This film has as silly a storyline as any of the Dick Powell musicals (maybe intentionally so), but its entertaining enough to watch, with some tuneful songs (including one minor standard: Lulu's Back in Town). It's all the more so, owing to the presence of Joan Blondell. She was especially gorgeous in this movie. When speaking of her, most people comment on her sassiness, and rapid-fire patter. But in addition to her fine acting, she was also a beautiful, sexy woman, with huge eyes. She employs here an understated, deadpan delivery she used sometimes to heighten the comic effect of her lines. It shows how deft her ability was with comedy. The movie doesn't have Busby Berkeley's production numbers, so I suppose that's why it isn't so well remembered as other ones. But it does put more focus on Dick Powell's voice. While is it isn't up to the operatic standards required by the role, it's certainly a great voice. It gets overlooked in discussions of him, taken for granted, even, I would say. It may be the nature of his roles, and his later transformation distract people's attention.
15 Reviews
one word from me and you'll be singing at La Scala
blanche-210 August 2015
Dick Powell stars with Adolphe Menjou, Joan Blondell, and the Mills Brothers in "Broadway Gondolier" from 1935.
Powell plays Dick Purcell, a cab driver with an impressive singing voice. So good in fact that the producer in the cab, E.V. Richards (Grant Mitchell) in the cab tells him to come to his office. He gets an audition but shows up too late.
Meanwhile, Purcell is interested in the secretary there, Alice (Blondell). When Purcell sees Alice, Richards, and the sponsor of a radio show, Mrs. Flaggenheim (Louise Fazenda) board a boat for Italy, he jumps on and pays his way by washing dishes.
Once there, he becomes a gondolier and impresses Mrs. Flaggenheim, who hires him for her show. He is given the name Ricardo Purcelli and marketed as an Italian. For this, he grows a mustache and acquires an accent. His voice teacher, Eduardo DaVinci (Menjou) plays along.
I think this film contains Dick Powell's best singing, since he fools around with opera and we are able to experience more of his range. His voice was so smooth, and he was very musical. His number with the Mills Brothers, "Lulu's Back in Town" was spectacular.
Powell and Blondell are adorable in this film. They married a couple of years later. What I love about Blondell is that although she often played the wise-cracking role, she was never the same character. Here she is flirty with a soft spot; other times she's tough, or serious, or snappy.
Adolphe Menjou is hilarious as da Vinci, and Grant Mitchell plays flustered well as Richards. Louise Fazenda is also a riot as the cheese company owner.
Interestingly, the next year, Kraft Cheese hired Bing Crosby for their radio show.
I have one bone to pick. At the beginning of the movie, Lyons is discussing "Rigoletto" with another man, and we hear the last line of the opera, sung by Rigoletto, "la maledizione" as they leave. They're talking about how good the tenor is. He sounds like a tenor, too. One small problem - the role of Rigoletto is for a dramatic baritone.
Other than that, I loved it.
Powell plays Dick Purcell, a cab driver with an impressive singing voice. So good in fact that the producer in the cab, E.V. Richards (Grant Mitchell) in the cab tells him to come to his office. He gets an audition but shows up too late.
Meanwhile, Purcell is interested in the secretary there, Alice (Blondell). When Purcell sees Alice, Richards, and the sponsor of a radio show, Mrs. Flaggenheim (Louise Fazenda) board a boat for Italy, he jumps on and pays his way by washing dishes.
Once there, he becomes a gondolier and impresses Mrs. Flaggenheim, who hires him for her show. He is given the name Ricardo Purcelli and marketed as an Italian. For this, he grows a mustache and acquires an accent. His voice teacher, Eduardo DaVinci (Menjou) plays along.
I think this film contains Dick Powell's best singing, since he fools around with opera and we are able to experience more of his range. His voice was so smooth, and he was very musical. His number with the Mills Brothers, "Lulu's Back in Town" was spectacular.
