Broadway Melody of 1940 | |
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![]() 1940 Theatrical Poster | |
Directed by | Norman Taurog |
Written by | Story: Jack McGowan Dore Schary Screenplay: Leon Gordon George Oppenheimer |
Produced by | Jack Cummings |
Starring | Fred Astaire Eleanor Powell |
Cinematography | Oliver T. Marsh Joseph Ruttenberg |
Edited by | Blanche Sewell |
Music by | Darrell Calker Roger Edens Walter Ruick |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Loew's, Inc |
Release date |
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Running time | 102 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Broadway Melody of 1940 is a 1940 MGM film musical starring Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell and George Murphy (Astaire's first male dancing partner on film [1] ). It was directed by Norman Taurog and features music by Cole Porter, including "Begin the Beguine".
The film was the fourth and final entry in MGM's "Broadway Melody" series of films, and is notable for being the only on-screen pairing of Astaire and Powell, who were considered the finest film musical dancers of their time.
Johnny Brett and King Shaw are a dance team so down on their luck that they work in a dance hall for no money. Meanwhile, Clare Bennett is a big Broadway star. Owing to a case of mistaken identity, Shaw is offered the chance to be Clare's dancing partner in a new Broadway show, when Johnny's dancing was really what producer Bob Casey saw and wanted. The partnership breaks up, but Johnny still helps out King, who lets his newfound success go to his head. Clare eventually realizes that Johnny, not King, is the better dancer, and she falls in love after having lunch with him. When Shaw gets drunk on opening night, Johnny steps in and saves the show with a brilliant performance, though he lets King think he did it himself. Clare later tells King the truth. Just before the next show, Clare discovers King drunk again, and Johnny becomes the permanent replacement. After the show, they find out that King was pretending to be drunk so that Johnny would get the job. [2] [3]
Cast notes:
Broadway Melody of 1940 was based on a story by Jack McGowan and Dore Schary. Schary would go on to be head of production (1948) and then president (1951) of MGM until 1956. The film was originally planned to be shot in Technicolor, but because of the unsettled state of Europe due to World War II, MGM decided to stick to black and white. [7]
The film was the fourth and final entry in MGM's loosely connected Broadway Melody series, which began with the original The Broadway Melody released in 1929, and was followed by Broadway Melody of 1936 and Broadway Melody of 1938 . The films were unconnected except for the use of the song "Broadway Melody" (the 1940 entry did not feature the number, although a bit of it can be heard over the film's opening credits), and the fact that Powell starred in the 1936, 1938 and 1940 entries, playing different roles in each. A fifth Broadway Melody film was planned for release in the early 1940s, pairing Eleanor Powell with Gene Kelly, but production was cancelled at the rehearsal stage. [8] Another production was to have been called Broadway Melody of 1944 but was instead renamed Broadway Rhythm . The 1940 entry is considered Powell's last major successful film, as she would go on to appear in a succession of only moderate hits before retiring from the screen several years later. It has the distinction of being the first non-documentary film featuring Powell to be released on DVD.
Fred Astaire had just left RKO, and Broadway Melody of 1940 was his first film for MGM since his small part in 1933's Dancing Lady . Astaire was reportedly slightly intimidated by Powell, as she was considered one of the few female dancers capable of out-performing Astaire. According to Powell in her introduction to the book, The MGM Story, the feeling was somewhat mutual. Powell recalled finally saying to Astaire, "Look, we can't go on like this. I'm Ellie; you're Fred. We're just two hoofers," after which, they got along well, and rehearsed so much they wore out their pianist. [4]
Broadway Melody of 1940 was in production from early September until late November 1939. The set for the "Begin the Beguine" number cost $120,000 to construct. It utilized a sixty-foot multi-paneled mirror mounted on a revolving track to change backgrounds. [7]
The film is alluded to in satirist Tom Lehrer's song "George Murphy", about the dancer becoming a United States senator:
"Begin the Beguine" was nominated for the American Film Institute's 2004 list AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs, [10] while the film was nominated for the 2006 AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals. [11]
Broadway Melody of 1936 is a musical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1935. In New York, the film opened at the Capitol Theatre, the site of many prestigious MGM premieres. It was a follow-up of sorts to the successful The Broadway Melody, which had been released in 1929, although, there is no story connection with the earlier film beyond the title and some music.
Fred Astaire was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "greatest popular-music dancer of all time" He received an Honorary Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1937.
Eleanor Torrey Powell was an American dancer and actress. Best remembered for her tap dance numbers in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s, she was one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's top dancing stars during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Powell appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and most prominently, in a series of movie musical vehicles tailored especially to showcase her dance talents, including Born to Dance (1936), Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937), Rosalie (1937), and Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940). She retired from films in the mid-1940s but resurfaced for the occasional specialty dance scene in films such as Thousands Cheer. In the 1950s she hosted a Christian children's TV show and eventually headlined a successful nightclub act in Las Vegas. She died from cancer at 69. Powell is known as one of the most versatile and athletic female dancers of the Hollywood studio era.
