An interesting note- Tom Morton, who plays Tony Monaco in the film, toured in the national company of I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE under the stage name of Tony Monaco. This film is a theatre-lover's delight for so many reasons, my favorite being Tallulah Bankhead yelling at Agnes Moorehead "Aren't they writing plays for nice people like ME ANYMORE?!?!". Other people appearing in the film not listed in the cast or in the other posts include Al Hirschfeld at work on one of his drawings, Regis Toomey as a policeman, Lydia Reed back-stage with Helen Hayes at MRS. McTHING, Constance Carpenter backstage at THE KING AND I, first-nighters Maureen Stapleton, Joan McCracken, Vivian Blaine, Paula Lawrence, Sam Jaffe, Dolly Haas(Mrs. Hirschfeld), Nedda Logan, Dorothy Rodgers, Dorothy Hammerstein, and best of all Estelle Winwood, providing the gem, "Tallulah's got a wonderful heart- only sometimes it pumps the wrong way." Oddly, Henry Fonda is always credited with a cameo, but I don't see him in the VHS print. This may be due to the fact that some changes in personnel and plot happened along the way, probably with the involvement of MGM. Originally, it was to be Henry Fonda and Olivia de Havilland who bail Tony out of jail, not Louis Calhern and Ethel Barrymore. The Faye Emerson radio broadcasts were written to be done by Arthur Godfrey. The Gertrude Berg character was originally named "Mrs. Donatelo", probably to be more Italian than Jewish. The playwright's name was originally Tony Fletcher, not Tony Monaco. Even then-mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri (another first-nighter) was to get into the act with a climactic car chase on the Pulaski Skyway involving himself, Tony and Mrs. Danotelo pursuing Mary and Frank on their way back to Indiana, while in New York, THE PLAY IS A SUCCESS!!! Don't ask.
Review of Main Street to Broadway
