Stars Over Broadway

"Stars Over Broadway" is a good musical review film and light drama set in New York. Pat O'Brien stars as Al McGillevray, an entertainment promoter and manager. His is a typical role of a sour puss, and this is not a very good role for him. But, what is good about this film is the singing by James Melton and Jane Froman. Melton was an opera tenor who also sang popular music, as he does both in this film, and very well in a few songs. And, this is the only feature film that has Jane Froman with a supporting role as Joan Garrett, and singing three songs. She was a highly regarded singer and has second billing to O'Brien here.

Froman was an attractive singer with a distinct, wonderful voice who entertained on stage, radio and the nightclub circuit in the 1930s through 1950s. She sang in the Ziegfeld Follies and had her own TV show on CBS. She was one of the earliest entertainers to sign on for the USO program to entertain GIs during WW II. But on her February 1943 plane flight to Europe, she was seriously injured when the plane crashed in the river bay before landing in Lisbon. Froman spent a long time in recovery, and had many operations during her lifetime for injuries to both legs and one arm.

After recovering in a Spanish hospital, she returned to the States for many more months of recovery. She was able to sing again, but had to sit in a wheelchair or be supported standing. She then flew back to Europe to entertain the troops during the last year of the war. After that she sang a few more years in the States and then settled down in her hometown of Columbia, Missouri. She has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for radio, recording and television.

It's too bad Froman didn't appear in any of the many musicals that were being made in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Her voice was distinctly remarkable and she had a very good stage persona. Those who enjoy her singing and would like to hear more might watch the biopic musical that was made about her life. It's an interesting and entertaining film, and Froman sings all the numbers that are then dubbed for Susan Hayward who plays her part. The film is "With a Song in My Heart" of 1952, by 20th Century Fox.