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IMDb > Broadway Gondolier (1935)

Broadway Gondolier (1935) More at IMDbPro »


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Overview

User Rating:
6.8/10   48 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 23% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Sig Herzig (story) &
E.Y. Harburg (story) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Broadway Gondolier on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
27 July 1935 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
LOVERS ENRAPTURED -- ...Sweethearts enthralled in the light of venetian moonbeams and music!
User Reviews:
Breezy comedy with music courtesy of Dick Powell... more (6 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Dick Powell ... Richard 'Dick' Purcell, aka Ricardo Purcelli
Joan Blondell ... Alice Hughes

Adolphe Menjou ... Professor Eduardo de Vinci
Louise Fazenda ... Mrs. Flaggenheim
William Gargan ... Cliff Stanley
George Barbier ... Music Critic Hayward
Grant Mitchell ... E.V.Richards, Radio Producer
Ted Fio Rito ... Bandleader Ted Fio Rito (as Ted Fio Rito and His Band)
The Mills Brothers ... Themselves (as The Four Mills Brothers)
Donald Mills ... Himself, One of the Mills Brothers (as The Mills Brothers)
Harry Mills ... Himself, One of the Mills Brothers (as The Mills Brothers)
Herbert Mills ... Himself, One of the Mills Brothers (as The Mills Brothers)
John Mills ... Himself, One of the Mills Brothers (as The Mills Brothers)
Hobart Cavanaugh ... Music Critic Gilmore
Joe Sawyer ... 'Red' (as Joseph Sauers)
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Additional Details

Runtime:
99 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
USA:Approved (PCA #935)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Joseph E. Bernard is listed in the studio records in the role of "Official", but was not seen in the print. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Black Network (1936) more
Soundtrack:
Lulu's Back In Town more

FAQ

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2 out of 6 people found the following review useful.
Breezy comedy with music courtesy of Dick Powell..., 18 January 2007
5/10
Author: Neil Doyle from U.S.A.

DICK POWELL is a cab driver with singing aspirations who doesn't mind holding up traffic while he demonstrates his singing prowess to a couple of captive passengers who are so impressed they arrange an audition for him. Only in the movies, only in the movies.

This is another one of those improbable Warner Bros. comedies with a far-fetched plot that has him spoiling his radio audition when his song turns out to be a children's ditty with his part relegated to imitating barnyard animals. With the mike still on, he loses his temper and the job.

When JOAN BLONDELL, as assistant to radio manager GRANT MITCHELL, is assigned to Italy, who should follow her (as a stowaway aboard ship), but Powell, still intent on impressing her with his singing. Before you know it, thanks to his pal ADOLPHE MENJOU, Powell gets work as a gondolier. After that, the plot follows the rather familiar course of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl, all in musical comedy fashion of the '30s.

Dick Powell has a pleasant, if unremarkable voice and his tenor serenading is pleasing enough, as is his flair with light material. Of course, he bowls over the radio station's sponsor (LOUISE FAZENDA) the moment he lifts his voice in song within earshot of those he needs to impress as he rows his gondolier in the moonlight.

Naturally, Blondell re-discovers him in a new setting and romance blossoms. It's the kind of set-up Warners would use later for their female star, DORIS DAY, always being discovered for either a radio show or Hollywood by Jack Carson or Dennis Morgan in her early Warner comedies that used the same formula.

It's pleasant nonsense, easy to take, and makes no special demands on your viewing pleasure if you enjoy watching DICK POWELL and JOAN BLONDELL so obviously enjoying themselves. None of the songs are particularly memorable and it's the kind of film soon forgotten after one viewing, but obviously it offered the kind of entertainment that answered the needs of undemanding Depression-era audiences.

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