MGM's Broadway Melody of 1938 was actually made in 1937. It is now famous as the young Judy Garland's MGM debut feature film. In it, she sings her ode to Clark Gable's photograph, "Dear Mr. Gable". The words were added especially for her to the standard, "You Made Me Love You." However, Judy only has a small role in the film, playing the daughter of old Broadway stalwart Sophie Tucker. Sophie Tucker runs a performer boarding house where Eleanor Powell eventually finds herself. She plays a young lady, who pines for a horse that she helped raise. Robert Taylor is a producer trying to get funding for his show, etc. They meet, fall in love, and along the way we're treated to a melange of depression era nostalgia in the form of comedy, laughter, song and dance, and typical 1930's hokey plot points. Besides Garland's songs, including "Everybody Sing", the musical highlights are the tap dancing of Buddy Ebsen, George Murphy, and Powell to "Follow In My Footsteps" and Murphy and Powell dancing to "I'm Feelin' Like A Million". Director Roy Del Ruth, who did a number of these type of films in the 1930's, keeps things moving at a brisk pace and we're swept away. Well-timed humor is provided by Binnie Barnes, Raymond Walburn, and Billy Gilbert. The always welcome Robert Benchley even turns up in a small bit. However, the songs are not that memorable, and the film has a typically overproduced MGM finale, bigger than the film itself. **1/2 of 4 stars.
Review of Broadway Melody of 1938
