Broadway Rhythm (1944)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Roy Del Ruth

Writers:

Harry Clork (screenplay)
Oscar Hammerstein II (play)

Release Date:

19 January 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Music

Plot:

Broadway producer Johnny Demming (George Murphy) courts big-name talent for his upcoming musical show...

Plot Keywords:

Tap Dancing | Dance | Broadway New York City | Fantasy Sequence | Theatrical Family

Cast

George Murphy	...	Johnny Demming
Ginny Simms	...	Helen Hoyt
Charles Winninger	...	Sam Demming
Gloria DeHaven	...	Patsy Demming (as Gloria de Haven)
Nancy Walker	...	Trixie Simpson
Ben Blue	...	Felix Gross
Lena Horne	...	Fernway de la Fer
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson	...	Eddie
Hazel Scott	...	Herself
Kenny Bowers	...	Ray Kent
Aggie Ross	...	Dance Specialty (as The Ross Sisters)
Elmira Ross	...	Dance Specialty (as The Ross Sisters)
Maggie Ross	...	Dance Specialty (as The Ross Sisters)
Dean Murphy	...	Hired man on Farm
Louis Mason	...	Farmer

Also Known As:

The Broadway Melody of 1944 (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The original project was intended to be the fifth film in the "Broadway Melody" series, and was to star Gene Kelly and Eleanor Powell. Studio chief Louis B. Mayer decided instead to turn it into a vehicle to make a star out of Ginny Simms.

Quotes:

Johnny Demming: Here we are - three weeks before the opening and we haven't got a leading lady.

Movie Connections:

Featured in That's Entertainment! III (1994)

Soundtrack:

Pretty Baby

The Ross Sisters

I've always enjoyed this movie and consider it one of the better musicals of the 1940's. There has been quite a bit of interest in the Ross Sisters as they have popped up all over the internet due to their performance in Broadway Rhythm. They were billed as Aggie, Maggie, and Elmira but their real names were Vicki, Dixie, and Betsy. They hailed from Colorado City, Texas and were daughters of dirt farmers during the dust bowl days. They trained on their own and began working theaters and fairs in the Midwest. Pooling their money, they bought a trailer and moved to New Jersey to a trailer park about a mile from the George Washington bridge on Route 6. They earned minor roles in a George Kaufman play, Count Me In, and went on to Broadway Rhythm then Pickadilly Hayride at the Prince of Wales Theater in London. They were summoned before the King and Queen for a command performance on Nov. 4, 1946.