Powell and Blondell are adorable in this film. They married a couple of years later. What I love about Blondell is that although she often played the wise-cracking role, she was never the same character. Here she is flirty with a soft spot; other times she's tough, or serious, or snappy.
Adolphe Menjou is hilarious as da Vinci, and Grant Mitchell plays flustered well as Richards. Louise Fazenda is also a riot as the cheese company owner.
Interestingly, the next year, Kraft Cheese hired Bing Crosby for their radio show.
I have one bone to pick. At the beginning of the movie, Lyons is discussing "Rigoletto" with another man, and we hear the last line of the opera, sung by Rigoletto, "la maledizione" as they leave. They're talking about how good the tenor is. He sounds like a tenor, too. One small problem - the role of Rigoletto is for a dramatic baritone.
Other than that, I loved it.
Say Cheese!
1930s_Time_Machine8 April 2023
I thought this would be just another formulaic assembly line WB musicals but I was wrong. This is much better than I expected. It feels more like one of those sumptuous Fred Astaire or Jessie Matthews musicals than those bland grey carbon copies Warners seemed to be making at this time.
It's clearly inspired by TOP HAT inasmuch that we're again transported off to a lovely stylised art deco Venice. As with that film, here we have that same silly feel-good blend of romance, confusion and songs. (Apparently the Venice scenes were filmed during a really bad cold snap in Hollywood so all the men were wearing thermal underwear but poor Joan Blondell, in just a sheer silk dress was reportedly freezing.)
The story is cheesy - it's about a cheese company looking for a singer to represent them on their sponsored radio show. It's a longer film than some but it doesn't ever get dull and you'll love every minute of it. It's well written with a surprisingly witty script for this type of thing with comments like "You are so cheesy" being offered as a compliment at one point! It's all very tongue in cheek stuff and its 1935 humour is actually still quite funny.
It's not quite up to TOP HAT standard but it's close. Maybe because he's quite self effacing in this but Dick Powell comes across as much more likeable and normal in this than in some films. Possibly that's because he's got Joan Blondell rather than Ruby Keeler as his romantic interest which would be a plus for any red-blooded man, and indeed a year later he was married to her.
Although not one of her more famous films, I don't think she's ever been funnier than in this one. She seems a little more cynical and dry but still with that lovely warmth which was so much part of her own personality. That tinge of world weariness maybe reflects her life at that stage. This was her first film after her maternity leave and her marriage nosediving towards the rocks. Her husband was definitely not the nice man she thought he was and unfortunately he was the cinematographer on this picture - that did not make for a comfortable set! George Barnes ("Mr Blondell") does however photograph his prize possession amazingly although since he, not her or the director now decided how provocative or suggestive his wife could be, there's certainly none of those old Joan in her undies scenes anymore! Nevertheless, she is possibly the most beautiful she ever was in this film and as I've said, the funniest too. Anyone who doesn't know who Joan Blondell was should watch this.
Another surprise is that even Adolphe Menjou is amusing and that's real rarity. I usually can't stand that guy but he honestly made me laugh in this. The more I think about this, the more I wonder why this isn't more well known. It's not a fantastic film but it's so much better than you would expect.
It's clearly inspired by TOP HAT inasmuch that we're again transported off to a lovely stylised art deco Venice. As with that film, here we have that same silly feel-good blend of romance, confusion and songs. (Apparently the Venice scenes were filmed during a really bad cold snap in Hollywood so all the men were wearing thermal underwear but poor Joan Blondell, in just a sheer silk dress was reportedly freezing.)
The story is cheesy - it's about a cheese company looking for a singer to represent them on their sponsored radio show. It's a longer film than some but it doesn't ever get dull and you'll love every minute of it. It's well written with a surprisingly witty script for this type of thing with comments like "You are so cheesy" being offered as a compliment at one point! It's all very tongue in cheek stuff and its 1935 humour is actually still quite funny.
