The Kid from Brooklyn (1946)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Norman Z. McLeod

Writers:

Frank Butler (1936 screenplays)
Richard Connell (1936 screenplays)

Release Date:

21 March 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Shy milkman Burleigh Sullivan accidentally knocks out drunken Speed McFarlane, a champion boxer who was flirting with Burleigh's sister...

Plot Keywords:

Boxer | New York City | Beautiful Woman | Boxing | Irish American

Cast

Danny Kaye	...	Burleigh Hubert Sullivan
Virginia Mayo	...	Polly Pringle
Vera-Ellen	...	Susie Sullivan
Steve Cochran	...	Speed McFarlane
Eve Arden	...	Ann Westley
Walter Abel	...	Gabby Sloan
Lionel Stander	...	Spider Schultz
Fay Bainter	...	Mrs. E. Winthrop LeMoyne
Clarence Kolb	...	Wilbur Austin
Victor Cutler	...	Photographer
Charles Cane	...	Willard - Reporter
Jerome Cowan	...	Fight announcer
Don Wilson	...	Radio announcer
Knox Manning	...	Radio announcer
Kay Thompson	...	Matron

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #11291) | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Trivia:

The Milky Way (1934). Comedy. Written by Lynn Root and Harry Clork. Directed by William W. Schorr. Cort Theatre: 8 May 1934- Jul 1934 (closing date unknown/63 performances). Cast: John Brown, Brian Donlevy (as "Speed McFarland"), Leo Donnelly (as "Gabby Sloan") [final Broadway role], Edward Emerson, William Foran, Gladys George (as "Anne Westey"), Emily Lowry, Hugh O'Connell (as "Burleigh Sullivan"), Bernard Pathe. Produced by Sidney Harmon and James R. Ullman. Note: Considering it did not recoup it's investment, this play proved surprising durable on film. It was purchased rather cheaply by Paramount-- recently out of receivership-- and produced as a Harold Lloyd vehicle as The Milky Way (1936) (a flop) and reworked a decade later by Samuel Goldwyn as The Kid from Brooklyn (1946) (a hit) with Danny Kaye in the starring role.

Movie Connections:

Remade as The Calcium Kid (2004)

Soundtrack:

You're The Cause Of It All

Ta da da da da, boom boom.

I agree with the other user comments here on this site that state it helps to like Danny Kaye in the first place, because the film offers nothing fresh and exciting outside of a love for musicals and Kaye's effervescent madcap malarkey. It's a perfect showcase for Kaye to let loose and he delivers smartly as the humble milkman mistakenly built up as a prize fighter of note who then proceeds to lose the grip on his ego. He is surrounded by very stoic actors and they all benefit from a tidy script and foot tapping tunes, and sure enough the laughs are dotted throughout the show, but it still feels like they plonked Danny Kaye on set and built a film around him.

It's also of interest to note the back story of the film actually being a remake of Harold Lloyd's 1936 film The Milky Way, that is something that few people are aware of and great effort was made by the makers of The Kid From Brooklyn to distance themselves from the 36 film. So with that in mind it's hard to not view this film as merely a Kaye vehicle without much heart, and with that I say the film is entertaining enough without being close to being a really good Danny Kaye movie, 6/10.