1938 Broadway Tune

Millionaire Herman Whipple ( Raymond Walburn ) finances the Broadway production of young director Steve Raleigh ( Robert Taylor ). He enthusiastically gets to work. Meanwhile, a girl named Sally Lee ( Elinor Powell ) secretly gets on a train to New York to take care of her beloved racehorse, nicknamed Stargeyser, formerly owned by her family, but sold to Whipple's wife Caroline ( Binnie Barnes ) because of need. Steve accidentally discovers Sally in a train and is amazed at how well she dances. He decides to give her the main role in his show. Arriving in New York, she settles in a boarding house owned by an elderly woman Alice Clayton ( Sophie Tucker ), who is trying to break into Raleigh to demonstrate his daughter Betty's vocal abilities ( Judy Garland ).
A romantic relationship is gradually developing between Steve and Sally, but they agree to wait a bit with them before the premiere, and begin rehearsals. Meanwhile, Carolyn Whipple decides to sell Stargayser because he was seriously injured. At the auction, Sally does not stand up and buys him for $ 1,750, despite the fact that he does not have that kind of money. To help her, Steve takes the missing amount from Whipple, but is afraid that she will not accept money from him and asks their mutual friend Sonny ( George Murphy ) to transfer it supposedly on his behalf. Sally redeems the horse and starts nursing it, while due to lack of money, her other friend Peter ( Buddy Ebsen ), who works for Caroline, is forced to steal grain from her stable.
Soon, Carolyn makes her husband demand that Steve replace Sally with the famous actress. He defiantly refuses and Whipples not only refuse further funding for the show, but also remind him of the large debt that he must repay on time. Sally decides to leave the project, considering herself untalented, and devotes all her time to preparing the horse for the upcoming races. Steve begins to dwell on the rapids of rich people, but everyone refuses to finance his production. As a result, the fate of all friends who got into debt and lost everything except the horse should be decided at the upcoming races with a prize of 25 thousand dollars. The matter is complicated by the fact that Carolyn Whipple again intrigues, putting on the start another his horse named Dubonnet, which all experts recognize as the main favorite of the race.
And then comes the day of racing. Stargeyser starts very poorly, burying himself in the first obstacle, and then completely running to the other side, ignoring the rider. And then another member of the company, George Papalupas ( Billy Gilbert ), recalls that in training the horse always showed the best results when she heard the famous aria “Largo al factotum” performed by his nephew Nikki ( Igor Gorin ). George pulls Nikki to the microphone and makes him sing. Stargeyser makes a breakthrough and is half a block ahead of Dubonne.
The film ends with a fourteen-minute production, in which all the main characters took part. Dance numbers performed by Sally, Sonny, Betty and Peter, vocal - Alice Clayton and Nikki. Everything is crowned with a four-minute Sally solo dance. In the final scene, in the foreground are Sonny, Alice, Nikki, Sally, Stargeyser, Steve, Betty and Peter, in the background are dozens of extras, the choir sounds, and the film ends.

In 1929, the film “ Broadway Melody ” was shot at MGM, which won the Oscar and collected about three million dollars at the box office ^{[3] [4]} with a budget of only 379 thousand ^[4] . The popularity of the film led to the fact that the studio decided to release several more such paintings. In 1935, the film “ Broadway melody of 1936 ” was shot at MGM, in which Elinor Powell played a dancer who wanted to go to Broadway, and Robert Taylor - a young director. The music for that picture was written by Nasio Herb Brown, the lyrics by Arthur Freed ^[5] . The same people were chosen to work on the third film of the series - “Broadway Melody of 1938” (although there is a version that Allan Jones originally claimed the role that Robert Taylor eventually got ^[6] ). It was originally planned that other actors who starred in the previous film ( Una Merkel , Sid Silvers and Francis Langford ) would also take part, but they eventually abandoned this idea ^[6] . But the legendary Broadway star Sophie Tucker agreed to star. The remaining actors, including the fifteen-year-old Judy Garland, were selected from among the full-time artists of MGM, with the exception of Binny Barnes, who had a contract with Universal and was specifically engaged for the sake of this film ^[7] . For vocal dubbing, Elinor Powell was again chosen by Marjorie Lane ^{[6] [8]} . The film was created from the end of February until July 20, 1937. ^[9]
Interestingly, for the filming of the final show, the scene was decorated with posters with the names of real Broadway stars 1910-1920. Therefore, during Tucker’s number, posters were hanging in the background not with the name of her heroine Alice Clayton, but with her real stage name “Sophie Tucker”. In addition, on one of the posters there is an inscription “Broadway Melody 1937” - the working title of the film ^[6] .

The following compositions were sounded in the film ^[10] (music - Nasio Herb Brown , lyrics - Arthur Fried , unless otherwise specified):
“Broadway Melody” (1929) - performed by the choir in the opening credits, a reprise sounds in the final scene of the film.
“You Are My Lucky Star” (1935) - performed in the opening credits by the orchestra, in the end Igor Gorin sings one line from the song.
“Yours and Mine” (1937) - Judy Garland sings a small fragment in the opening credits, Marjorie Lane sings a song during the train scene (duplicating Elinor Powell), during her final show, Powell dances with Murphy and Garland with Ebsen.
“ The Toreador Song ” from the opera Carmen (1875, music by Georges Bizet , libretto by Henri Méliak , Louis Halevy ) - Igor Gorin sings in the scene opening the film.
"Follow in My Footsteps" (1937) - George Murphy, Buddy Ebsen and Marjorie Lane (dubbing Elinor Powell) sing, sounds during a train dance scene. The composition also contains excerpts from the folk song “ The Old Gray Mare ” and the famous Christmas “ Jingle Bells ” (registered in 1858, author - James Lord Pierpont ).
“Everybody Sing” (1937) - Judy Garland sings, Sophie Tucker, Barnett Parker, Delos Jucks ^[11] and the choir sing along a few lines, sounds during the scene of Alice Clayton’s visit with his daughter to Steve Raleigh’s office. In the middle are used excerpts from the popular children's poem “ Sing a Song of Sixpence ”, as well as from the songs “ Happy Days Are Here Again ” (1929, music by Milton Ager , lyrics by Jack Yellen ) and “ In the Evening by the Moonlight ”(1880, lyrics and music - James A. Bland ). The song was recorded on March 5, 1937, and in two stages - first recorded the first half of the song with the vocals of one Judy, and then the second, with the participation of everyone else ^[12] . "Everybody Sing" became Garland's first song, performed in the MGM film and subsequently released on the single. The recording was made on August 30, the record was published in September 1937 ^[13] . The single version of the song is slightly different from the one used in the film: Judy sings alone; the middle part is missing; there is no characteristic feature of the film version - in one of the refrains, the tempo remains unchanged, but the size of four measures changes from 4/4 to 6/4, which gives the impression of a sudden slowdown.
" Auld Lang Syne " (Scottish folk song) - a melody sounds in the background during the story of Alice Clayton about his career on Broadway.
“ Some of These Days ” (1910, lyrics and music by Shelton Brooks ) - Sophie Tucker sings during the theater rehearsal scene. In the original version of 1911, the song was also performed by Tucker, later on she recorded it several times for various films, including Broadway Melody-38.
“I'm Feelin 'Like a Million” (1937) - George Murphy and Marjorie Lane (dubbing Elinor Powell) sing, sounds during the dance scene of Sonny and Sally in the rain.
“ Largo al factotum ” (1816, an aria from the opera “The Barber of Seville” , music by Joacchino Rossini , libretto by Cesare Sterbini ) - sings by Igor Gorin, sounds during the Stargeiser training scene, is repeated during the race scene.
“(Dear Mr. Gable) You Made Me Love You,” the original title is “ You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It) ” (1913, music by James W. Monaco , lyrics by Joseph McCarthy , in 1937 the text was specially adapted for the film by Roger Edens ) - sings by Judy Garland, sounds during the scene when Betty Clayton writes a letter to Clark Gable . The song became the main hit of this film and brought the fifteen-year-old Judy Garland to a new round of popularity, becoming a real sensation ^{[7] [14] [15]} . The new text was an appeal by a young fan to one of the most popular and grossing actors of the 30s, Clark Gable. Judy first performed the song on February 1, 1937, at a gable birthday party ^{[7] [16] [17]} . Her memories of that day:

I trembled with fear like an aspen leaf ... On stage, this happened to me for the first time. But I gave everything I could, because I admired him so much <...> He hugged me and said: "You are the sweetest girl of all that I saw in my life." When I looked at him close, my knees bent. I cried and was just in seventh heaven! ^[17]

Original text

Trembling like a leaf ... stage-frightened for the first time. [But] I gave it all I had, because I admire him so <...> He put his arms around me and said, 'You are the sweetest little girl I ever saw in my life'. Looking at him up close, my knees almost caved in. And then I cried, and it was simply heavenly!

And here is what Gable himself recalled:

When little Judy started to sing, I quit everything I did, I was amazed and really moved. She was so nervous and tried to please everything that you could not help her with anything, but at the same time fell in love with her. ^[17]

Original text

When little Judy was brought on the set to sing, I just about dropped, I was so surprised and really touched. She was so nervous and eager to please that you couldn't help but fall in love with her

It was thanks to that performance that Judy got a role in Broadway Melody-38 ^{[6] [18]} . The film version was recorded on May 7 ^{[12] [16]} , the single version on September 24 and was released in October 1937 ^[13] . There are no cardinal differences (compared with the same "Everybody Sing") between the versions. The song gained such popularity in the USA that even a documentary about the actor, released in 1968, was called “Dear Mr. Gable ” ^[19] , and in 1998 she was inducted into the Grammy Award Hall of Fame ^[20] .
“Your Broadway and My Broadway” (1937) - Sophie Tucker and Igor Gorin sing, sounds during the stage of the final show. This song was also recorded by Judy Garland, accompanied by the choir, but was not included in the film. The first version of Garland was published in 1994 as part of the Judy Garland - The Golden Years at MGM DVD box set ^[21] , and appeared on CD for the first time in the 1996 double collection Collectors' Gems from The MGM Films ^[22] .
"Broadway Rhythm" (1935) - the choir sings during the stage of the final show.
“Got a Pair of New Shoes” (1937) - the choir sings a short passage during the scene of the final show. The entire song first appeared in the performance of Judy Garland in the next film with her participation - “ Purebreds Don't Cry ” ^[23] .

Critics praised the dance numbers performed by Elinor Powell, but overall the film was described as a pale imitation of its predecessors. The reviews almost ignored the work of most stars, since all attention was focused on the award-winning reviews for “Dear Mr. Gable ”by Judy Garland and always critically acclaimed Sophie Tucker. An article by The Hollywood Reporter wrote: “The sensational work of young Judy Garland makes me wonder in surprise - why was she kept secret for the last few months?” ^[18] . A review by The New York Times read: “There are some moments in the film that are more successful than the film itself <...> The amazing Judy Garland is a challenge Metro responded to with Dina Durbin. ” ^[24] And Variety said: “There is no point in delving into the details until Sophie Tucker and Judy Garland are removed from the frame. You may hear what others are saying, but Miss Tucker is the only one you see. And then she steps back and pushes the teenager, Judy Garland, performing “Everybody Sing” in her voice, in which Tucker echoes are heard “ ^[24] .

• The comedy “ Our Gang Follies of 1938 ” mimics the name, concept and style of the film.
• One of the songs on The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway by Genesis is called Broadway Melody of 1974.
• The most famous scene of the film, where the heroine Judy Garland writes a letter to Clark Gable, was parodyed in the comedy “Hairspray” in 2007 ^{[25] [26]} .

The movie was released on DVD by Warner Home Video on April 8, 2008 along with the movie Broadway Tune of 1936 . The disc was sold both separately and as part of the Classic Musicals From The Dream Factory, Volume 3 box set ^[27] .

• Broadway Melody of 1938 on the Internet Movie Database
• Broadway Melody of 1938 (Neopr.) . on the TCM website
• Broadway Melody of 1938 on allmovie

• Scott Schechter. Judy Garland: The Day-by-day Chronicle of a Legend. - Lanham: Taylor Trade Publishing, 2006 .-- ISBN 978-1589793002 .