Angels Over Broadway (1940)

Directors:

Ben Hecht
Lee Garmes (co-director)

Writer:

Ben Hecht (written by)

Release Date:

2 October 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Music

Tagline:

A HECTIC ROMANCE TO BLOW THE FISES OUT ALONG MAZDA LANE (original poster - all caps)

Plot:

A cuckolded embezzler on the verge of suicide is helped by a tout, an alcoholic playwright, and a pick-up girl to reimburse the money with a gambling sting.

Plot Keywords:

Suicide Note | Scheme | Playwright | Tout | Gambling Sting

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Douglas Fairbanks Jr.	...	Bill O'Brien
Rita Hayworth	...	Nina Barona
Thomas Mitchell	...	Gene Gibbons
John Qualen	...	Charles Engle
George Watts	...	Joseph Hopper
Ralph Theodore	...	Dutch Enright
Eddie Foster	...	Louie Artino
Jack Roper	...	Eddie Burns
Constance Worth	...	Sylvia Marbe
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Harry Antrim	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)
Walter Baldwin	...	Rennick (uncredited)
Richard Bond	...	Stevie - Sylvia's Escort (uncredited)
Jack Carr	...	Tony (uncredited)
James Conaty	...	Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Frank Conlan	...	Joe (uncredited)
Jimmy Conlin	...	Pawn Shop Proprietor (uncredited)
Catherine Courtney	...	Miss Karpin (uncredited)
Carmen D'Antonio	...	Nightclub Dancer (uncredited)
Tommy Dixon	...	Checkroom Boy (uncredited)
Edward Earle	...	Vincent - Headwaiter (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Caroline Frasher	...	Street Walker (uncredited)
Roger Gray	...	Gambler (uncredited)
Carlton Griffin	...	Nightclub Waiter (uncredited)
Art Howard	...	Night Court Judge (uncredited)
Jerry Jerome	...	Gambler (uncredited)
William Lally	...	Stage Doorman (uncredited)
Ethelreda Leopold	...	Cigarette Girl (uncredited)
Patricia Maier	...	Girl (uncredited)
Blanche Payson	...	Large Woman (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Police Lieutenant (uncredited)
Al Rhein	...	Gambler (uncredited)
Walter Sande	...	Lunch Wagon Counterman (uncredited)
Cy Schindell	...	Jack (uncredited)
Harry Strang	...	Gambler (uncredited)
Fred Sweeney	...	Mr. Hugo (uncredited)
John Tyrrell	...	First Cabby (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Billy Wayne	...	Second Cabby (uncredited)

Directed by
Ben Hecht
Lee Garmes		(co-director)

Writing credits
Ben Hecht		(written by)

Produced by
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.	....	associate producer
Ben Hecht	....	producer

Original Music by
George Antheil

Cinematography by
Lee Garmes		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Gene Havlick

Art Direction by
Lionel Banks

Costume Design by
Robert Kalloch		(gowns) (as Kalloch)

Makeup Department
William Knight	....	makeup supervisor (uncredited)
Robert J. Schiffer	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Rex Bailey	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Cliff P. Broughton	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Lodge Cunningham	....	sound (uncredited)
John P. Livadary	....	sound engineer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Martin	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ray Howell	....	costume supervisor (uncredited)

Music Department
Morris Stoloff	....	musical director (as M.W. Stoloff)
Germaine Ortala Leclerc	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Harold Godsoe	....	production assistant
Evelyn Earle	....	script clerk (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1940) (USA) (theatrical) (as Columbia Pictures Corporation)
• Columbia Pictures Proprietary (1940) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures Proprietary (1940) (New Zealand) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures Proprietary (1940) (Malaysia) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures Corporation (1940) (UK) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures of Argentina (1940) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures of Chile (1940) (Chile) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures do Brasil (1940) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures de Cuba (1940) (Cuba) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures of Peru (1940) (Peru) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures Near East (1940) (Egypt) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Television (2000) (USA) (TV)
• LK-TEL (2002) (Argentina) (VHS)
• LK-TEL (2002) (Argentina) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording) | Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15 | Argentina:Atp | USA:TV-PG | USA:Approved (PCA #6487) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Walter Baldwin (Rennick) and Stanley Brown (Master of Ceremonies) are listed by a modern source as cast members for those roles, but they did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: When the camera pans with Charles Engle as he gets up to leave the poker game, the shadow of a cable dangling from the microphone boom can be seen following him against the back wall.

Quotes:

Nina Barone:Please beat it! I'm no gun moll!
Bill O'Brien:You ain't no buzzard's dish either - not when I'm around!

Soundtrack:

Mon Homme

Rita Hayworth - The Original Marilyn

It is so easy to write off beauty as the reason an actress achieves great rank in Hollywood, and it is what also plagued Marilyn Monroe - the desperate need to be taken seriously for your talent rather than your looks once you have become famous for beauty alone.

I myself had never given Rita Hayworth props for anything other than her luminous visual persona. So it was with great delight that I came across this exceptional film, with its screwball comedy timing and humor, and its amazing ensemble casting - from a sleazy but compelling performance by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. to the ironic portrayal of the has-been drunk played to iconic perfection by Thomas Mitchell.

But the two real gems are John Qualen as a suicidal bookkeeper who is the target of a 2 bit mob scam, and Rita Hayworth in a portrayal as exceptional to me as Rosalind Russell in The Front Page, or Marilyn Monroe in 7 Year Itch - a star-struck wanna-be who is barely making it in shady circumstances, yet manages to convey tremendous innocence and idealism in spite of her deeply compromised situation.

The most striking thing to me of all is how uncanny it is to watch what one would consider to be a classic Monroe performance coming from an actress seven years prior to Marilyn having been given her first on screen part. Suddenly I felt like I understood how Marilyn had crafted her persona - hours of sitting in darkened theaters watching Rita Hayworth concoct her brilliant magic of innocence and seduction like it was real and not a carefully crafted act.

In my humble opinion, I don't believe Marilyn would have been nearly as iconic had she not had Rita Hayworth's example to follow, and this portrayal in Angels Over Broadway is the link that, to me, irrefutably proves my point! What an amazing, under-appreciated work of group talent and screen writing art! Rita is poignantly brilliant and her performance ranks for me with Robert Williams in Platinum Blonde for great, naturalistic acting that lasts through time.