Broadway

This is an interesting film as it starred George Raft as George Raft, reminiscing on the good old days of the 1920s when he was trying to become famous as a hoofer at a nightclub. Flashback to a time when Raft flailed around like a knock-off James Cagney amid a group of girls who look suspiciously more like 1940s pin-up girls than 1920s flappers. Broadway has plenty of action and a great cast, although it is relatively predictable and Raft's last line leaves us with a pressing, unanswered question.

See it for Raft in an unusual role. I caught a screening at Cinevent in 2012. Broadway is definitely entertaining and worth searching out.

"Broadway" is a little-known semi-musical that grips the audience despite being handicapped with two pointless gimmicks. The first gimmick is that George Raft plays himself, and the movie supposedly recounts an episode early in his career. The second gimmick is that the story is told in flashback. Neither gimmick helps the film at all, and "Broadway" would have been better without them.

Once the flashback starts, the story unfolds quickly and blends a gangster story with a back-stage musical drama. Many films have tried this mixture. A few, like "Party Girl" succeed but most, like "The Cotton Club" fail. "Broadway" succeeds, and does not glamorise life back-stage. It shows the tackiness of show business in a small club which is small and shabby. No new songs were written for the film and familiar old songs like "Dinah" and "I'm Just Wild About Harry" are performed.

Apart from the gimmicks, the film has two other problems. Many of the characters are clichés, both as written and as acted. For example both S. J. Sakall and Pat O'Brien give the same performance they gave in several other movies, and S. J Sakall, in particular, is completely wrong for this movie. By contrast, Broderick Crawford gives an interesting performance as the main gangster and avoids cliché acting. The second weakness is that the screenplay does not bring out clearly what motivates the characters. For example, the Janet Blair character is attracted to the gangster and closes her eyes to what he really is. At a celebration party she is propositioned by an unwelcome admirer and the gangster intervenes. The man backs down and there is no violence. Nevertheless, the girl now sees the gangster for what he is and is no longer attracted to him. This would have made more sense if there had been a fight in which the gangster displayed sadism and brutality.

Although George Raft and Janet Blair were reasonable dancers, they were nothing special and "Broadway" succeeds more as a melodrama than as a musical. (If Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth had been cast, and more prominence given to the dancing, "Broadway" might have been a great musical.)

With only a brushing acquaintance with the truth, "Broadway" offers a glimpse of the early speakeasy life of George Raft. Raft plays himself, a good idea as later attempts would prove no one else could ever portray him. It is a bowdlerized version of his time as a dancer employed in the nightclub of Texas Guinan - here renamed Lil. This George Raft is all about work, pines for only one woman, and never met a gangster he liked - so far from reality it has to provoke a smile. But its heart, and his, is in the right place.

The movie is completely worth seeking out for the all too brief George Raft style of dance. Too rare were the films that allowed him to exhibit that "fastest dancer in New York" technique. Raft was past 45 when he shot this and was recreating moves from his 20s, and that alone is impressive. The boy could still move! Raft's poker pal Pat O'Brien gets to play a wise cop again, and bombastic Broderick Crawford is a real scene-stealer as the bootlegging gang leader with a penchant for murder.

A major problem with the film is its complete neglect of setting. There is no attempt to create the styles of the late 1920s, which would have added so much atmosphere (and truth). It could have used a lot more grit as well.

... the very early sound film "Broadway" from 1929 and directed by Paul Fejos. That 1929 film had an opening with a metallic giant plodding along Broadway beckoning the inhabitants to join him in his debauchery. Director Fejos had a special crane built and mounted the camera on it to get back some of the fluid motion that had been lost with the early sound era. It's a very interesting experiment. This is not that film.

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.

"Broadway" is a semi-biopic/gangster movie in which the stars align and everything works. It has all the elements of a hit movie; good idea, good script, good cast, good music, good pacing. It is listed as a musical but the musical is almost incidental; the movie takes place backstage at a theater (which is also a speakeasy) and it contains a couple of old songs for the chorus girls to perform. George Raft tells the story in flashback, as he visits New York and reminisces about the old days, particularly about his gangster involvement.

I don't care for George Raft. He was a wooden actor and had an unattractive persona and appearance. But here I feel he did his best work, even creating a little sympathy for his character as well as showing his dancing feet - remember, he is a middle-aged guy playing a young guy. He was better here than in "Souls At Sea". The picture gets a big lift from Broderick Crawford as the heavy, and his acting here rivals his AA performance in "All The King's Men". Pat O'Brien plays a 'flatfoot'(no surprise) and comic relief comes in the form of SZ Sakall and Edward Brophy. Janet Blair and Anne Gwynne were very pretty in slight roles; too bad their careers weren't more prolific.

The picture moves at a good pace, and I really can't think of a drawback or a valid complaint. Thoroughly entertaining from start to finish, a quick 90 minutes. It was shown at Cinevent, Columbus,O. 5/12.