Broadway Babies (1929)

6/10

1929 Musical

boblipton20 January 2021

Spanking new Broadway star Alice White loves stage manager Charles Delaney, but she thinks he's sweet on Sally Eilers, so she marries bootlegger Fred Kohler.

It may have originally been shot as a silent, but it looks like an early talkie all the way through, especially with the dance numbers performed on a big stage with the proscenium arch in plain view, looking like all the early First National talkies. In fact, that's in no small part it's problem. While Miss White's sexuality is on plain display, and no one did it better, her voice was weak and her dancing was not top notch. Much as people enjoy her, her stardom was one of those sports thrown up in the early stages of a new art form. One hit was looked on as a trend, and they worked it to death within a couple of years, along with the early movie musical. It would take some real innovation, again by Mervyn Leroy, to help revive the musical in 1933.

Still, within the context of 1929 musicals, this is as good as they get. Everyone gives their work as much oomph as can be hoped for. The poor sound on the copy I looked at was a bit of a surprise, given the superior recording ability of Vitaphone in this period. Clearly a cleaner print, and a better soundtrack would help.

4 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

6/10

It's pretty awful but wonderful fun

1930s_Time_Machine9 July 2023

Alice White's first sound film is tremendous fun and she's absolutely adorable in it. She's also an absolutely terrible actress but nobody cared - that's the character audiences fell in love with and she plays that role brilliantly.

She knew as well as everyone that she could neither act or sing or dance but those minor setbacks were no handicap to the ambitious Alice so for just a couple of years at the dawn of the talkies she became one of Hollywood's biggest and brightest stars. As a character in this film answers when she asks about why the public want her: you are life, you are youth and you are...the sound jumped at that point but it sounded like .... you are bosoms .... which sounds a plausible reason to me. Alice White films, at least the early ones were made to make you smile, nothing more.

Mervyn LeRoy had already made a few films with Alice White so by the time he made this you might wonder why he still hadn't managed to make her even slightly believable. His male actors, although still doing 'silent film acting' seem much more authentic but Alice and her two pals are essentially cartoon characters. This must be deliberate. There were serious pictures being made in 1929 but the talkies were also a novelty so novelty pictures like this were popular. Alice White was a personality rather than an actress so this picture should be viewed in that context - it was simply an excuse to put the lovely Miss White on the big screen.

As a motion picture, something which envelopes you into a story and makes the unbelievable believable, this doesn't even try. As a piece of frivolous fun however this is great.

It's definitely not her best picture, SHOWGIRL IN HOLLYWOOD and PLAYING AROUND are much better - in those she sort of acts but nevertheless this is still thoroughly entertaining. It's got a reasonably interesting plot: showgirl ditches loyal boyfriend for flashy gangster.....ok, that's the exact same plot as PLAYING AROUND but who cares! To quote Dick Powell in DAMES: it's not the story, it's not the acting, it's not the songs - what people want to see is beautiful dames! To use the expression of the era, you'd never find a more beautiful dame than Alice White. She is impossibly pretty and so mesmerising that you can overlook the fact that even with the excuse that this was made in 1929, this is a pretty rubbish film.

2 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

5/10

If Dee loves Billy and vice-versa, why do they keep arguing and breaking up?!

planktonrules14 December 2016

Let's cut to the chase. Dee loves Billy and vice-versa but it takes them the entire film to not only figure this out but act upon it!

Chorus girl Dee is in love with Billy, who is producing the Broadway show. He wants to make her a star BUT some evil gamblers want to ruin Billy and offer to make Dee a star in their show. So, they deliberately try to drive a wedge between the two sweethearts and it takes the two a long time to get their heads straight and do what's best. It all culminates with someone getting shot as well as the audience having to watch some dated musical numbers.

This is a time-passer--not a bad film at all but one that is easy to skip as well. Because it's an early talkie, the sound is a bit rough but otherwise it holds up pretty well today and Alice White is adorable in the lead, though Charles Dulaney (as Billy) is hardly the Hollywood type and it makes you realize how times have changed.

