Pretty Good

Memorable, crazy movie

Just perfect...

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

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.

Eleanor Powell, Robert Taylor, Buddy Ebsen and Robert Wildhack reunite for "Broadway Melody of 1938," not to be confused with "Broadway Melody of 1936" which is better. The 1938 film also stars Sophie Tucker, Judy Garland, Robert Benchley and Binnie Barnes. Taylor is now a producer named Steve instead of Robert, and Powell is newcomer to Broadway Sally Lee. Instead of knowing Steve from Albany, she now comes from a farm. Wildhack is doing scientific work on sneezing instead of snoring this time, and Buddy Ebsen still dances but has actually quit show business. The plot concerns the usual getting the money for a Broadway show, with horse racing thrown in for good measure.The musical numbers are nowhere near as good as in the past, but we do have the young Judy singing her "You Made Me Love You" to Mr. Gable and "Some of These Days" belted out by Sophie Tucker. At 15, Garland had a very mature voice and was adorable. What a gift. It was also a rare treat to see Sophie Tucker. Here she plays Judy's mother and runs a rooming house for actors. Charles Igor Gorin plays an opera singing barber and sings the Toreador Song and Largo al factotum very well. As you'll see, the horse thinks so too.Taylor looks fabulous and provides the eye candy and Powell's dancing is great. There are some cute bits in the movie as well. The finale is absolutely enormous. Good fun.

The third installment of the Broadway Melody series has a great advantage in the performance of 15 year old Judy Garland,here making her first mark in the movies.My wife commented she had never seen a 15 year old act so full of confidence. The movie is mediocre,but very enjoyable light fluff.Robert Taylor and Eleanor Powell have a nice chemistry as the young lovers.Great support from hoofers George Murphy and Buddy Ebsen.Especially Ebsen is a joy to watch. There's also an early appearance of Robert Benchley,and his wit is as dry as ever.It's fun to watch the MGM style musical at an early stage.The next two decades no other studio could touch MGM's musicals for sheer brilliance.

The story of Broadway MELODY OF 1938 is not so much zany as just simply bizarre. Raised on a horse farm where she also somehow learned to sing and dance, Eleanor Powell goes to New York in search of fame and fortune on the Great White Way, where she meets (a) George Murphy and Buddy Ebsen, two horse trainers who are also dancers; (b) Robert Taylor, a producer determined to star her in his new show; and (c) one of the horses from her farm. When the horse comes up lame, Eleanor rescues him--and before too long it becomes necessary for the horse to win the big race in order to finance the show!Eleanor Powell was MGM's great dancing star of the era, George Murphy was one of the screen's most reliable hoofers, and Buddy Ebsen was renowned as a character actor with an eccentric dance style--all three have tremendous star quality and they generate several charming moments. But today the film is chiefly recalled for two supporting players: Sophie Tucker and Judy Garland.Sophie Tucker had been a great stage star for more than 20 years when this film was made, and MELODY offers one of her rare screen appearances: with her no-nonsense, no-holds-barred style, she leaves little doubt about why she was so celebrated--especially when she launches into her signature song "Some of These Days." Garland, on the other hand, was just really beginning her film career, a slightly chunky teenager with a great big voice--and after putting it through the bullseye with a knockout performance of "Everybody Sing" she nailed the audiences of the day with her famous version of "You Made Me Love You," sung to a photograph of Clark Gable. It was the stuff dreams are made of, and from that moment on her film career was straight up all the way.The stars knock themselves out to make it fun, and very often it is. But as a whole, it never really seems work in a consistent sort of way. When all is said and done, Broadway MELODY OF 1938 is the sort of show that you watch for certain scenes rather than for the show itself, which is considerably less than the sum of its parts. Recommended for 1930s musical fans, but even they will likely find very thin stuff indeed.Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer