of dollars.

Alexander Woollcott, a well-known writer, journalist and literary critic, appears as himself in a short scene at the beginning of the film. The sequence takes place on one of his weekly radio programs , The Town Crier , in which he advises all budding artists to work hard for theirs To make dreams come true, to become a star on Broadway. It was Woollcott's first appearance in a film since he starred in the 1935 drama A Charming Rogue .

In the Hollywood Reporter at the time it was read that Shirley Temple was originally intended for the role of Barbara Jo and Roy Del Ruth as director. It would have been Temple's first film on MGM, but instead she shot the drama Papa Needs a Bride (Kathleen) . The film marks the box office debut of Margaret O'Brien, who became one of MGM's most popular child stars in the 1940s.

Although Rooney and Garland played very young characters in the film, Garland asked for a few days off because she wanted to marry the composer David Rose in Las Vegas. However, the studio boss insisted that she return to the set immediately and resented her for denying him the opportunity to advertise the film with her wedding. Ironically, Garland also met her future second husband, Vincente Minnelli, while filming. He was responsible for some of her solo numbers. Rooney also met the woman who was to become his first wife in January 1942: Ava Gardner, who toured the studio. Rooney immediately asked the actress out on a date, but she declined because he was dressed as Carmen Miranda for a movie at the time .

Like many of the backyard musicals, Babes on Broadway was on the rise with lots of talent. There was Rooney's dance partner Ray McDonald, who would later appear in musical films for MGM and Universal, and Richard Quine, who would become one of the most respected directors of the 1950s. The young Donna Reed played the secretary of producer James Gleason and Margaret O'Brien made her cinema debut in a dramatic child role, which was almost prophetic for her later career as a tearful child star. This was one of the first Hollywood musical films to acknowledge that it was in WWII .

Songs in the movie

The film features compositions by the following composers: Jararaca, Vicente Paiva, Arthur Freed , Burton Lane , Harold J. Rom, Edgar "Yip" Harburg , Ludwig van Beethoven , Roger Edens .
Some of the film's vocal numbers were used in 1940s musical documentaries, including the Hoe Down number, I've Got Ring on My Fingers , Mary , Yankee Doodle Boy , She Is Ma Daisy, and Bombshell from Brazil / Mam yo quiero , in which Rooney played popular 20th Century Fox actress Carmen Miranda.

  • Babes on Broadway by Burton Lane (music) and Edgar "Yip" Harburg (text),
    played by the MGM studio choir
  • How About You? Burton Lane (music) and Ralph Freed (text), brother of producer Arthur Freed,
    sung by Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney
  • Anything Can Happen in New York sung by Mickey Rooney, Ray McDonald and Richard Quine
  • Hoe Down sung by Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Six Hits and a Miss, The Five Musicfal Maids,
    accompanied by the MGM studio choir
  • Chin Up! Cheerio! Carry on! sung by Judy Garland and the Luke's Episcopal Church Choristers,
    accompanied by the MGM Studio Choir
  • The Farmer in the Dell , traditional tune, played at the house party
  • Oh! Susanna by Stephen Foster
  • Violin Romance No. 1 in G major, op. 40 by Ludwig van Beethoven

Ghost Theater sequence

In a sequence of the film where Tommy and Peggy ponder the stars of the Duchess Theater, Garland and Rooney impersonate several dramatic and musical stars of the late 18th and 19th centuries, including character actors Richard Mansfield , Fay Templeton, Sir Harry Lauder, Blanche Ring, Sarah Bernhardt, and George M. Cohan .

Arthur Freed asked Vincente Minnelli, one of his youngest protégés, to design a scene in which Rooney and Garland visit a historic vaudeville theater, which was to serve to recreate great moments from the theatrical past. This allowed Rooney to imitate the interpretation of She's Ma Daisy as Sir Harry Lauder and Walter Hampden as Cyrano de Bergerac and to perform George M. Cohan's Yankee Doodle Boy . Judy Garland created Mary's a Grand Old Name as Fay Templeton, I've Got Rings on My Fingers as Blanche Ring and sang the Marseillaise as Sarah Bernhardt . Rooney became a special number as Carmen Miranda, wearing platform shoes, a fruit basket hat and fake breasts.

  • Cyrano de Bergerac - Mickey Rooney as Richard Mansfield
  • Mary's a Grand Old Name - Judy Garland as Fay Templeton
  • She's Ma Daisy - Mickey Rooney as Harry Lauder
  • I've Got Rings on My Fingers - Judy Garland as Blanche Ring
  • La Marseillaise - Judy Garland as Sarah Bernhardt
  • The Yankee Doodle Boy - Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland
  • Bombshell from Brazil - Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Richard Quine,
    Ray McDonald, Virginia Weidler, Anne Rooney, Robert Bradford and the MGM Studio Chorus
  • Mama Yo Quiero (composition by Vicente Paiva and Jararaca) - Mickey Rooney

Minstrel show sequence

To add a wider range of musical styles to the film, Roger Edens - long-term mentor Judy Garlands at MGM - was hired to arrange a long minstrel sequence using standards such as Swanee River and Waitin 'for the Robert E. Lee . They also bought a song that Harold Rome used for Broadway in 1948: Franklin D. Roosevelt Jones .

