George Raft, playing himself, recalls his days on Broadway, where he acquired a reputation as a great dancer--and also one as a brawler, a ladies man and an associate of some of the city's m... Read allGeorge Raft, playing himself, recalls his days on Broadway, where he acquired a reputation as a great dancer--and also one as a brawler, a ladies man and an associate of some of the city's most notorious gangsters.George Raft, playing himself, recalls his days on Broadway, where he acquired a reputation as a great dancer--and also one as a brawler, a ladies man and an associate of some of the city's most notorious gangsters.
- Porky
- (as Edward S. Brophy)
- Ruby
- (as Elaine Morey)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe original Broadway production of "Broadway" opened at the Broadhurst Theater on September 26, 1926 and ran for 603 performances.
- GoofsDespite the fact that the bulk of the story is taking place in the 1920s, all the women's hairstyles and fashions are strictly in the contemporary 1942 style.
- Quotes
George Raft: The biggest hicks in the world came from where I gew up.
Mack 'Killer' Gray: What are you talking about? Where?
George Raft: Broadway.
- ConnectionsRemake of Broadway (1929)
But strangely enough, this film has the same script as the original and that film's characters. Even the minor characters who are just dancers at the Club Paradise in the original have the same names here. The set up for the story is a little different.
George Raft plays himself, and on a stopover in New York City he decides to go back to his old stomping grounds on Broadway where he was a hoofer when he was first starting out. He goes to what used to be the Club Paradise during Prohibition, and he begins to reminisce. Or maybe he fell asleep while watching the original film in 1929 and dreamed he had the leading role. It could roll either way.
Glenn Tryon had the lead in the original film - the counterpart to Raft's role. Tryon was known more for light comedy, so his role doesn't contain all of the macho posturing that Raft's part has. Other than that the film follows almost the exact same script. There are several problems other than just the seemingly pointless remake. For one, for this to be the 1920s everybody sure looks like they are dressed up to make a Betty Grable wartime musical right down to the hairdos and fashions. Also, since this film is being made long after the transition to sound, all technical problems with sound films are gone and so is the novelty. Something has to take its place. And so in comes talk. Lots and lots of largely meaningless talk. You won't remember any wonderful one liners or even the characters past the leads. And then the leads have ponderously bad decision making skills. Shoot somebody in a nightclub office, everybody is going to hear it.
It's not great, but it's not terrible, and to tell you the truth it is rather stiff and actually makes Prohibition era nightclubs seem boring. It does make me wonder - Why did George Raft think THIS was a worthwhile project but High Sierra and the Maltese Falcon were not? Whatever the reason I'm sure Humphrey Bogart was eternally grateful.
Probably worth it for the film history buff who has seen the original 1929 Broadway and for people who are interested in the complete filmography of George Raft. I would take off at least a star from my rating if it were not for those connections.
- AlsExGal
- Jul 29, 2022
Details
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1