Wow! Such a good movie.

A Major Disappointment

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

What we have here is one of those none-too-inspired screenplays which the players are forced to pep up by shouting their lines at the top of their voices! Alas! Only Billy Gilbert can get away with this sort of stratagem. The others just seem ridiculous. However, never mind the silly story (this is one of the very few musicals with a horse-racing background), the movie's chief assets are its song and dance numbers, including a box-car dance with Eleanor Powell, George Murphy and Buddy Ebsen, two songs by Judy Garland (including the justly famous, "You Made Me Love You"), and. topping them all, a very lively and vastly amusing romp in the rain by Powell and Murphy. The movie was choreographed by the vastly under-rated Dave Gould and attractively photographed in black-and-white by William Daniels (although I understand Ray June worked on the film too).

In the 1930s, there were many, many musicals that followed pretty much the same pattern. In fact, Hollywood did little to disguise this and followed the same formula again and again. In the case of Broadway MELODY OF 1938 (oddly, made in 1937) and a dozen other films it was as follows: A nice but poor girl (Eleanor Powell) wants to be discovered as a new singing/dancing sensation. Through grit and the power of niceness, she is able to ultimately be discovered by a big-name producer (Robert Taylor) who promises to build an entire multi-million dollar show for a no-name (I'm sure this happens all the time). But, in a case of "not-niceness", the evil diva or rich lady puts a stop to this dream and it looks like our little sweetheart will have to give up her dreams. However, in the end, as if out of nowhere, the show MUST have this little trooper and she pulls off the performance of a lifetime and she instantly rises to international stardom! Unfortunately, because of this formula, Broadway MELODY OF 1938 suffers greatly. After all, if you've already seen several similar films, you know exactly what you're in for with the film. Heck, I think most writers could have written this film even after a severe head injury--it was that "by the numbers" so to speak.So at the outset the film has a poor and recycled plot. However, when it comes to singing and dancing the film does a lot better--though it is NOT a particular standout either.Eleanor Powell, as always, was an absolutely amazing tap dancer--possibly the best there ever was (and definitely the best female tapper on film). While her singing voice was only adequate, her dancing was tops. George Murphy (sort of like a poor man's Fred Astaire) was also fine in the role as the male singing/dancing lead. However, for comic relief, Buddy Edsen was included as well and while he could dance, his ungraceful and gangly style was very odd when they had him dancing with Powell and Murphy.They also had some interesting support from Sophie Tucker and Judy Garland. Ms. Tucker, sadly, was well past her prime when she made this and only a few other Hollywood films. She had been a huge star on stage, but unfortunately, here she is given a rather obnoxious role and you can't tell just how great she was in her heyday. However, in great contrast, Judy Garland is only 15 here and on top of her game. Of all the performers in the film, her singing talent easily outshines the others. Unfortunately, while given some good songs in the film, her most famous song from the film was the rather saccharine and annoying ode to Clark Gable. It made me cringe and just seemed like a cheap ploy by MGM to plug one of its stars (Gable).So, what you've got overall is a very formulaic film with some decent but not particularly memorable songs. Fortunately, Robert Taylor does NOT sing or dance, so at least this is a plus. While the total package is adequate, unless you are a huge musicals fan, I'd just recommend you see a better example of the genre.By the way, now that I think about it, wouldn't have been neat to have seen Buddy Ebsen dancing in a film with Jimmy Cagney? Both could definitely tap, but both had little grace and made up for it by intensity. Seeing these two completely non-subtle dancers on the same stage might have been interesting.

Much as I admire ELEANOR POWELL and find ROBERT TAYLOR a pleasure to watch and listen to, Broadway MELODY OF 1938 is my least favorite of the three "Broadway Melody" titles produced by MGM.Naturally, the plot is merely an excuse to get some talented performers to do what they do best--so Eleanor Powell does a good share of overproduced dance routines, SOPHIE TUCKER sings "Some of These Days" (as Judy's mom), JUDY GARLAND sings her big heart out over a photo of Clark Gable for "Dear Mr. Gable--You Made Me Love You", and GEORGE MURPHY and BUDDY EBSEN demonstrate what good dancers they were.But the songs are a highly forgettable bunch, and that elephantine climax with ELEANOR POWELL dancing up a storm in an overelaborate production number (typical of MGM film endings), is too much. Worse still, the story involving race horses is a bore.Summing up: Despite the talent, a tiresome story about a horse trainer and a Broadway producer hardly provides the right kind of setting for a "show must go on" musical.

MGM's Broadway Melody of 1938 was actually made in 1937. It is now famous as the young Judy Garland's MGM debut feature film. In it, she sings her ode to Clark Gable's photograph, "Dear Mr. Gable". The words were added especially for her to the standard, "You Made Me Love You." However, Judy only has a small role in the film, playing the daughter of old Broadway stalwart Sophie Tucker. Sophie Tucker runs a performer boarding house where Eleanor Powell eventually finds herself. She plays a young lady, who pines for a horse that she helped raise. Robert Taylor is a producer trying to get funding for his show, etc. They meet, fall in love, and along the way we're treated to a melange of depression era nostalgia in the form of comedy, laughter, song and dance, and typical 1930's hokey plot points. Besides Garland's songs, including "Everybody Sing", the musical highlights are the tap dancing of Buddy Ebsen, George Murphy, and Powell to "Follow In My Footsteps" and Murphy and Powell dancing to "I'm Feelin' Like A Million". Director Roy Del Ruth, who did a number of these type of films in the 1930's, keeps things moving at a brisk pace and we're swept away. Well-timed humor is provided by Binnie Barnes, Raymond Walburn, and Billy Gilbert. The always welcome Robert Benchley even turns up in a small bit. However, the songs are not that memorable, and the film has a typically overproduced MGM finale, bigger than the film itself. **1/2 of 4 stars.