CREDITS
1939, 114 minutes, B&W.
Producer, Robert Z. Leonard; Director, Robert Z. Leonard; Screenplay, Charles Lederer, Lew Lipton, John T. Foote and Hans Kraly; Cinematography, Oliver Marsh; Music Direction, Herbert Stothart; Dance Direction, Seymour Felix.
CAST
Mary Hale, Jeanette MacDonald; James Godfrey Seymour, Lew Ayres; Cornelius Collier, Frank Morgan; Larry Bryant, Ian Hunter; Judy Tyrell, Rita Johnson; Pearl, Virginia Grey; Bill, William Gargan; Harriet Ingalls, Katharine Alexander; Gene, Franklin Pangborn; Joey the Jinx, Wally Vernon; Herman, Al Shean; Mrs. Olsen, Esther Dale.
SONGS
Broadway Serenade for Every Lonely Heart by Herbert Stothart, Edward Ward and Gus Kahn; High Flyin'; One Look At You by Stothart, Ward, Bob Wright and Chet Forrest; Time Changes Everything by Kahn and Walter Donaldson; No Time to Argue by Sigmund Romberg and Kahn; Italian Street Song by Victor Herbert and Rida Johnson Young; Musical Contract by Stothart and Ward; Un Bel Di; Musetta's Waltz by Puccini; Les Filles Des Cadiz by Delibes and De Musset.
PLOT SYNOPSIS
"Mary and Jimmy are a show biz couple, working the small joints in the Big Apple, hoping for a shot at the spotlights. Coincidentally, they both get a break at the same time; Jimmy earns a chance to pursue his music abroad, while Mary is cast in the road company of a big producer's new show. By the time Mary returns to New York, she's already a star, and Jimmy's jealousy over Mary's supposed romance with the producer gets the better of him. Pulled apart, Mary's star continues to rise, while Jimmy works harder than ever to refine his music and win his sweetheart back."
- Liner Notes from MGM/Turner Videotape
NOTES
"Broadway Serenade was a misguided attempt from MGM to show that Jeanette MacDonald could do without Nelson Eddy. . .Its main interest lay not in its star, but in the finale staged by Busby Berkeley - in his first assignment at MGM. Unfortunately, even that proved a disappointment
. . ."
- Clive Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical
"With all its lavishness, it impresses as only mild box office material."
- Variety
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