It's not quite up to TOP HAT standard but it's close. Maybe because he's quite self effacing in this but Dick Powell comes across as much more likeable and normal in this than in some films. Possibly that's because he's got Joan Blondell rather than Ruby Keeler as his romantic interest which would be a plus for any red-blooded man, and indeed a year later he was married to her.
Although not one of her more famous films, I don't think she's ever been funnier than in this one. She seems a little more cynical and dry but still with that lovely warmth which was so much part of her own personality. That tinge of world weariness maybe reflects her life at that stage. This was her first film after her maternity leave and her marriage nosediving towards the rocks. Her husband was definitely not the nice man she thought he was and unfortunately he was the cinematographer on this picture - that did not make for a comfortable set! George Barnes ("Mr Blondell") does however photograph his prize possession amazingly although since he, not her or the director now decided how provocative or suggestive his wife could be, there's certainly none of those old Joan in her undies scenes anymore! Nevertheless, she is possibly the most beautiful she ever was in this film and as I've said, the funniest too. Anyone who doesn't know who Joan Blondell was should watch this.
Another surprise is that even Adolphe Menjou is amusing and that's real rarity. I usually can't stand that guy but he honestly made me laugh in this. The more I think about this, the more I wonder why this isn't more well known. It's not a fantastic film but it's so much better than you would expect.
Flaggenheim Odorless Cheese, etc.
AQKent28 September 1999
It's been awhile since I saw this... It's a fun, harmless Warner Bros. musical of the '30's, with Dick Powell as an American crooner who moves to Italy to be a Gondolier, then (of course) gets discovered by a whacky American rich-lady, out to provide a "real" Singing-Gondolier for her husbands radio show... You get the idea. He falls for an adorable Joan Blondell while trying to hide his real identity... the movie's a lot of fun if you're not looking for great depth or meaning. Typical of the Warner Bros. musical machine of the day, but still fun.
mildly amusing
SnoopyStyle20 March 2023
Cabbie Dick Purcell (Dick Powell) wants to sing. He tries to contact a producer to audition for a cheese campaign. Secretary Alice Hughes (Joan Blondell) finally allows him in. The sponsor is convinced that she needs a singer from Italy. Dick follows them across the ocean and becomes a gondolier in Venice.
This light comedy is mildly amusing. The story is goofy, but not goofy enough to be screwball. I would like Dick Powell to spend more time with Joan Blondell to build up more chemistry especially on the ship over to Europe. Going back to America feels like a different movie with the ridiculous premise finally taking off. If only, they could get there sooner. What they need is one sleazy reporter trying to out Dick.
This light comedy is mildly amusing. The story is goofy, but not goofy enough to be screwball. I would like Dick Powell to spend more time with Joan Blondell to build up more chemistry especially on the ship over to Europe. Going back to America feels like a different movie with the ridiculous premise finally taking off. If only, they could get there sooner. What they need is one sleazy reporter trying to out Dick.
I wanted to give this a 7 for Blondell but it is too cheesy and drags on
Nate-4814 December 2018
Blondell is dynamite so it is worth seeing just for her. It's sad to read about what she went through in life. You can see the real life Sparks between her and Powell which ultimately led to marriage. Some decent acting by others here but the script is just too campy and amateurish.
Amusing musical fluff
jamesrupert20141 May 2020
New York singing cabbie Dick Purcel (Dick Powell) blows his chance to sing on the radio and ends up as a singing gondolier in Venice where, mistaken for a native Venetian, he is invited to come to New York to sing on the radio. The light-weight plot props up a couple of good songs, lots of mistaken identity fun, and, of course, romance. Powell has a good voice and is fine as the Caruso-wannabe who rebels at doing animal noises on live radio, as is Joan Blondell, who plays Alice, the wise-cracking secretary that Dick 'meets cute', setting up the inevitable bickering romance. The supporting cast is also fun, especially cheese-baroness Mrs. Flaggenheim (Louise Fazenda) who owns the radio show and starts to feel romantic towards Dick's Italian alter-ego. The 'behind the mike' scenes in the radio-studio are entertaining (in a very retro way) and the show's cheesy (literally) theme song is quite funny. Not one of the great depression-era comedies, but still amusing and worth investing ninety minutes in for fans of the genre.
