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:

Continuity: When Gene goes over to his soon to be ex-wife in the club, the ashtray fills up between cuts.

Quotes:

Eugene 'Gene' Gibbons:[seeing a waiter put two drinks on the table] Fine, fine! I no longer have to order drinks. I just attract them. He shall have liquor wherever he goes!
[to Engle]
Eugene 'Gene' Gibbons:As I understand from your communication, Mr. Engle, you're on the brink of self-destruction. May I shake your hand? A brilliant idea! I speak as one who has destroyed himself a score of times. I am, Mr. Engle, a veteran corpse. We are all corpses here! This rendezvous is one of the musical graveyards of the town. Caters to zombies hopping around with dead hearts and price tags for souls. Hmmmp!
[...]

Soundtrack:

Mon Homme

Rita Really Delivers In This Interesting Film

I first became friends with Rita when I was 22 and the same age as she is in this only film of hers I had never seen till last night. On that night she and Hermes Pan (master choreographer)were slumming to show her what a coffee house was like, and my roommate who knew Hermes invited them to the hippie like house in an alley way in West Hollywood we shared.We both were in love with the Goddess and did black magic (amateur)to see that Hermes would bring her and it worked.Rita was 38 an still beautiful,a gypsy who drank our cheap wine,and we talked and laughed till dawn. From that day forward,we spent three or four nights a week at her home on Hartford and she often burnt dinner for us and we drank Dom Perignon and we danced and laughed and she told stories and her Brooklyn accent would come out (I hear it a lot in ANGELS) Rita always insisted she could act and this film showed her talent and some of her incredible allure which was emerging.I think she did BLOOD AND SAND the next year where she was outrageously sensual and cruel.She was great in that.Paulene Kael disliked her because she was dubbed by Anita Ellis in most films even though Rita had a decent voice. I found this Hecht film to be far ahead of its time with terrific casting and dialogue which sounded like Mankiewicz in a way,and a touch of Damon Runyon with sophistication.It is an odd, and terrific film and my Rita was really good and I watched her and she "listened" to other actors like a seasoned performer.She still is magical and her presence on film still excites.