Broadway Limited (1941)

Director:

Gordon Douglas

Writer:

Rian James (original screenplay)

Release Date:

13 June 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A publicity stunt staged on a train known as the Broadway Limited creates problems because of an unknown baby that was part of the stunt.

Plot Keywords:

Train | Baby | Actress | Director | Publicity Stunt

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Victor McLaglen	...	Maurice 'Mike' Monohan
Marjorie Woodworth	...	April Tremaine / Mary Potter
Dennis O'Keefe	...	Dr. Harvey North
Patsy Kelly	...	Patsy Riley
Zasu Pitts	...	Myra Prottle
Leonid Kinskey	...	Ivan Makail Ivanski
George E. Stone	...	Lefty
Gay Ellen Dakin	...	Baby
Charles C. Wilson	...	Detective (as Charles Wilson)
John Sheehan	...	Conductor
Edgar Edwards	...	State Trooper
Eric Alden	...	State Trooper
Sam McDaniel	...	Train Porter (as Sam McDaniels)

Also Known As:

The Baby Vanishes

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #7110) | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Hal Roach Studios

Little-known gem among screwball comedies

The Broadway Limited is much funnier, and more consistently funny, than many better-known screwball comedies of the period. Its plot builds on several interlaced misunderstandings. A movie star (Marjorie Woodworth) is pressured by her scheming, tyrannical Hollywood producer (Leonid Kinskey) to pretend to adopt a baby for publicity purposes. The producer's assistant (Patsy Kelly) turns to an ex-boyfriend, a railroad engineer (Victor McLaglen), to borrow a baby for the stunt, but the baby he gets may have been kidnapped and the subject of a widespread police hunt. The movie star runs into her ex-boyfriend (Dennis O'Keefe), who thinks the baby really is hers. And the baby keeps disappearing and reappearing on a cross-country train trip.

As in many comedies, the romantic lead roles are blander and less interesting than those written for the character actors, who get all the best lines. Top-billed Victor McLaglen has a substantial role -- watch his underplayed reaction to the bratty kid who asks him, "Is that your real face?" But so does Leonid Kinskey, who has a ball and one of his biggest parts ever as the manipulative producer. Down-to-earth Patsy Kelly replaced dithering Zazu Pitts as Thelma Todd's partner in two-reel comedies, but this is the only film in which they appeared together. That's a shame, as they make a superb team, particularly when they share a bed with the baby (and a leaky hot-water bottle) between them.