Two Tickets to Broadway (1951)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

James V. Kern

Writers:

Sammy Cahn (story)
Hal Kanter (writer)

Release Date:

20 November 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Musical

Tagline:

Get set for a Racy Romp up and down the Big Street!

Plot:

Nancy Peterson and her friends wants to get a spot on Bob Crosby's TV show, but their agent has linked them. |

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Broadway | Number In Title

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Tony Martin	...	Dan Carter
Janet Leigh	...	Nancy Peterson
Gloria DeHaven	...	Hannah Holbrook
Eddie Bracken	...	Lew Conway
Ann Miller	...	Joyce Campbell
Barbara Lawrence	...	S.F. Rogers
Bob Crosby	...	Himself
Charles Dale	...	Leo, Palace Deli
Joe Smith	...	Harry, Palace Deli
Taylor Holmes	...	Willard Glendon
Buddy Baer	...	Sailor on Bus
The Charlivels	...	Themselves

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved | Sweden:Btl

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

The roles played by Charles Dale and Joe Smith were orginally intended for Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, who had to drop out of the film due to an illness contracted by Laurel while filming Atoll K (1951).

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Wedding Planner (2001)

Soundtrack:

Let's Make Comparisons

Hughes showing 'em how it's done

Two Tickets to Broadway was to be Howard Hughes's answer to MGM type musicals and in fact he engaged the two leads from MGM, Tony Martin and Janet Leigh. The usual criticism was voiced with Martin being 15 years older than Leigh, but in this case it works because part of the plot is fresh faced Ms. Leigh avoiding being taken in by older Broadway sharpies.

No memorable songs were written by composers Jule Styne and Leo Robin for this film and that's a pity because if a hit had come out of it, the film would be better remembered. Martin, I'm sure realized no hits were coming out of this and he probably had two of his own songs put in there. He had hit records around this time of the Prologue from Pagliacci and There's No Tomorrow (O Sole Mio). He performs them well.

I would love to know if Janet Leigh was dubbed and by who. I don't believe she ever sang in any other film. For that reason I suspect a dubbing if for no other reason that she wouldn't want to be going up against a singer with as powerful a voice as Tony Martin.

Ironic that two of the players in this Ann Miller and Janet Leigh died this year. Nobody had to worry about dubbing Ann Miller in any department. She performs her big number, Let the Worry Bird Worry for You in classic style.

Bob Crosby who by that time was known as the afternoon Crosby because his radio and later TV show came on in the afternoon unlike his legendary brother. Being the Bing Crosby fan that I am, I have a soft spot in my heart for his Let's Make Comparison where he's comparing himself to brother Bing. Bob led a pretty good jazz band at that time and had a modest career in B films.

Eddie Bracken who was so good in his Paramount films was cloying and annoying in this one. His machinations trying to get his clients on the Bob Crosby show were downright stupid here and not terribly funny.

The ending though was an unintentional hoot. Janet Leigh comes from Pelican Falls, Vermont and early in the film she's given a send off by the high school band performing their alma mater song. I thought the ending with the high school band, interrupting Bob Crosby's broadcast to reprise their high school song was ridiculous. Was that Howard Hughes's idea? Well he didn't do as much damage here as he did on The Outlaw.

The film had a lot of potential and it could have been done better even at RKO, but I suspect Howard Hughes meddled a bit too much here.