Terrific Cross Between A Musical and Wacky Comedy
HarlowMGM18 January 2007
Broadway GONDOLIER is not very well known even among movie buffs but it's one of the most delightful musicals of the 1930's, as much a comedy as a musical. The plot - some plain Joe being hyped up under a bogus image into stardom - has been used in about a million films from CHICAGO to SLIGHTLY FRENCH to TOOTSIE, but it works time and time again, and most definitely here.
Dick Powell stars as a taxi driver who dreams of singing stardom. He blows his big chance by being late for a radio audition and as a result his only option for crashing radio is supplying animal sounds for a kiddie program, a job he loses when his wisecrack about performing for "little brats" goes over the airwaves in a hilarious bit that recalls several infamous real-life radio tongue slips, most of which happened several years after this film. Now unemployable on American radio, he ventures to Italy with his singing teacher Adolphe Menjou in hopes of new opportunities, quite coincidentally at the same time, the secretary from the radio show (and Powell crush) Joan Blondell accompanies cheese heiress Louise Fazenda to Italy to find a new singing star for HER radio program.
There's lots of good comedy here and Dick Powell has never been better in my opinion, ably matched by the always superb Joan Blondell in a somewhat secondary role as the girl who opens doors for him. Powell and Blondell have an excellent "first meeting" scene at the radio station with snappy dialog and comebacks in best 1930's tradition. Louise Fazenda, nearing the end of her very long screen career is cast in an atypical role as a rich matron whose devotion to the memory of her late husband may be tested by her crush on the Italian heartthrob she "discovers", ironically Judy Canova (who later became a star playing hillbilly hayseed roles in the Fazenda tradition) has a brief role in the film as a part of a hillbilly vocal group.
There's a wonderful musical interlude with the Mills Brothers and a hilarious parody of a radio show theme song, this one about the wonders of cheese. Most definitely worth seeking out, not only for fans of 30's musicals but of 30's comedies.
Dick Powell stars as a taxi driver who dreams of singing stardom. He blows his big chance by being late for a radio audition and as a result his only option for crashing radio is supplying animal sounds for a kiddie program, a job he loses when his wisecrack about performing for "little brats" goes over the airwaves in a hilarious bit that recalls several infamous real-life radio tongue slips, most of which happened several years after this film. Now unemployable on American radio, he ventures to Italy with his singing teacher Adolphe Menjou in hopes of new opportunities, quite coincidentally at the same time, the secretary from the radio show (and Powell crush) Joan Blondell accompanies cheese heiress Louise Fazenda to Italy to find a new singing star for HER radio program.
There's lots of good comedy here and Dick Powell has never been better in my opinion, ably matched by the always superb Joan Blondell in a somewhat secondary role as the girl who opens doors for him. Powell and Blondell have an excellent "first meeting" scene at the radio station with snappy dialog and comebacks in best 1930's tradition. Louise Fazenda, nearing the end of her very long screen career is cast in an atypical role as a rich matron whose devotion to the memory of her late husband may be tested by her crush on the Italian heartthrob she "discovers", ironically Judy Canova (who later became a star playing hillbilly hayseed roles in the Fazenda tradition) has a brief role in the film as a part of a hillbilly vocal group.
There's a wonderful musical interlude with the Mills Brothers and a hilarious parody of a radio show theme song, this one about the wonders of cheese. Most definitely worth seeking out, not only for fans of 30's musicals but of 30's comedies.
Breezy comedy with music courtesy of Dick Powell...
