Made on Broadway (1933)

Director:

Harry Beaumont

Writer:

Courtney Terrett (story)

Release Date:

19 May 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Jeff is the supreme press agent who has his own private club where the rich and powerful meet and drink for free...

Plot Keywords:

Publicity | Politician | Letter | Trial | Political Corruption

Cast

Robert Montgomery	...	Jeff Bidwell
Sally Eilers	...	Mona Martine
Madge Evans	...	Claire Bidwell
Eugene Pallette	...	Mike Terwilliger
C. Henry Gordon	...	Mayor Tom Starling
Jean Parker	...	Adele Manners
Ivan Lebedeff	...	Ramon Salinas
David Newell	...	O'Neill - Mayor's Secretary
Vince Barnett	...	Mr. 'Stitch' Lepedis
Joseph Cawthorn	...	Maxie Schultz

Also Known As:

The Girl I Made (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

John Miljan is in studio records/casting call lists for the role of "Tucker," but he did not appear in the movie. Raymond Hatton was reported to be in the cast by Film Daily, but he was not seen either.

Quotes:

Jeff Bidwell: Careful, Mike; careful! You are speaking of the lady I almost loved.
Terwilliger: The dames *you've* almost loved would read from here to Chicago--laid end to end.
Jeff Bidwell: [thinks this over a moment] What a...quaint expression.

Soundtrack:

America, My Country Tis of Thee

One Year Before The Creation of the World

Robert Montgomery is great in this comedy of manners. It should have been a screwball comedy, and if it had been released eighteen months later, it would have been, but there was no such genre at that time; even a year later, IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT was considered a screwball comedy instead of a romantic one.

But at this time, Screwball was BOUDU SAVED FROM DROWNING, and the Production Code hadn't closed down the sex comedy, which is what made the American screwball comedy. So this movie about how ace press agent Robert Montgomery saves Sally Eilers from committing suicide by jumping off the Staten Island Ferry, makes her the toast of the town and then orchestrates her defense after she shoots someone just misses.

Montgomery is perfect, exuding an air of genial, self-aware corruption, but everyone else seems to be taking matters far too seriously, even the old ladies he hires to pose as Eiler's sniveling aunts in the courtroom.

MGM's Harry Beaumont, their resident expert on making bricks without straw and stars without talent somehow fails... Eilers lacks the subtlety and range for her role, which weights down this work. Madge Evans is present and steady, but the entire movie lacks the sense of madness that infuses screwball. Ah well. Good try.