4 out of 11 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Snappy Alice White in Her Talkie Debut

drednm11 February 2007

Terrific little musical that stars Alice White as a chorus girl who gets the big break and becomes a Broadway star. Not much on plot but White is a dynamo with three big song and dance numbers (and she's really good): "Jig Jig Jigaloo," "Wishing and Waiting for Love," and "Broadway Babies." The songs are snappy and memorable. There's also a big finale. There's a terrific scene of the guys playing cards in a hotel room and looking out across the alley into the rehearsal hall where White and company are dancing.

Sally Eilers and Marion Byron are the girl friends. Charles Delaney is the boy friend. Fred Kohler is the big shot. Tom Dugan is the stuttering sidekick. Maurice Black and Louis Natheaux are the sharpies. Bodil Rosing, Jocelyn Lee, and Aggie Herring co-star.

White was a major star during the early talkie period, and it's easy to see why from this film and Show Girl in Hollywood. She was wide-eyed and bright. She wasn't a great actress or singer but she's got a snappy personality, and she carried the flapper into talkies.

28 out of 28 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

9/10

Another optimistic little musical from the dawn of sound

AlsExGal4 April 2011

I rate this one 9/10 when compared to other films of its genre and era. This is probably Alice White's best sound film in which she had a starring role. Alice plays Delight (Dee) Foster, a chorus girl living with two other chorus girls (Marion Byron and Sally Eilers) in a vaudeville rooming house. Dee loves Billy, the stage manager of the show she is currently in. Her landlady, a woman who appears to be in her 50's, has some strange advice though. She discourages Dee from getting serious about Billy, saying that in her day she was a looker herself on the stage and look where she ended up by following her heart. She advises Dee to go for the gold while she's still young, and that isn't Billy.

Meanwhile a rich French Canadian gangster (Fred Kohler as Perc Gessant) has gotten hooked up with a couple of card sharps who are pretending to be his friends until they can hook him for the big money. From the room where they are playing Perc gets a look at Dee in rehearsal and wants to meet her. He has the connections to get Dee a spotlight at a local nightspot. Also, one of the real flirts in the chorus, Blossom, is making eyes at Billy. Will things work out for our young lovers? Watch and find out.

This film has three very good numbers - "Jig, Jig, Jigaloo", "Wishing and Waiting for Love", and "Broadway Baby Dolls." "Wishing and Waiting for Love" is pretty much used as the film's soundtrack - it's a catchy little tune. "Broadway Baby Dolls" is a more impressive as a number than it is as a song, and "Jig, Jig, Jigaloo" is the best song and number. It has ridiculous lyrics and outlandish costumes with headdresses so tall and heavy they look like they're going to break some poor girl's neck if she turns her head too fast, but it's all part of the fun.

Alice has good support here with Sally Eilers and Marion Byron, great here with the clever Jazz Age one liners that come fast and furious. The three make a convincing trio of flappers. The film does have some suspense towards the end, but nothing heavy enough to detract from the flapper fairy tale flavor of the film. Even the gangster that pines after Dee turns out to be a nice guy - and they never tell us what he does that makes him a gangster in the first place so you can't help but like him. The only bad thing I can say about the film is that the soundtrack tends to overpower the dialogue at times, but that was a common technical problem in these early talkies.

Highly recommended for lovers of Dawn of Sound musicals.

11 out of 11 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

10/10

Broadway Baby Dolls!!!

kidboots15 July 2010

Warning: Spoilers

With the success of "Broadway" a stage musical that combined the topicality of gangsters and wisecracking dialogue set in a Manhattan night club, movie doors opened on a slew of films that combined the underworld with singing and dancing. Alice White had been a secretary until she was discovered for the movies, so when people denigrate her musical ability, I think she does pretty well - it's not as if she came from the stage herself. Most of her appeal lies in her adorable cuteness and her high spirits - she was known as the Princess of Pep!!

Delight Foster, Navarre King and Florinne Samuels (Alice White, Sally Eilers and Marion Byron (billed as Miriam in the cast) respectively) live in a theatrical boarding house (the wisecracks fly thick and fast - "you two dames must think I'm under contract to you" Navarre, on always being asked to close the door.) They get a write up in a New York newspaper as being the epitome of Broadway Musketeers - a new breed of chorus girl who can take care of herself without the help of a "sugar daddy" - all for one and one for all - and they make a pact always to help each other out.