Doylenf18 January 2007
DICK POWELL is a cab driver with singing aspirations who doesn't mind holding up traffic while he demonstrates his singing prowess to a couple of captive passengers who are so impressed they arrange an audition for him. Only in the movies, only in the movies.
This is another one of those improbable Warner Bros. comedies with a far-fetched plot that has him spoiling his radio audition when his song turns out to be a children's ditty with his part relegated to imitating barnyard animals. With the mike still on, he loses his temper and the job.
When JOAN BLONDELL, as assistant to radio manager GRANT MITCHELL, is assigned to Italy, who should follow her (as a stowaway aboard ship), but Powell, still intent on impressing her with his singing. Before you know it, thanks to his pal ADOLPHE MENJOU, Powell gets work as a gondolier. After that, the plot follows the rather familiar course of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl, all in musical comedy fashion of the '30s.
Dick Powell has a pleasant, if unremarkable voice and his tenor serenading is pleasing enough, as is his flair with light material. Of course, he bowls over the radio station's sponsor (LOUISE FAZENDA) the moment he lifts his voice in song within earshot of those he needs to impress as he rows his gondolier in the moonlight.
Naturally, Blondell re-discovers him in a new setting and romance blossoms. It's the kind of set-up Warners would use later for their female star, DORIS DAY, always being discovered for either a radio show or Hollywood by Jack Carson or Dennis Morgan in her early Warner comedies that used the same formula.
It's pleasant nonsense, easy to take, and makes no special demands on your viewing pleasure if you enjoy watching DICK POWELL and JOAN BLONDELL so obviously enjoying themselves. None of the songs are particularly memorable and it's the kind of film soon forgotten after one viewing, but obviously it offered the kind of entertainment that answered the needs of undemanding Depression-era audiences.
This is another one of those improbable Warner Bros. comedies with a far-fetched plot that has him spoiling his radio audition when his song turns out to be a children's ditty with his part relegated to imitating barnyard animals. With the mike still on, he loses his temper and the job.
When JOAN BLONDELL, as assistant to radio manager GRANT MITCHELL, is assigned to Italy, who should follow her (as a stowaway aboard ship), but Powell, still intent on impressing her with his singing. Before you know it, thanks to his pal ADOLPHE MENJOU, Powell gets work as a gondolier. After that, the plot follows the rather familiar course of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl, all in musical comedy fashion of the '30s.
Dick Powell has a pleasant, if unremarkable voice and his tenor serenading is pleasing enough, as is his flair with light material. Of course, he bowls over the radio station's sponsor (LOUISE FAZENDA) the moment he lifts his voice in song within earshot of those he needs to impress as he rows his gondolier in the moonlight.
Naturally, Blondell re-discovers him in a new setting and romance blossoms. It's the kind of set-up Warners would use later for their female star, DORIS DAY, always being discovered for either a radio show or Hollywood by Jack Carson or Dennis Morgan in her early Warner comedies that used the same formula.
It's pleasant nonsense, easy to take, and makes no special demands on your viewing pleasure if you enjoy watching DICK POWELL and JOAN BLONDELL so obviously enjoying themselves. None of the songs are particularly memorable and it's the kind of film soon forgotten after one viewing, but obviously it offered the kind of entertainment that answered the needs of undemanding Depression-era audiences.
You've Got That Something In Your Voice So Right For Selling Cheese
bkoganbing18 January 2007
While Dick Powell was at Warner Brothers, he would be hat in hand to Jack Warner pleading for him to occasionally be cast in something serious. Of course Warner heard that wonderful tenor and saw nothing else in Powell. And certainly when he wrapped those vocal cords around songs like what Harry Warren and Al Dubin wrote for Broadway Gondolier neither could anyone else.
Life does certainly imitate art. The following year the Kraft Cheese Company was in fact looking for a singer to host a rather daring hour long radio variety show, an hour show on radio was quite an innovation back in the day. Unlike Broadway Gondolier the sponsor didn't go to Italy for a crooner. They and NBC found him doing a show for Woodbury Soap, so Bing Crosby got to do in real life what Powell did in the film, host a show selling cheese, as Bob Hope remarked in The Road to Utopia.
