IMDb > The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936)

The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936) More at IMDbPro »

Overview

User Rating:
6.8/10   67 votes
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Director:
Mitchell Leisen
Writers:
Walter DeLeon (writer)
Erwin S. Gelsey (story)
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Contact:
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Release Date:
6 October 1936 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy more
Plot:
A cream-of-the-crop gathering of 1930's radio stars, who lend themselves to a storyline about a failing... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
User Comments:
"Heigh Ho, the Radio!" more (2 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jack Benny ... Jack Carson

George Burns ... Mr. Platt

Gracie Allen ... Mrs. Platt
Bob Burns ... Bob Black
Martha Raye ... Patsy
Shirley Ross ... Gwen Holmes

Ray Milland ... Bob Miller
Frank Forest ... Frank Rossman
Benny Fields ... Himself
Sam Hearn ... Schlepperman
Stan Kavanaugh ... Kavvy
Benny Goodman ... Himself
Virginia Weidler ... Flowergirl
David Holt ... Trainbearer
Gene Krupa ... Himself
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
100 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)
Company:
Paramount Pictures more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. more
Movie Connections:
Features Allegretto (1936) more
Soundtrack:
You Came to My Rescue more

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User Comments

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful.
"Heigh Ho, the Radio!", 22 January 2001
Author: lugonian from Kissimmee, Florida

THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1937 (Paramount, 1936), directed by Mitchell Leisen, is the third installment of the "Big Broadcast" musicals, and possibly the best and funniest of the series. Sad to say, of the four movies bearing the "Big Broadcast" name, this is the least known and revived.

Jack Benny stars as Jack Carson, the radio director of the National Network Radio Company, with Martha Raye as Patsy, his clumsy secretary who makes her entrance falling down the stairs. The comedy team of George Burns and Gracie Allen return to the series for the third and final time, playing George and Gracie Platt, new sponsors for the radio station who add to the confusion. The comedy begins from the start when Carson and his radio actors perform a skit, with the sound effects not matching to what is supposed to be played, and actors who are supposed to be from Maine talking like Southerners, etc. It is explained that they are from the Southern part of New England. But the main attraction to the story is Shirley Ross (in her Paramount lead debut) as Gwen Holmes, a lady radio announcer from a small town who gives to twitting one of the network's leading tenors, Frank Rossman (Frank Forrest) in her nightly broadcast. The tenor insists that she be stopped. The sponsors lure her to New York with a promise of a job, but to keep her away from the microphone. She later meets and falls in love with Bob Miller (Ray Milland), the program agent who, according to Mr. Carson, "will not only fix your program but will help get your program in a fix." Bob Burns is also featured as Bob Miller, a country hick, who prows the studio door to door with his philosophies, some that get broadcast over the air. The movie includes guest appearances by Benny Fields (The Minstrel Man), Leopold Stokowski and his Symphony Orchestra, Benny Goodman and his Swing Band, among others.

On the musical program, songs include: "Heigh Ho, the Radio," "La Bomba" (sung by Frank Forrest); "You Came to My Rescue" (sung by Forrest and Shirley Ross); "Your Minstrel Man" (sung by chorus); "Here's Love in Your Eye" (wonderfully sung by Benny Fields); "I'm Talking Through My Heart" (sung by Ross, the film's best song); Johann Sebastian Bach's "Fugue in 'G' Minor, conducted by Stokowski; "Vote for Mr. Rhythm" (sung by Martha Raye); and "Here Comes the Bride" (sung by Raye during the wedding ceremony). While the song, "Night in Manhattan" is credited as one of the songs in the film, it's only heard instrumentally during the opening credits and not vocally. The song did get its plug production wise and by a vocalist in a Paramount musical short, NIGHT IN MANHATTAN (1937) with a very young Glenn Ford hosting as master of ceremonies.

THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1937 is both amusing and entertaining, and at times silly, but what movie with Burns and Allen isn't? It's worthy of rediscovery again, with the hope of a re-broadcast someday on any one of the classic movie cable channels or distribution on video cassette or the DVD package. (****)

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