  • Blackout Over Broadway (Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Ray McDonald, Virginia Weidler,
    Richard Quine, Anne Rooney and the MGM Studio Chorus)
  • By the Light of the Silvery Moon (Ray McDonald)
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt Jones (Judy Garland and the MGM Studio Choir)
  • Old Folks at Home (Eddie Peabody Banjo for Mickey Rooney)
  • Alabamy Bound (Eddie Peabody Banjo for Mickey Rooney)
  • Waitin 'for the Robert E. Lee (Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Virginia Weidler,
    Anne Rooney, Richard Quine and the MGM Studio Choir)
  • Babes on Broadway - Finale (Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Virginia Weidler,
    Ray McDonald, Richard Quine and the MGM Studio Choir)

Publication, success

The film premiered in New York on December 31, 1941, three and a half weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , and provided audiences with a backdrop of distraction. In January 1942 it was generally released in American cinemas. In April 1942 it was published in Australia, in July 1942 in Mexico and in December 1942 in Portugal. It was launched in Sweden in April 1943, in Belgium (Brussels) in December 1945. In May 1946 it was published in Japan, in December 1946 in Denmark and in February 1947 in France. In Spain it was shown on television in November 1979. It has also been published in Brazil, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, the Soviet Union and Venezuela.

Babes on Broadway grossed more than four times what the film cost at the box office, which was a reason for MGM to reunite Rooney, Garland and Berkeley in the 1943 film Girl Crazy . Ticket sales in the UK were also boosted when Judy Garland performed the rousing song Chin Up! As a group of British war orphans . Cheerio! Carry on! sang.

criticism

Babes on Broadway was a very successful film that benefited particularly from the popularity of stars Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. Although this became one of the most musical of all MGM's great musicals, the critics showed signs of fatigue and complained that the two stars in the film were now arguably more suited to adult roles. However, the audience loved her in this film too.

TMP told The New York Times that when MGM embarks on a production, it always does a good job, including Babes on Broadway . The film offers a breathtaking setting for the minstrel show, which is a single racy and really entertaining episode, but then drastically restricts it with the words, in this otherwise boring and overly long potpourri of comedy, drama, third-rate jokes and music. Aside from the occasional and pleasant musical entertainment by Miss Garland, the plot is condensed with some mundane nonsense about Mickey and Judy throwing a house party show to raise money to send some underprivileged children to the country with. TMP also criticized the scenes with the English children, whose cheeks run down and touch their hearts, but which it would have been better to do without, as they would serve to take advantage of a tragic situation. Although Rooney, as usual, doesn't leave much room for anyone else, Judy Garland manages to get noticed in the musical interludes, as does the graceful and light-footed Ray McDonald in a short tap dance.

Lisa Skrzyniarz wrote for Crazy Cinema that one can understand why Rooney / Garland was such a popular duo. What keeps this film afloat is Rooney's enormous energy and charm, as well as Garland's amazing voice and her heart-rending game. They are a good team that complement each other wonderfully. Sure, the plot could be better, but the pace is so lively that you hardly have time to notice it. Conclusion: A classic full of fun and vitality that drives away the blues.

The film review on Three Movie Buffs praised Rooney and Garland's first song together in the film, the Oscar-nominated song How About You? as one of the simplest but most enjoyable numbers they would ever have sung together in a movie. Your performance conveys pure musical joie de vivre. Another musical highlight is Garland's rousing interpretation of Chin Up! Cheerio! Carry on! just like the lecture on Hoe Down , a number in which the two stars, together with a huge crowd of young artists, offered one of the most exuberant musical performances ever conceived, choreographed, staged and shot. Garland and Rooney are in constant motion, each seeming to feed on the other's manic energy. Finally, the conclusion was drawn: Babes on Broadway may have a banal plot and an embarrassing blackface number, but for all its mistakes it is a work of geniuses like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, who were born to be on stage.

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Frank Miller: Babes on Broadway Articles adS Turner Classic Movies - TCM (English)
  2. ↑ Babes on Broadway Original-Print-Info adS - TCM (English)
  3. ↑ a b c d e Babes on Broadway Notes adS TCM (English)
  4. ↑ a b c Film review Babes on Broadway adS threemoviebuffs.com (English). Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  5. ↑ Babes on Broadway Trivia adS TCM (English)
  6. ^ TMP: At the Music Hall In: The New York Times . January 1, 1942 (English). Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  7. ↑ Lisa Skrzyniarz: Babes on Broadway ( Memento from January 3, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) adS crazy4cinema.com (English). Retrieved January 3, 2018.