The Big Broadcast of 1937

I found this to be the most entertaining of all the "Big Broadcast" movies. This isn't saying much, since these films were mainly just mash-ups of all the big names in radio that year, doing sketches independently of one another and strung together into a movie.

This one, however, has a very strong and entertaining plot. Jack Benny plays a sardonic radio executive, with Ray Milland as his slightly oilier second-in-command. George Burns and Gracie Allen play radio sponsors, which is just an excuse to trot them out and do their shtick (but what a great shtick it was). Shirley Ross plays the young ingénue who comes to New York to find stardom on the radio.

It was probably Ross who impressed me the most, she seems to have been a very funny actress with a great singing voice. It's a pity she didn't have more of a career in films.

Jack Benny, I think, was better suited to playing the wise-cracking supporting character -- as he did in this film -- as compared to the leading man. He was not a very good actor and had a lifelong difficulty memorizing lines. He was great here, though, playing a sarcastic cynic, a character in direct contrast with the miserly wannabe character he played on the radio.

It is also worth noting that I think this is Benny's only film pairing with his best friend, George Burns. The two don't have much to do together, but it's nice to see, just the same.

A final note: Bob Burns also has a very funny role in this movie as a Hillbilly who keeps interrupting radio shows trying to find Leopold Stokowski. He wants to find the maestro to show him a musical instrument he has invented. It is a long black tube that you blow into. Burns used it on his own radio show. He called it a "bazooka." Turns out, that's where the weapon got it's name. See how much we owe to radio?

Sometimes I think it's not worth it to review films like this - they are so often a compilation of musical numbers that there doesn't seem to be much to say.

This film has more oomph to it. It stars Jack Benny, Burns & Allen, Ray Milland, Martha Raye, Shirley Ross, Frank Forest, and Bob Burns.

Benny plays a radio exec, and Ray Milland works for him. Burns and Allen portray sponsors. Raye is Benny's secretary, and Shirley Ross is an aspiring singer who desires radio stardom.

Gracie Allen of course was hilarious doing her dingbat stuff. I had just seen Burns in Going in Style so I was impressed with how good- looking and vital he was in his day - not that I hadn't seen him before, it just stood out because he was so old in the other film.

I was extremely impressed with the beautiful singing of Frank Forest, who was a Metropolitan Opera star. Shirley Ross was excellent as well, playing a singer who gets lost in the attention of stardom. Ross never really made it to film stardom, and was given a great opportunity to star on Broadway in Guys & Dolls, but decided against it and devoted herself to her family instead.

Raye as Patsy the secretary gets her big break at the end and shows what a great voice she had.

Bob Burns has a funny bit as a country boy who keeps coming on the radio and trying to find Leopold Stokowski, who also appears. He wants to show Stokowski his invention, an instrument which is a long tube, calling it a bazooka. That's some trivia if anyone asks where the name came from.

Worth seeing for the talent.

Despite the talent involved, the movie never really gels. It also wastes too much of that headline talent in an over-crowded plot. For example, Jack Benny is stiffened into what's basically a straight role with too many conventional lines. Too bad that his comedic talents are not put on better display. Then too, George Burns has little to do but trail around after Gracie. Fans know how leeringly witty he could be given the right material. And I guess Benny Goodman's one brief showcase was for marquee value.

Anyhow, the movie largely wastes these folks by trying to crowd too many characters into the 90-minutes. Then too, I thought Bob Burns' running gag as a hick quickly became more tiresome than funny. While Forest's glass-shattering version of La Bomba had me reaching for the mute button. And I guess Stokowski's near noirish classical performance was dropped in to add a little class.

On the other hand, Gracie Allen's scatter-brain is on funny display as the radio station's chief sponsor. While Martha Raye gets to liven things up with an upbeat number near the end. There are such moments of genuine humor, but too often they're eclipsed by aimless comings and goings. In sum, the movie's very much a mixed bag, as other reviewers point out. All in all, considering the cast potential, the movie adds up to an unexpected disappointment.

I will tell you up front that I am not a big fan of the Big Broadcast movies. To me, they are a bizarre mix of various acts, good and bad, and are like watching a variety show combined with just a little bit of plot. I'd rather watch a traditional movie from the period instead, as "The Big Broadcast of 1937" is no exception--mostly because the film is so uneven.

The film finds Jack Benny and Ray Milland (an odd combination) in charge of a radio station. The plot, such as it is, involves bringing a talented lady singer to the station to work--and to keep her off the radio. I know this doesn't make any sense...it never really did in the movie either. However, eventually the lady STILL becomes a star and both men fall for her.

In the midst of this slight plot you have many appearances by Burns and Allen, a hillbilly comedian who was just annoying and made little sense (how many times can this guy just walk into the sound stage and interrupt a live radio show and it still be funny or make sense?!), Leopold Stokowski (the guy behind "Fantasia" just a few years later) and Benny Goodman as well as several other unimpressive acts (the "La Bamba" opening act was excruciatingly bad). The mix, as I said, comes off like a variety show...and not a very good one at that--mostly because quality of the acts and styles were all so different. 'Long hair' Stokowski just didn't seem to fit in the mix, though these musical numbers were among the better things in the film. Perhaps you'll have a different opinion...I just wasn't particularly entertained and wish they'd not tried to cram so much into this movie.

The New Republic's critic, Fergeson, who died as a Merchant Marine in World War II, gave this movie a rave review.

This movie is another example of a superb movie that either vanished or is very hard to find.

Ian Hamilton made this comment regarding films made from screenplays by Nathaniel West. Nathaniel West is considered by many to be the greatest writer of his generation (he was married to the real My Sister Eileen).

Not having seen a movie made from a screenplay he wrote, I have no way of knowing whether his fan club is right.

The same is true of Carl Dreyer's films, Sternbergs and other early movie directors. The French have ranted and raves on this topic for more than half a century.