TRIUMPHANT MUSICAL ROMANCE

Evening Star, Issue 23745, 28 November 1940, Page 15

TRIUMPHANT MUSICAL ROMANCE

• BROADWAY MELODY OF 1940 ’ Featuring the screen’s greatest dancers in a film which merits the description of a musical sensation, ‘ Broadway Melody of 1940,’ which will be commencing at the Regent to-morrow, has other claims to greatness. It is the vehicle by which are united for the first time the two greatest dancers of the screen w.orld—Fred. Astaire and Eleanor Powell—an event which has long been awaited by picturegoers. Spectacular in all its departments, this thrilling presentation from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios provides a fitting introduction of these two favourites as a starting team. Nine dances, ranging in type from tap to ballet, six Cole Porter song hits, gigantic sets, a notable cast, Normal} Taurog. as director, all add up to making ‘ Broadwav Melody of 1940 ’ a most entertaining and eye-filling feature. The story strikes a novel note from the very beginning. Astaire and George Murphy, a dance team temporarily unemployed, are working as professional hosts in a ballroom. Through a novel set of circumstances Murphy is mistaken for Astaire and given a try-out as leading man for the dance darling of Broadway, portrayed by Eleanor Powell. When he wins the assignment things begin to happen, notably among them a badly swelled head which eventually leads to Murnhy’s downfall and Astaire’s triumph. The cast, in addition to the three dance stars—Astaire, Powell, and Murphy—features Frank Morgan, lan Hunter. Florence Rice, and Lynne Carver. Rich in production value, with sets topping in size and spectacular qualities those of any previous production, ‘ Broadway Melody of 1940 ’ brings every conceivable type of dancing to the screen. The most pretentions number, which forms the finale, is Cole Porter’s ‘ Begin the Beguine.’ The set, which covered an entire sound stage, introduces something new in the form of a 60ft mirror which swings constantly to change the background behind the dancers.