It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Broadway Gondolier (1935) – Musical #283

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
Lloyd Bacon

Starring:
Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, Adolphe Menjou, Louise Fazenda, William Gargan, George Barbier, Grant Mitchell, Hobart Cavanaugh, Joe Sawyer, Rafael Alcayde, Bob Murphy, James Burke, Lloyd Bacon (uncredited), June Travis (uncredited), Mary Treen (uncredited)
Themselves: Mills Brothers; Ted Fio Rito Orchestra; Judy, Pete Anne and Zeke Canova

Plot:
Taxi driver Dick Purcell (Powell) has dreams of becoming a singer. When two theater critics hear him sing (Barbier, Cavanaugh), they recommend him to a radio producer (Mitchell) to audition for his show. The producer’s secretary, Alice (Blondell), also thinks Dick has a wonderful voice, but through a series of mix-ups, Dick’s voice teacher, Professor de Vinci (Menjou) sings in his place during his audition—and he doesn’t sing well. The radio sponsor, Mrs. Flaggenheim (Fazenda), believes the only way she will find a suitable singer in Italy, so she travels there. Dick hatches an idea to stowaway and be discovered in Italy.

Trivia:
• The film’s cinematographer, George Barnes, was married to Joan Blondell when this film was made. Co-stars Blondell and Dick Powell were married a year after this film was released.

Highlights:
• The Mills Brothers performing

Notable Songs:
• “Lulu’s Back in Town” performed by Dick Powell and The Mills Brothers
• “The Pig and the Cow (and the Dog and the Cat)” performed by Joan Blondell
• “Rigoletto” performed by Dick Powell
• “Rose in Her Hair” performed by Dick Powell
• “Outside of You” performed by Dick Powell
• “Sweet and Low” performed by Dick Powell

My review:
When watching a 1930s Warner Bros. musical film, you always know you will hear excellent, toe-tapping songs written by Al Dubin and Harry Warren.

While the songs are always great, sometimes the plots are a bit convoluted, at least in the cast of BROADWAY GONDALIER (1935). Summing this one up was a challenge. Even the July 18, 1935, New York Times review said this film was not “overburdened” with a plot.

In a nutshell, Dick Purcell (played by Dick Powell) is a taxi driver with ambitions of becoming a singer. When a radio audition fails, Dick travels to Italy to be discovered as an Italian singer. It works, and he’s brought to America to become a singing star.

That boiled down plotline somehow takes an hour and 40 minutes to tell. It’s not that this isn’t an enjoyable film, it just feels a little long for what it is.

Dick Powell plays his usual fresh-faced crooner role, but he is maybe a bit more earnest here. It’s more amazing that anyone in the story believed he was Italian because he sounds American. Joan Blondell is also her usual, wonderful sharp-witted self and gets the best lines per-usual.

One funny line, is when Blondell quicks, “You don’t marry crooners, you only divorce them.” Blondell and Powell later did both.

But the real humor from this film comes from Louise Fazenda, who encourages people to smell different types of cheeses throughout the film.

While many Warner Bros. 1930s musicals of this time included Busby Berkeley kaleidoscope numbers, this one doesn’t. And interestingly, film critics were glad.

“The good news is that the brothers Warner seem to have turned over a few new leaves and decided to omit the scenes of extravagant spectacle, the overhead shots and the whirling choruses that had become traditional elements of their earlier songfest fantasies,” wrote the New York Times film critic in their 1935 review.

I found this fascinating, because I always find these types of numbers a highlight. And in my opinion, it could have helped enhance this film. But thankfully, there is a number performed by the Mills Brothers, which really makes this film memorable.

It’s not that “Broadway Gondolier” isn’t enjoyable. It’s more that the plot is more complicated than it should be, and the film could have been 20 minutes shorter. And compared to other Warner Bros. musicals, it’s just sort of … there. Despite that though, it’s still a fairly enjoyable watch with some funny moments and great tunes.

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