Powell himself was not exactly unknown to radio audiences. He appeared on the Hollywood Hotel program, named after one of his other films in Louella Parsons dished out the latest Hollywood gossip. Of course her Hearst connection and his due to the fact he did two films with Marion Davies made Louella and Dick a natural radio team.
In many ways Broadway Gondolier is a continuation of Goldiggers of 1935 which also starred Powell and had Adolphe Menjou with foreign accent. You could never get away with the performance Menjou gave in Broadway Gondolier with that outrageous Italian accent and characterization. The Italian Anti-Defamation League would be picketing the film. But just like in Goldiggers of 1935, Menjou's hammy performance is enjoyable, especially when he tries to fool radio executive Grant Mitchell and sponsor Louise Fazenda, owner of Flagenheimer's Odorless Cheese, and tries to sing like Powell.
Joan Blondell is Mitchell's girl Friday and Fazenda's keeper in the film who falls big time for the cabdriver, would be crooner Powell. Of course she's got another guy knocking on her romantic door, William Gargan who stars on the network as futuristic space hero Buck Gordon. And Fazenda after Powell pretends to be Italian starts getting designs on him. The look in her eye would be grounds enough for a suit for sexual harassment.
Powell recorded for Brunswick records the four songs he sang that Harry Warren and Al Dubin wrote for the film, Outside of You, Lonely Gondolier, The Rose in Her Hair and Lulu's Back in Town. The last two enjoyed some enduring popularity and Powell sang Lulu solo and in a nice scat version with the Mills Brothers.
After some hilarious errors when cabdriver Powell and his voice teacher Menjou try to get him a radio audition, they get the idea to go over to Italy where Fazenda is vacationing and have her 'discover' him in Venice. They bill him as the Italian Gondolier and of course they have to keep up the masquerade.
Anyone who's seen a few films like this knows exactly how it will end. Warner Brothers and Hollywood in general did a grand job in packaging a lot of wonderful nonsense like this as grand escapist entertainment from the Depression.
Even after over 70 years Broadway Gondolier is still wonderfully entertaining. Should not be missed the next time TCM runs it.
Life does certainly imitate art. The following year the Kraft Cheese Company was in fact looking for a singer to host a rather daring hour long radio variety show, an hour show on radio was quite an innovation back in the day. Unlike Broadway Gondolier the sponsor didn't go to Italy for a crooner. They and NBC found him doing a show for Woodbury Soap, so Bing Crosby got to do in real life what Powell did in the film, host a show selling cheese, as Bob Hope remarked in The Road to Utopia.
Powell himself was not exactly unknown to radio audiences. He appeared on the Hollywood Hotel program, named after one of his other films in Louella Parsons dished out the latest Hollywood gossip. Of course her Hearst connection and his due to the fact he did two films with Marion Davies made Louella and Dick a natural radio team.
In many ways Broadway Gondolier is a continuation of Goldiggers of 1935 which also starred Powell and had Adolphe Menjou with foreign accent. You could never get away with the performance Menjou gave in Broadway Gondolier with that outrageous Italian accent and characterization. The Italian Anti-Defamation League would be picketing the film. But just like in Goldiggers of 1935, Menjou's hammy performance is enjoyable, especially when he tries to fool radio executive Grant Mitchell and sponsor Louise Fazenda, owner of Flagenheimer's Odorless Cheese, and tries to sing like Powell.
Joan Blondell is Mitchell's girl Friday and Fazenda's keeper in the film who falls big time for the cabdriver, would be crooner Powell. Of course she's got another guy knocking on her romantic door, William Gargan who stars on the network as futuristic space hero Buck Gordon. And Fazenda after Powell pretends to be Italian starts getting designs on him. The look in her eye would be grounds enough for a suit for sexual harassment.
