It Happened in Brooklyn (1947)

Director:

Richard Whorf

Writers:

Isobel Lennart (writer)
J.P. McGowan (story)

Release Date:

7 April 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

IT ALL TAKES PLACE IN THAT FASCINATING WONDERLAND OF THE FAR EAST...BROOKLYN! (original print media ad - all caps)

Plot:

Danny has been in the army for 4 years, yet all he thinks about is Brooklyn and how great it is. When he returns after the war...

Plot Keywords:

New York City | Brooklyn New York City | Musical Number | Place Name In Title | Brooklyn Bridge

Cast

Frank Sinatra	...	Danny Webson Miller
Kathryn Grayson	...	Anne Fielding
Peter Lawford	...	Jamie Shellgrove
Jimmy Durante	...	Nick Lombardi
Gloria Grahame	...	Nurse
Marcy McGuire	...	Rae Jakobi
Aubrey Mather	...	Digby John
Tamara Shayne	...	Mrs. Kardos
Bobby Long	...	Johnny O'Brien
William Haade	...	Police Sergeant
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
William Roy	...	Leo Kardos (as Billy Roy)

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Approved (PCA #12119) | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Piano music was played by unseen 17-year-old André Previn, who had joined MGM's music department not long before this movie was made.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Peter Lawford sits next to Kathryn Grayson, his left forearm is practically touching her right shoulder on top of the sofa. A moment later, his arm is about 12 inches away from her.

Quotes:

Nick Lombardi: She likes you. She thinks you're stupefying.

Movie Connections:

References Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

Soundtrack:

Whose Baby Are You

A flawed, but entertaining piece

There are many examples of classic film that have mistakenly been filmed in a garish process of technicolour, often when artificial sets are fiendishly evident. In the case of IT HAPPENED IN BROOKLYN, it would have been far more beneficial otherwise, even if the studio-bound Brooklyn sets were lacking in realistic qualities…simply to merely awaken the audience and poignantly show what could have been a greatly livened and exciting musical in MGM's top ranks. The faded shades of black and white had me continually straining to find any signs of life, especially when the whole thing would have photographed and run more smoothly in colour.

Despite the treat of a star-studded cast featuring Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Durante, Kathryn Grayson and Peter Lawford, only the stellar performances of Durante and Sinatra are worth the running time. Lawford as the grandson of an English duke is too stuffy to fit in within the movie and is too pompously intolerable to put up with for the common audience member, although one can eventually like him a little more by the film's end. Kathryn Grayson's nightingale operatic soprano voice is pleasant, if not fiendishly good, and her performance charming, but despite early flashes of temperament, her effort proves to be wasted in a film that seems to retread every other film of hers except for KISS ME KATE. Gloria Grahame also makes a small appearance as a nurse at the beginning of the film who would have been a better substitute for both Lawford and Grayson had it not been for her singing inability. Her few performances under contract to the studio are demonstrative of talent and beauty at the studio that did not fit into the general mould of performers which is reflected because they did not know what to do with her by relegating her minor parts.

However, the story line of BROOKLYN is somewhat interesting and can almost justifiably be credited for this factor, in comparison to the continuous output of films from the studio which lead the viewer through the tiresome back lot tour. Sinatra, Grayson and Durante take at least forty five minutes to succeed in doing to Lawford what only took Judy Garland twenty seconds to do to Jose Iturbi in THOUSANDS CHEER. The screenplay seems to specialise in prolonging epic delays in its events and lacks the rousing comedy of a Comden and Green script, but in general is not too bad an effort, even if some of the most important scenes are either rushed or haltingly abrupt. There is a general message of kindheartedness which in turn makes the film cheerful and pleasant even though `everyone is miserable in Brooklyn', and the fact that the director is almost screaming at his audience to love the film and the people in it.

As always with the majority of many films of the genre, the musical program intentionally exceeds the plot's importance, which can be expected. In MGM's case, this method often produced a hit song. Despite some lovely music and lyrics by Cahn and Styne, I strain to remember any song. This may have been because opera was strongly integrated in a film of style clashes and thus I couldn't remember any of the songs since opera is generally a painful experience, or because they lacked the entertaining passion of many other MGM's songs. In addition to this, Andre Previn's piano solos are thrown in. Gene Kelly is missing but since none of the lead actors are good enough dancers, a pre-teen kid is pushed into the mix to pick up where Kelly's athleticism left off.

Because of these haphazard factors, IT HAPPENED IN BROOKLYN can be best compared to a jigsaw of innovative elements virtually impossible to put together. None of the factors are able to complement each other, but the film is demonstrative of a well-handed routine musical that could have stood out with others had Busby Berkley or the Freed unit been at the helm. It is an enjoyable entertainment piece that showed great promise, but I'll be damned if I know why.

Rating: 7.5/10