Just so...so bad

A Disappointing Continuation

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

"Two Girls on Broadway" is a remake of "Broadway Melody". Considering that "Broadway Melody" was such an early musical (with rather primitive sound) it's not surprising that the studio would remake the film.The film begins with a young singer/songwriter (George Murphy) getting discovered. However, Eddie's a regular guy and he's sure to not only take this great job but make sure there's a job for his old sweetie, Molly (Joan Blondell), and her kid-sister, Pat (Lana Turner). Unfortunately, when Molly and Pat try out for the show, the producers like Pat but have no use for Molly. Molly, however, insists that Pat take the job and they give Molly a job as a cigarette girl. Now Pat and Eddie are poised for stardom...but what about nice-girl Molly? And what about Pat? The lecherous producer might just have his eyes on her...as does Eddie! So is the film any good? Well, it's pleasant and enjoyable--and with a few amazing sets which hark back to the original "Broadway Melody". As for the story, it is a bit old fashioned but the actors did a nice job and managed to make it work. Also, Blondell's character, Molly, is a HUGE improvement over the original film in which 'Hank' is very unlikable--whereas here, Molly is much more likable and you can understand Pat and Eddie's concerns about her--which makes the plot make more sense. Overall, not a great musical by any stretch but enjoyable if you like the genre and a slight improvement over the original.By the way, I did have to laugh about the subplot in the film where Eddie and Molly are worried that sweet, innocent Pat might get seduced by the playboy producer--a man who's been married several times. Lana Turner (Pat) in real life was married eight times (one of the husbands she married twice), so these concerns seemed a bit silly.

It looks as though Fox and MGM thought nothing of re-doing their old musicals at respectable intervals. This one is a low-budget remake of Broadway MELODY ('29) and features LANA TURNER in a dancing role opposite dancing man GEORGE MURPHY. She gets to strut her stuff looking pretty gorgeous in all her youthful beauty.But, of course, the story is the tired old one about two gals in show biz, one who makes it, one who doesn't. JOAN BLONDELL is the older sister looking out for Lana and putting Lana's best interest ahead of her own. So much so, that at the end of the story she's on her way back to the mid-west while Lana stays on as a Broadway star and winds up with her sister's ex-boyfriend Murphy.KENT SMITH, as a much married man, is Lana's romantic interest, but it's all pretty standard stuff with no new surprises. That is, except for Lana. She dances ballroom and tap with surprising ease, keeping up every step of the way in some rather sophisticated dance routines with Murphy. Frankly, there should have been more of the musical interludes because they're done with a certain finesse. Murphy is the man who finally fends off his opposition so that he winds up with Turner.Summing up: Trivial bit of fluff with young Lana in her physical prime.

The revelation here is Lana Turner's dancing ability. Though she was known privately to be an excellent nightclub and ballroom dancer, Miss Turner rarely got the opportunity to demonstrate this ability on film.So, viewers take notice! Here, MGM were clearly still trying to determine in what direction they would develop the still young starlet, and were, therefore, consigning her to everything from Andy Hardy to Doctor Kildaire.In "Two Girls on Broadway," however, she is given an excellent opportunity to display her native rhythm and ability to shift tempo in the lavish production number, "My Wonderful One, Let's Dance." This number, is conceived and filmed, as a sort of hybrid between a Busby Berkely style extravaganza and the sort of routines Hermes Pan was designing for Astaire and Rogers at RKO.Thus, the number opens with George Murphy and Miss Turner depicted as bar patrons (with full chorus) before a curtain of black lame wherein Mr. Murphy croons the number to Miss Turner. Then the camera, (on a boom) pulls backward in a remarkable crane shot to reveal an enormous stage, and a rotating set equipped with steps, columns, enclosures and sliding walls.From this point on, Murphy and Turner execute a fast stepping variety of moods and attitudes, including lifts, spins, soft shoe, and ending with an electrifying series of conjoined pirouettes that concludes with Murphy both lifting and rotating Turner with thrilling speed to a racing orchestra.All told a dizzying feat that proves Miss Turner was fully capable of more than holding her own as a dancer, though I daresay most of her admirers would balk at relinquishing her from her throne as the queen of melodrama.

Evidently MGM was grooming Lana Turner to be featured in musicals at this stage of her career. Unfortunately that effort was abandoned, with mixed results. In this conventional backstage romantic triangle, she is a very winning performer, and a surprisingly effective dancer in her three musical numbers (partnered in two by George Murphy and in one by Joan Blondell). Her spirited youthfulness and fresh beauty are put to good use in her role as an innocent small-town girl who (almost) is spoiled by some wily denizens of big, bad Broadway. Joan Blondell plays the protective older sister convincingly, willing to sacrifice her own happiness for that of "the kid." Not many viewers would associate Lana Turner with this type of picture, but, as indicated, she more than holds her own. Too bad that in her pictures, as in her life, she became an "experienced" woman too soon.