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Tin Pan Alley (1940) More at IMDbPro »


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Overview

User Rating:
6.9/10   143 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Pamela Harris (story)
Robert Ellis (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Tin Pan Alley on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
29 November 1940 (USA) more
Genre:
Plot:
Songwriters Calhoun and Harrigan get Katie and Lily Blane to introduce a new one. Lily goes to England... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Won Oscar. more
NewsDesk:
Carrie - The Musical Casting Details
 (From Dread Central. 17 November 2009, 6:04 AM, PST)

User Comments:
Great showpieces more (8 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Alice Faye ... Katie Blane

Betty Grable ... Lily Blane
Jack Oakie ... Harry Aloysius Calhoun
John Payne ... Francis Aloysius 'Skeets' Harrigan
Allen Jenkins ... Casey (janitor)
Esther Ralston ... Nora Bayes
Fayard Nicholas ... Dance Specialty (as The Nicholas Brothers)
Harold Nicholas ... Dance Specialty (as The Nicholas Brothers)
Ben Carter ... Black man in Skeets' corner
John Loder ... Captain Reginald 'Reggie' Carstair
Elisha Cook Jr. ... Joe Codd, Composer
Fred Keating ... Harvey Raymond
Billy Gilbert ... The Sheik of Araby
Lillian Porter ... Telephone Operator
Princess Vanessa Ammon ... Specialty Dancer
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Additional Details

Runtime:
94 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Certification:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
"He'd Have to Get Under - Get Out and Get Under (to Fix Up His Automobile)" (music by Maurice Abrahams, lyrics by Grant Clarke and Edgar Leslie), performed by Alice Faye, Betty Grable and Jack Oakie, was cut from this film. more
Soundtrack:
Take Me Back to Melody Lane more

FAQ

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful.
Great showpieces, 2 May 2005
7/10
Author: Michael Bo (michael.bo@pol.dk) from Copenhagen, Denmark

"All good-lookin' like he is, there's no use in getting' yourself all messed up", a black boy ponders, when 'Skeets' Harrigan (John Payne) drops out of a promising boxing career to pursue his dreams of becoming a renowned Tin Pan Alley song publisher with his friend from the Midwest, Harry Calhoun (Jack Oakie). On their way to the top they meet the Blane sisters, Katie (Alice Faye) and Lily (Betty Grable). 'Skeets' and Katie fall in love, but he is adamantly focused on his career and when he gives a song meant for Katie to a famous musical star, she has had it and leaves for London with her sister. That is when World War I erupts ...

'Tin Pan Alley' has more charm than it has plot, and it's a delightful watch with charismatic actors. Faye and Grable are a wonderful pair of tap-dancing sisters, Oakie is genuinely funny as the befuddled average Joe playing at being a tough guy, and John Payne, a Robert Taylor look-alike, clearly in a role that must have been written for typical Faye co-star Tyrone Power, rises to the occasion and delivers his all, a perfect mix of athletic hunkiness and crooning abilities, not the easiest performance to pull of, as 'Skeets' is quite callous in the way he presses forward.

The film abounds with great music and showpieces, 'Honeysuckle Rose' in Faye's very nice rendition with a boy chorus, 'The Sheik of Araby' featuring glorious tap-dancing by The Nicholas Brothers, the rousing "America, I Love You", and the only song actually written for the film, Harry Warren's 'You Say the Sweetest Things (Baby)", utilized to the fullest in a clever montage.

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