At a scant 92 minutes, 'The Lullaby of Broadway' (1951) manages to get its job done without overstaying its welcome. The film is really a throwback musical. Based upon the 1930s extravaganzas a la Busby Berkeley, Warner Bros. trundles out a dated flick in glorious Technicolor, with an atypical backstage yarn. The film stars Doris Day then a relatively new protégée as Melinda Howard. Coming to America to visit her mother, whom she believes is a great star, Melinda is treated to the truth in short order. Not that that stops her from becoming a Broadway sensation, donning the top half of tux like the great Eleanor Powell, and exploding onto the screen with Cole Porter's 'Just One Of Those Things'.
Yet there's a total lack of romantic chemistry between Melinda and her dancing partner, Tom Farnham (Gene Nelson). Not that any of this stops director, David Butler from force feeding his audience the prospect of a grand amour that never genuinely materializes on screen. What saves the film from becoming a colossal gag is its score. Jam packed with a cornucopia of production numbers, including 'You're Getting to Be A Habit With Me' and Gene Nelson's tour de force, 'Zing Went the Strings of My Heart', and coupled with a supporting cast of contract players that include S.Z Sakall and Florence Bates, "The Lullaby Of Broadway" manages to keep its artistic merit above the water line of mediocrity.
Warner's DVD is a mixed blessing. As with many of its other vintage Technicolor features, there are problems with mis-registration of the three strip process that occasionally create disturbing halos and blur the image. For the most part, there is a frothy, rich look to the film that is in keeping with the magical quality of Technicolor. Rich blacks and clean white and a decided lack of film grain make the presentation quite pleasing on the eyes. The audio is mono but nicely rendered. A gallery of theatrical trailers from this and other Doris Day films is all we get for extras.
Yet there's a total lack of romantic chemistry between Melinda and her dancing partner, Tom Farnham (Gene Nelson). Not that any of this stops director, David Butler from force feeding his audience the prospect of a grand amour that never genuinely materializes on screen. What saves the film from becoming a colossal gag is its score. Jam packed with a cornucopia of production numbers, including 'You're Getting to Be A Habit With Me' and Gene Nelson's tour de force, 'Zing Went the Strings of My Heart', and coupled with a supporting cast of contract players that include S.Z Sakall and Florence Bates, "The Lullaby Of Broadway" manages to keep its artistic merit above the water line of mediocrity.
Warner's DVD is a mixed blessing. As with many of its other vintage Technicolor features, there are problems with mis-registration of the three strip process that occasionally create disturbing halos and blur the image. For the most part, there is a frothy, rich look to the film that is in keeping with the magical quality of Technicolor. Rich blacks and clean white and a decided lack of film grain make the presentation quite pleasing on the eyes. The audio is mono but nicely rendered. A gallery of theatrical trailers from this and other Doris Day films is all we get for extras.