recommended

Dreadfully Boring

An absolute waste of money

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

It's surprising when you watch "Broadway Rhythm" that it's a full-color film. After all, the actors are mostly second-tier and the songs are, for the most part, awful and have nothing to do with the original Broadway production. So why film it in very expensive color film stock? Well, the answer probably lies in the star of the film--Ginny Simms. At the time this film was made, she and studio chief Louis B. Meyer were, according to IMDb, REALLY, REALLY good friends (wink, wink)! The fact that he'd spend so much studio money on color film is less of a surprise than the rest of the film being so incredibly poor.George Murphy plays a fat-headed Broadway producer. Although he's successful, he thinks he knows everything--and treats his father and sister like they are idiots. He never trusts them and is very controlling. This comes back to haunt him when he wants to produce his next play, as the actress he wants (Simms) is convinced by his father and sister to star in THEIR production--a sort of homage to the Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland films where they produce a HUGE mega-show supposedly in a humble barn.The film has a lot of glitz and I am sure a lot of money was spent making it. However, there are too many songs and too many bad songs--which makes the film drag. The only number I liked was the great piano piece. Otherwise, the songs were just limp and forgettable...well, except for the first number when Murphy danced with a woman who looked for all the world like a giant banana!! Very easy to avoid--very hard to watch to the end!

Whomever took a look at the final script for "Broadway Rhythm" must have realized that the only thing that might put this one over would be an abundance of talented performers, since the plot was a mere trifle.As a result, the film is full of gifted performers unable to bring much life to this routine musical about a producer quarreling with his father over how to produce their next show and walking out on him. Of course, everything is straightened out by the final reel and the show is a smash hit.MGM produced this in velvety Technicolor with all the trimmings but there's no disguising the fact that the witless script is full of flat lines and only occasionally does a song get that MGM treatment.George Murphy and Ginny Simms get top billing with Gloria DeHaven, Charles Winninger, Nancy Walker and Ben Blue in good support. Guest star Lena Horne gives the film its most solid moments with two specialty numbers and Hazel Scott does magic with her finger work at the piano. Eddie "Rochester" Anderson provides some comic relief.But Murphy gets only one dance routine at the finale and Ginny Simms only gets one memorable song ("All The Things You Are") to warble before the show is over. It all has a slap-dash kind of organization, the story flow stopping every few moments to accommodate another frenzied number.The tiresome script is the problem, lacking wit and originality. Six years later, "Summer Stock" with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly (and Gloria DeHaven) did a much better job with similar material and better songs.

I've always enjoyed this movie and consider it one of the better musicals of the 1940's. There has been quite a bit of interest in the Ross Sisters as they have popped up all over the internet due to their performance in Broadway Rhythm. They were billed as Aggie, Maggie, and Elmira but their real names were Vicki, Dixie, and Betsy. They hailed from Colorado City, Texas and were daughters of dirt farmers during the dust bowl days. They trained on their own and began working theaters and fairs in the Midwest. Pooling their money, they bought a trailer and moved to New Jersey to a trailer park about a mile from the George Washington bridge on Route 6. They earned minor roles in a George Kaufman play, Count Me In, and went on to Broadway Rhythm then Pickadilly Hayride at the Prince of Wales Theater in London. They were summoned before the King and Queen for a command performance on Nov. 4, 1946.

A pleasing enough entertainment, working primarily as a pageant of various MGM specialty acts - impressionists, contortionists, nightclub acts, tap-dancers, as well as the standard musical theatrical numbers. The film isn't a musical in the traditional sense, as all the musical numbers are in the contest of an actual performance (some done toward the camera). It's much more in the tradition of a 1960s-70s variety TV show.There is a connecting plot, though only the slimmest possible. For me, the movie dragged whenever it stopped the music for a little story updating. George Murphy doesn't really dance much here - just briefly toward the beginning and end - and he does an OK piano medley in the middle. Ginny Simms isn't much of a screen presence, but has a great voice used to advantage. Close your eyes while she's singing and you won't miss much onscreen, other than the costumes.The highlights are in the supporting cast; great numbers from Lena Horne, Tommy Dorsey, Hazel Scott, and Nancy Walker (though you really have to wait for hers; she's a bit underused here). Really nice work from Gloria DeHaven and Kenny Bowers in their couple of tunes, as well as Walter Long's tap-dancing. The singing-contortionist Ross Sisters are something to see, but the impressionist got on my nerves after a while. (Some of his subjects will not register with viewers unfamiliar with the era; there's a couple of topical jokes elsewhere in the film also.)And Charles Winninger is a pleasure to watch in a diversion for him; I've rarely seen him in musical roles.In short, worth seeing for most of the musical segments; the rest is unremarkable.7 of 10