''Broadway'' is a 1942

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

directed by

William A. Seiter William Alfred Seiter (June 10, 1890 – July 26, 1964) was an American film director. Life and career Seiter was born in New York City. After attending Hudson River Military Academy, Seiter broke into films in 1915 as a bit player at Mack Senn ...

and starring

George Raft George Raft (né Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembe ...

as himself and Pat O'Brien as a detective. The supporting cast features Janet Blair and

Broderick Crawford William Broderick Crawford (December 9, 1911 – April 26, 1986) was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Willie Stark in the film ''All the King's Men'' (1949), which earned him an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Of ...

. Another fictionalized biographical movie based on Raft's life, ''

The George Raft Story ''The George Raft Story'' is a 1961 American biographical film directed by Joseph M. Newman that stars Ray Danton as Hollywood film star George Raft. The picture was retitled ''Spin of a Coin'' for release in the United Kingdom, a reference to R ...

'' (1961), featured a different actor (

Ray Danton Ray Danton (born Raymond Caplan; September 19, 1931 – February 11, 1992) was an American radio, film, stage, and television actor, director, and producer whose most famous roles were in the screen biographies ''The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamo ...

) playing Raft.

Plot

George Raft, a Hollywood dancer, returns to

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

and recalls working in a nightclub with a bootlegger's girlfriend.

Cast

as George Raft * Pat O'Brien as Dan McCorn * Janet Blair as Billie Moore *

as Steve Crandall *

Marjorie Rambeau Marjorie Burnet Rambeau (July 15, 1889 – July 6, 1970) was an American film and stage actress. She began her stage career at age 12, and appeared in several silent films before debuting in her first sound film, '' Her Man'' (1930). She was t ...

as Lillian (Lil) Rice *

Anne Gwynne Anne Gwynne (born Marguerite Gwynne Trice; December 10, 1918 – March 31, 2003) was an American actress who was known as one of the first scream queens because of her numerous appearances in horror films. Gwynne was also one of the most popular ...

as Pearl * S. Z. Sakall as Nick *

Edward Brophy Edward Santree Brophy (February 27, 1895 – May 27, 1960) was an American character actor and comedian, as well as an assistant director and second unit director during the 1920s. Small of build, balding, and raucous-voiced, he frequently portr ...

as Porky (as Edward S. Brophy) * Marie Wilson as Grace *

Gus Schilling August "Gus" Schilling (June 20, 1908 – June 16, 1957) was an American film actor who started in burlesque comedy and usually played nervous comic roles, often unbilled. A friend of Orson Welles, he appeared in five of the director's films � ...

as Joe *

Ralf Harolde Ralf Harolde (born Ralph Harold Wigger, May 17, 1899 – November 11, 1974) was an American character actor who often played gangsters. Between 1920 and 1963, he appeared in 99 films, including ''Smart Money (1931 film), Smart Money'' with ...

as Dolph *

Arthur Shields Arthur Shields (15 February 1896 – 27 April 1970) was an Irish actor on television, stage and film. Early years Born in Portobello, Dublin into a family who were members of the Church of Ireland, Shields started acting in the Abbey Theatre w ...

as Pete Dailey *

Iris Adrian Iris Adrian Hostetter (May 29, 1912 – September 17, 1994) was an American stage and film actress. Life and career Adrian was an only child, born in Los Angeles, California, to Florence (née Van Every) and Adrian Earl Hostetter, who wed in 1 ...

as Maisie * Janet Warren as Ruby (as Elaine Morey) * Dorothy Moore as Ann *

Nestor Paiva Nestor Caetano Paiva (June 30, 1905 – September 9, 1966) was an American stage, radio, film and television actor of Portuguese descent. He performed in over 400 motion pictures either as an extra, a bit player, or as a significant supporting ...

as Rinalti *

Abner Biberman Abner Warren Biberman (April 1, 1909 – June 20, 1977) was an American actor, director, and screenwriter. Ruthless-looking, he was in demand to portray a wide variety of heavies and foreign nationalities during the Golden Years of Hollywo ...

as Trado *

Damian O'Flynn Damian O'Flynn (January 29, 1907 – August 8, 1982) was an Irish- American actor of film and television originally from Holt, Nebraska. Biography Damian Francis Flynn, stage name Damian O'Flynn, began his stage career in Omaha before at ...

as Scar Edwards * Mack Gray as Mack 'Killer' Gray

Production

Universal paid $175,000 for the rights to the 1926 play of the same name that had previously been filmed in 1929. On

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

, Lee Tracy played the dancer, Thomas Jackson played the detective and Paul Porcasi played the nightclub owner. In the 1929 film, Jackson and Porcasi reprised their roles and Glenn Tryon replaced Tracy. Pat O'Brien once played the detective role in a road show. In February 1941, Universal announced the film for the coming year. Bruce Manning, a writer who had recently been promoted to producer, would produce and George Raft and Broderick Crawford would star. Manning and Felix Young were to write the screenplay. However, Raft was under contract for three more pictures with

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

, which refused to loan him to Universal. Raft had been refusing roles that he did not like over the course of eight months, but an agreement was reached whereby $27,500 would be taken from Raft's salary to allow Warner Bros. to borrow

Robert Cummings Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings (June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990) was an American film and television actor who appeared in roles in comedy films such as ''The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941) and ''Princess O'Rourke'' (1943), and in d ...

from Universal. In December 1941, Raft signed on to make the film. Manning wanted to change the bootlegger characters from the play into foreign agents. He discussed the story with Raft and recognized the similarities between the story of Roy, the dancer played on stage by Tracy, and that of Raft's early career. He kept the characters as bootleggers but changed the story to focus on Raft. He also added a prologue and epilogue in which Raft returns to New York after establishing himself as a movie star. In February 1942, O'Brien signed on and filming began.

Reception

The film was a success with audiences.Everett Aaker, ''The Films of George Raft'', McFarland & Company, 2013 p 100 The ''Los Angeles Times'' called ''Broadway'' a "sock melodrama." ''

Filmink ''FilmInk'' is an Australian film magazine published by FKP International Exports. It was founded by current publisher Dov Kornits and Colin Fraser in July 1997, in Sydney. The magazine has been through many changes over the course of its exist ...

'' said that the film "... isn’t particularly well remembered but it's a lot of fun, with plenty of gunfire and dancing, and was reasonably popular – Raft was best known for his gangster movies, but he was also a half-decent draw in musicals."

References

External links

*
Review of film
at Variety {{DEFAULTSORT:Broadway (1942 film) 1940s musical drama films 1942 films American black-and-white films American mystery drama films 1940s English-language films Films about actors Films about musical theatre Films about theatre American films based on plays Films directed by William A. Seiter Films set in New York City Universal Pictures films Films scored by Frank Skinner American musical drama films American crime drama films 1942 crime drama films 1940s mystery drama films 1940s American films English-language crime drama films English-language musical drama films English-language mystery drama films