Powell recorded for Brunswick records the four songs he sang that Harry Warren and Al Dubin wrote for the film, Outside of You, Lonely Gondolier, The Rose in Her Hair and Lulu's Back in Town. The last two enjoyed some enduring popularity and Powell sang Lulu solo and in a nice scat version with the Mills Brothers.
After some hilarious errors when cabdriver Powell and his voice teacher Menjou try to get him a radio audition, they get the idea to go over to Italy where Fazenda is vacationing and have her 'discover' him in Venice. They bill him as the Italian Gondolier and of course they have to keep up the masquerade.
Anyone who's seen a few films like this knows exactly how it will end. Warner Brothers and Hollywood in general did a grand job in packaging a lot of wonderful nonsense like this as grand escapist entertainment from the Depression.
Even after over 70 years Broadway Gondolier is still wonderfully entertaining. Should not be missed the next time TCM runs it.
He sounds about as Italian as Chop Suey...this is the sort of script that must have been driving Powell crazy!
planktonrules19 September 2015
Dick Powell was immensely popular in films during the 1930s. Warner Brothers shoved him into picture after picture...yet Powell was not happy. He longed to have meatier roles and was tired of playing boy next door types in musicals. After seeing "Broadway Gondolier", I could see why he hated these sorts of roles. And, like many of his musicals of the day, they haven't aged all that well.
The biggest problem with "Broadway Gondolier" is that the plot is pure puff--with no depth and a story that just doesn't make sense. Powell plays Dick Purcell*, a cab driver who longs to sing on the radio. However, after blowing his audition to sing for a show sponsored by a cheese company, he gets another chance by pretending to be someone else...and Italian gondolier! Sounds ridiculous? Absolutely. Powell sounds about as Italian as Mantan Moreland or Anna May Wong! The plot makes absolutely no sense and the film is filled with a lot of not particularly memorable songs. Not a terrible film but not a good one.
*It is very interesting that they chose the name 'Dick Purcell' for Mr. Powell. That's because there already WAS an actor with the REAL name of Dick Purcell in Hollywood. He would soon make a niche for himself in Hollywood playing, among other things, Captain America.
The biggest problem with "Broadway Gondolier" is that the plot is pure puff--with no depth and a story that just doesn't make sense. Powell plays Dick Purcell*, a cab driver who longs to sing on the radio. However, after blowing his audition to sing for a show sponsored by a cheese company, he gets another chance by pretending to be someone else...and Italian gondolier! Sounds ridiculous? Absolutely. Powell sounds about as Italian as Mantan Moreland or Anna May Wong! The plot makes absolutely no sense and the film is filled with a lot of not particularly memorable songs. Not a terrible film but not a good one.
*It is very interesting that they chose the name 'Dick Purcell' for Mr. Powell. That's because there already WAS an actor with the REAL name of Dick Purcell in Hollywood. He would soon make a niche for himself in Hollywood playing, among other things, Captain America.
