BROADWAY MELODY OF 1940

[IMAGE]

CREDITS

1940, 102 minutes, B&W.
Producer, Jack Cummings; Director, Norman Taurog; Screenplay, Jack McGowan, Dore Schary, Leon Gordon and George Oppenheimer; Cinematography, Oliver Marsh and Joseph Ruttenberg; Music Direction, Alfred Newman; Art Direction, Cedric Gibbons; Editor, Blanche Sewell; Choreography, Bobby Connolly.

CAST

Johnny Brett, Fred Astaire; Clare Bennett, Eleanor Powell; King Shaw, George Murphy; Bob CAsey, Frank Morgan; Bert C. Matthews, Ian Hunter; Amy Blake, Florence Rice; Emmy Lou Lee, Lynne Carver; Pearl, Ann Morriss; Juggler, Trixie Firschke; Masked Singer, Douglas McPhail.

SONGS

I Concentrate On You; Begin the Beguine; Please Don't Monkey with Broadway; I've Got My Eyes On You; Between You and Me; I Am the Captain; Juke Box Dance by Cole Porter; Il Bacio by Luigi Arditi.

PLOT SYNOPSIS

"Getting the picture off to a start, we find Astaire and Murphy hoofing for coffee money in a local dance hall. Fortune seems to be smiling when one of them is summoned as the lead in a new Broadway musical opposite star Eleanor Powell. But because of a mix-up in names, the producers get Murphy when they really wanted Astaire. All works out, however, when Murphy - seeking Dutch courage - gets drunk on opening night and pal Astaire rushes to the rescue, saving the show and gaining both stardom and leading lady."
- Lawrence B. Thomas, The MGM Years

NOTES

"The highlight of Broadway Melody of 1940 was undoubtedly Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell dancing to Cole Porter's 'Begin the Beguine'. . .it was a sequence so magical that it made one regret that this was their only film together."
- Clive Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical

". . .picture will slide through as modestly satisfying entertainment, but lacks ingredients to carry it to smash hit class."
- Variety

"This is a big, lavish MGM musical, with a Cole Porter score and lots of spectacular dancing; what's missing is romance, sensuousness, magic."
- Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights At The Movies

[IMAGE]

Return to The Great MGM Musicals Page