Top of the Town (1937)

Director:

Ralph Murphy

Writers:

Lou Brock (story), Charles Grayson,

Stars:

Doris Nolan, George Murphy, Ella Logan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Doris Nolan	...	Diana Borden
George Murphy	...	Ted Lane
Ella Logan	...	Dorine
Hugh Herbert	...	Hubert
Gerald Oliver Smith	...	Borden Executive
Mischa Auer	...	Hamlet
Gregory Ratoff	...	J.J. Stone
Peggy Ryan	...	Peggy
J. Scott Smart	...	Beaton (as Jack Smart)
Ray Mayer	...	Roger
Henry Armetta	...	Bacciagalluppi
Gertrude Niesen	...	Gilda Norman
Claude Gillingwater	...	William Borden
Ernest Cossart	...	Augustus Borden
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Henry Borden

Storyline

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 April 1937 (USA)

Also Known As:

Auf den Dächern von New York

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Top of the Town"
Music by Jimmy McHugh
Lyrics by Harold Adamson

User Reviews

Sometimes Things are Little-Known For a Reason...

The reason is they are horrible. Such is Top of the Town, an ambitious musical from Universal, which, despite stellar production values, never gets off the ground. Most fluffy musical comedies like this one have something resembling a plot, but Top of the Town really doesn't, though it attempts to. There is a dizzy dame type of an heiress (Doris Nolan) who arrives in Manhattan just having come back from Russia and her heart is now supposedly full of the plight of the proletariat. OF COURSE, the best way to help the suffering masses to build a GIGANTIC NIGHTCLUB for the rich and elite only, with musical numbers that convey the pain of the poor! It is far too nonsensical in a bad way to be amusing in the slightest. The heiress has nothing else interesting to her character besides that, she is a run-of-the-mill glamorous blonde who doesn't have one good line to say. George Murphy does his usual song-and-dance-man thing, which is fine, but the rest of the cast is terrible and forgettable. None of the songs in this film have become standards, and it's a good thing, because they are unoriginal and presented badly. The musical number that is meant to bad, "Fireman, Fireman, Save My Child" is the most entertaining of the lot. Everything else was either your usual 30s kitsch done un-charmingly, or incredibly bizarre, like people in blackface wearing light-up costumes with fake gems on them with Mischa Auer being Hamlet in the background...Don't bother seeking this one out. You may think you love 30s musicals, but really, you don't love them this much.