Dee is engaged and her friends think she needs all the help she can get - Billy is just a small time dancer with big ideas!!! "While Dee and her friends are learning how to please the tired business man" - they are rehearsing for a show, she catches the eye of a business man Perc Gessant (Fred Kohler). Dee's first number is the jungle themed "Jig Jig Jigaloo". Alice White not only looks gorgeous in a beautiful feathered head-dress but she dances up a storm - it is hard to believe she wasn't a singing and dancing professional. When she sees Billy kissing Blossom she impulsively goes out with Gessant and she and her friends are offered jobs at the club they dining at. Gessant is with two gangsters who are planning to fleece him ("by the time we get through with him, he won't even have the airfare back to Detroit"). For Dee's debut at the New Moon Night Club she sings and dances to "Wishing and Waiting For Love" - with her silver trimmed bowler hat and ruff she wows the crowd. Gessant is not a dopey businessman from the sticks but a big time Detroit gambler and he has a showdown with the gangsters after a particularly tense card game. The movie ends in cheers - Gessant is shot, but not fatally, he gives his blessing to Dee and Billy and gives Billy the money he needs to star Dee in her own Broadway show. Dee, Florrie and Navarre give their all in the finale "Broadway Baby Dolls".

White is joined in this film by two chorus cuties par excellence. Marion Byron, whose nickname was "Peanuts", was never a big star but she sure livened up some of those early musicals including "So Long Letty" and "Golden Dawn". Sally Eilers was on the verge of stardom - in 1931 she made a splash playing opposite James Dunn in "Bad Girl" but she had been around in movies for years, playing what she played in "Broadway Babies", a cute ingenue. None of these three girls became superstars but they were sure nice to have around. Jocelyn Lee who plays Blossom, is extremely funny - in an unintentional way. With her very precise diction, she gives even more laughs to her funny lines. The movie also has some pretty peppy slang of the day - "there's too many bankrolls after you for you to be bothered about a thin dime", "big eyed bimbos", "tell your telephone to be expecting some mighty busy days" and "horses, horses, horses".

Highly, Highly Recommended.

10 out of 12 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Thanks to Alice White

data-2517 November 1999

Broadway Babies was Alice White's first all-talking picture. Seeing this movie convinced me that she is nowhere near as bad an actress as I've heard. It's thanks to her that I enjoyed this movie. The story, typical of it's time, tells the story of 3 "broadway musketeers" trying to break into showbusiness. Alice is more interested in the showbusiness part while her 2 friends, played by Miriam (Marion) Byron and Sally Eilers, would rather nab rich boyfriends. Alice gets her break and a wealthy potential lover (Fred Kohler, in a rare non-heavy role). But Charles Delaney is her real sweetheart. Alice admits her love for him to Fred and he releases her, clearing the way for a happy ending. If you are a fan of early talkie musicals, this one is sure to please you. Alice White is adorable and gets to sing and dance (Jig-Jig-Jigaloo!). A treat!

18 out of 19 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

8/10

Alice White Shines Bright

DACREEPER1 April 2020

One of many "Broadway-based" early talkies and one of the most entertaining. Timeworn story of young girls trying to hit the big time (or at least find a rich husband). It's got it all: Cute smart talking chorus girls, love issues, sleazy con men/gangsters, snappy dialogue, musical numbers...

Alice White fans will love her in her first talkie. Sadly unknown today but for serious movie buffs, she was fetchingly cute, charming and peppy. Her musical numbers in this are first rate. Jig, Jig Jigaloo is wild.

Great support from Marian Byron & Sally Eilers as White's two gal pals. Jocelyn Lee is good also her rival. Also Tom Dugan as the stuttering loyal friend.

The weakest link to me was Charles Delaney as White's boyfriend and stage manager. I found him kind of a putz.

But overall, entertaining and full of early 30's flavor and lingo. Alice White to me is always worth it... Judge for yourself. thank you

2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

User Reviews

See also

Opinion

Details

Storyline

Did You Know?

Photo & Video

Related Items

User Lists

Recently Viewed