The Great American Broadcast (1941)

After WWI two men go into radio. Failure leads the wife of one to borrow money from another; she goes on, after separation, to stardom. A coast-to-coast radio program is set up to bring ... See full summary »

Director:

Archie Mayo

Writers:

Don Ettlinger (original screenplay), Edwin Blum (original screenplay),

Stars:

Alice Faye, Jack Oakie, John Payne

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alice Faye	...	Vicki Adams
Jack Oakie	...	Chuck Hadley
John Payne	...	Rix Martin
Cesar Romero	...	Bruce Chadwick
James Newill	...	Singer
Charles Fuqua	...	Song Specialty
The Ink Spots	...	The Four Ink Spots (as The Four Ink Spots)
Hoppy Jones	...	Song Specialty
Bill Kenny	...	Ink Spots Member
Deek Watson	...	Song Specialty
The Nicholas Brothers	...	Dancers (as Nicholas Brothers)
Fayard Nicholas	...	Railroad Station Dance Specialty (as The Nicholas Brothers)
Harold Nicholas	...	Railroad Station Dance Specialty (as The Nicholas Brothers)
The Wiere Brothers	...	Dancers (as Wiere Brothers)
Mary Beth Hughes	...	Secretary

Storyline

After WWI two men go into radio. Failure leads the wife of one to borrow money from another; she goes on, after separation, to stardom. A coast-to-coast radio program is set up to bring everyone back together.

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Plot Keywords:

radio | money | dictating a letter | photographer | drinking | 

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Taglines:

THE "Greatness" OF THE SCREEN...THE "Magic" OF RADIO - Combined in the Gayest Musical Show of them ALL! (original print ad)

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Romance | Sport

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 May 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Addio Broadway!

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Original 1919 Jess Willard-Jack Dempsey fight film footage used.

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Goofs

Although the story takes place in 1919, and the years immediately following, all of Alice Faye's clothes and hairstyles are strictly in the 1941 mode, as are also those of Mary Beth Hughes and the other female members of the cast; the musical arrangements of Faye's featured songs are also in the contemporary 1941 style.

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Connections

Featured in Take It or Leave It (1944)

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Soundtracks

"I Take to You"
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Mack Gordon
Performed by Alice Faye, John Payne and Jack Oakie
Also performed by Alice Faye, John Payne, Jack Oakie and Mary Beth Hughes during the broadcast
Played occasionally in the score

User Reviews

Modest but thoroughly enjoyable

Even back in the early 1940s when MGM was dazzling the world with their spectacular Technicolor musicals, Twentieth Century Fox under Daryl Zanuck's direction was still turning out modest B&W musicals like this one about the early days of radio. No breath-taking dance numbers but lots of pretty if ultimately forgettable songs by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren, enjoyable specialty numbers by the Ink Spots and the incomparable Nicholas Brothers (as railroad porters!); and even a parody radio commercial sung with German accents by those madcap expatriates from the Berlin cabarets, the Wiere Brothers (the poor man's Ritz Bros.) The fast-moving plot is expertly directed by the usually lethargic Archie Mayo with lots of gags and even a bit of pathos from Jack Oakie, and enough romance between handsome John Payne and adorable Alice Faye to keep the girls in the audience happy. Fans of big studio high-style glamor cinematography will enjoy the gorgeous close-ups of Alice Faye lit by J.P. Marley and Leon Shamroy. Mike Frankovitch, who was one day to become president of Columbia Pictures, can be seen briefly as a radio announcer.