That's Entertainment! is a 1974 American compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to celebrate the studio's 50th anniversary. The success of the retrospective prompted a 1976 sequel, the related 1985 film That's Dancing!, and a third installment in 1994.
"Begin the Beguine" is a popular song written by Cole Porter. Porter composed the song during a 1935 Pacific cruise aboard the Cunard ocean liner Franconia from Kalabahi, Indonesia, to Fiji. In October 1935, it was introduced by June Knight in the Broadway musical Jubilee, produced at the Imperial Theatre in New York City.
Broadway Melody of 1938 is a 1937 American musical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film is essentially a backstage musical revue, featuring high-budget sets and cinematography in the MGM musical tradition. The film stars Eleanor Powell and Robert Taylor and features Buddy Ebsen, George Murphy, Judy Garland, Sophie Tucker, Raymond Walburn, Robert Benchley and Binnie Barnes.
Roger Edens was a Hollywood composer, arranger and associate producer, and is considered one of the major creative figures in Arthur Freed's musical film production unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the "golden era of Hollywood".
Ziegfeld Follies is a 1945 American musical comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), primarily directed by Vincente Minnelli, with segments directed by Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, and George Sidney, the film's original director before Minnelli took over. Other directors that are claimed to have made uncredited contributions to the film are Merrill Pye, Norman Taurog, and Charles Walters. It stars many MGM leading talents, including Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, James Melton, Victor Moore, William Powell, Red Skelton, and Esther Williams.
That's Entertainment, Part II is a 1976 American compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a sequel to That's Entertainment! (1974). Like the previous film, That's Entertainment, Part II was a retrospective of famous films released by MGM from the 1930s to the 1950s. Some posters for the film use Part 2 rather than Part II in the title.
Royal Wedding is a 1951 American musical comedy film directed by Stanley Donen, and starring Fred Astaire and Jane Powell, with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Set in 1947 London at the time of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, the film follows an American brother-sister song and dance duo who, while performing, each fall in love — he, with a female dancer, and she, with an impoverished but well-connected nobleman. The film marked Donen's second directorial feature. It was released as Wedding Bells in the United Kingdom.
Three Little Words is a 1950 American musical film biography of the Tin Pan Alley songwriting partnership of Kalmar and Ruby. It stars Fred Astaire as lyricist Bert Kalmar and Red Skelton as composer Harry Ruby, along with Vera-Ellen and Arlene Dahl as their wives, with Debbie Reynolds in a small but notable role as singer Helen Kane and Gloria DeHaven as her own mother, Mrs. Carter DeHaven.
Born to Dance is a 1936 American musical film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Eleanor Powell, James Stewart and Virginia Bruce. It was produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The score was composed by Cole Porter.
John Cummings was an American film producer and director. He was best known for being a leading producer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Broadway Rhythm (1944) is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Technicolor musical film, produced by Jack Cummings and directed by Roy Del Ruth. It was originally announced as Broadway Melody of 1944 to follow MGM's Broadway Melody films of 1929, 1936, 1938, and 1940. It was originally slated to star Eleanor Powell and Gene Kelly, but Louis B. Mayer and MGM loaned Kelly out to Columbia to play opposite Rita Hayworth in Cover Girl (1944). The film instead starred George Murphy, who had appeared in Broadway Melody of 1938 and Broadway Melody of 1940. Mayer then replaced Powell with Ginny Simms. Other cast members included Charles Winninger, Gloria DeHaven, Lena Horne, Nancy Walker, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, the Ross Sisters, and Ben Blue, as well as Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra.
"(You'd Be So) Easy to Love" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for William Gaxton to sing in the 1934 Broadway show Anything Goes. However Gaxton was unhappy about its wide vocal range and it was cut from the musical. Porter re-wrote it for the 1936 film Born to Dance, where it was introduced by Eleanor Powell, James Stewart, and Frances Langford under its alternate title, "Easy to Love". The song was later added to the 1987 and 2011 revivals of Anything Goes under the complete title "You’d Be So Easy to Love".
Roberta is a 1935 American musical film released by RKO Radio Pictures and directed by William A. Seiter. It stars Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and features Randolph Scott, Helen Westley, Victor Varconi and Claire Dodd. The film was an adaptation of the 1933 Broadway musical Roberta, which in turn was based on the novel Gowns by Roberta by Alice Duer Miller. It was a solid hit, showing a net profit of more than three-quarters of a million dollars.
Albertina Rasch was an Austrian-American dancer, company director, and choreographer.
Girl Crazy is a 1943 American musical film starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. Produced by the Freed Unit of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it is based on the stage musical Girl Crazy – which was written by Guy Bolton and Jack McGowan, with music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin. It was the last of Garland and Rooney's nine movies as co-stars, the pair appearing only once more together on film, as guest stars in 1948's Words and Music.
Rosalie is a 1937 American musical film directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starring Eleanor Powell, Nelson Eddy and Frank Morgan. An adaptation of the 1928 stage musical of the same name, the film was released in December 1937. The film follows the story of the musical, but replaces most of the Broadway score with new songs by Cole Porter. The story involves the romantic entanglements of a princess in disguise and a West Point cadet.