Product Details

• Actors: Dick Powell, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria Stuart, Alice Brady, Hugh Herbert
• Directors: Busby Berkeley
• Writers: Manuel Seff, Peter Milne, Robert Lord
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Warner)
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301969278
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,959 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #55 in	Video > Musicals & Performing Arts > Musicals > Romance
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Visual Masterpiece!, September 27, 2000

By	Evan Stern "[e-mail]" (Sarah Lawrence College) - See all my reviews

I make no apologies for saying that Busby Berkeley's incredible sequence to "The Lullaby of Broadway" is one of the most beautiful, chilling, and exuberant moments in the history of American cinema. Not only is the number amazing from a visual standpoint, but is a fantastic illustration of urban isolationism, and attitudes of "The Great Depression." Dreamlike and hypnotic, the song easily seduces the moviegoer as its short character study takes flight, then leaves its viewers in a bizare state of discomfort as its story takes an abrupt and disturbing turn. I know it's cliched, but they really don't make 'em quite like this anymore!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Making A Buck (Or More), July 28, 2002

By	James L. (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

The first hour or so of this film sets up the plot. Dick Powell is hired by wealthy but cheap Alice Brady to chaperone... It seems like everyone is out to make or save a buck in this film, often with comedic results. But this film isn't famous for the plot. It's the musical numbers that make up the last third of the film that you will remember. There's one involving a huge number of showgirls playing pianos that revolve and move around the stage exactly like you would expect in a Busby Berkelely musical. The second number is for the famous song "Lullaby of Broadway", which Berkeley presents with great drama, pushing back all the boundaries. As a rule, I don't much like musicals, but the sheer visual imagination of these numbers kept my attention. There's nothing else like them. As for the actors, they do what they did so well in so many of the Warner Brothers' musicals and comedies of the Thirties. Forget the ridiculous plot and concentrate on the spectacle and professionalism of all involved.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Listen to the Lullaby of Old Broadway!, March 18, 2003

By A Customer

Okay, the story is a cliche from start to finish and the acting is "thirties" overkill. That's not what any movie buff is interested in. The only reason this film is remembered, and it's a doozy of a reason, is the 13-plus minutes of "Lullaby of Broadway". This "film-within-a-film", as it were, is a hypnotic, visually billiant, and shockingly original musical number like none that has ever appeared on the screen. Its story of the life and death of a New York goodtime gal is thrillingly, cleverly rendered and ultimately achieves the impact of both moving and haunting the viewer. The most awesome and eerie part of the spectacle is the synchronized dancing of dozens of chorines and chorus boys, to the manacing strains of "Lullaby...". The effect is a curious mix of excitement and dread, just right for what's coming ahead. The number never fails to achieve maximum impact, and it's so unusual that it is worth the price of admission and deserves its lofty status. Listen to the lullaby...again and again.