A lonely gondolier is singing
lugonian2 March 2002
"Broadway Gondolier" (Warner Brothers, 1935), directed by Lloyd Bacon, is a musical set in a radio station that could easily be a rehash to the studio's previous effort of "Twenty Million Sweethearts" (1934), starring Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers with a few new twists and turns this time around. Powell plays Richard Purcell (affectionally called Dick by his friends), a Bronx taxi cab driver with a good singing voice. After picking up Hayward (George Barbier) and Gilmore (Hobart Cavanaugh), a couple of theater critics just leaving the opera, they hear Dick singing and encourage him to pursue a career and to stop wasting his time driving cabs. Dick is also encouraged by Professor Eduardo DiVinci (Adolphe Menjou), his music teacher and closest friend. He decides to try his luck landing an audition at a radio station. After a couple of misfortunes, he is given a break by Alice Hughes (Joan Blondell), a no-nonsense secretary who finally cracks a smile, and arranges an appointment for him to audition for Mr. Richards (Grant Mitchell), the station manager, and Mrs. Flagenheim (Louise Fazenda), a romantic widow and sponsor of Flagenheim Cheese. Because Dick is unable to arrive on time for his audition, DiVinci offers to take his place. This gesture loses Dick his opportunity to sell himself. Dick is later offered a second chance appearing on a kiddie program where he sings children's songs and making animal noises. Doing this proves too much for him, causing him to insult his listeners over a live microphone before walking out, causing the red lights at the switch board to flair up. Since the radio station has no real talented singer, Mrs. Flagenheim suggests finding undiscovered talent overseas. She chooses to go to Venice, Italy with Miss Hughes assisting her. Dick learns about the talent search and stows away on the same ship bound for Italy as Alice and Flagenheim. While in Venice, Dick is reunited with DiVinci, who earlier returned to his native homeland. He not only teaches Dick the Italian language, but convinces him to grow a mustache and become a singing gondolier. By coincidence, of course, Dick, now known as Ricardo Purcelli, is discovered by Mrs. Flagenheim, who takes him back with her to New York City as her latest discovery, with Alice, at the risk of her job, keeping Purcell's disguise a secret.
The supporting cast consists of William Gargan as Cliff Stanley, Alice's jealous fiancé; Joseph Sawyer as Red, a cab driver; Bob Murphy as the singing policeman of classical music; James Burke as "Uncle Andy," the kiddie show host; and familiar stock company faces of Mary Treen, George Chandler and Paul Porcasi in smaller roles.
"Broadway Gondolier" is just another excuse of exercising Dick Powell's vocal chords and exploiting the movie with a handful of lively Harry Warren and Al Dubin tunes. The soundtrack includes: "Sweet and Low" (sung by the Canova family, one of them being the famous Judy); "Flagenheim Cheese" (sung by Sam Ash); "Outside of You" (sung by Dick Powell); Guiseppi Verdi's RIGOLETTO (sung by Adolphe Menjou); "The Pig and the Cow" (sung by Joan Blondell and Powell); "The Lonely Gondolier is Singing" (sung in Italian by Powell); "The Rose in Her Hair" (sung by Powell/ gondoliers and Italian citizens); "Flagenheim Cheese" (sung by Sam Ash); "Outside of You" (instrumental, conducted by Ted Fio Rito and his orchestra/sung by band members); "The Rose in Her Hair" (sung by Powell); "Lulu's Back in Town" (sung by Powell and The Mills Brothers); "You Could Be Kissed" (sung by Powell, band members/ reprized by the trick voice antics of Candy Candido); "The Lonely Gondolier is Singing" (Powell); "Flagenheim Cheese" (Sam Ash); "Outside of You" (Powell); "Flagenheim Cheese" (reprise by Powell, Blondell and Ash). There are also Italian lyrics to "Il Gondoliere" and "Rosa D'Amour."
Of the handful of songs, many pleasing to the ear, "The Rose in Her Hair" is the best while "Lulu's Back in Town" is the most memorable. "Lulu" could have easily been a production number with Blondell in the title role and Powell the lead singer, but "Broadway Gondolier" consists of no dance numbers, only vocalists singing into a microphone. This is one way of saving the studio the added expense of a lavish scale production number or two.
As for the plot, it lacks logic, especially when Powell's character is discovered as an Italian-born gondolier in Venice, speaking NO English whatsoever, but able to sing his songs in English. Then when he returns to New York in the guise of an Italian, he supports no Italian accent, even when singing over the radio. One can gather that the listeners in the story, along with its viewing audience, overlooking this, just sitting back and listen to Powell sing, sing, sing.
"Broadway Gondolier" occasionally strains for laughs, with much of the comedy handled by Louise Fazenda in a role that could have been enacted by Alice Brady. Interestingly, both Fazenda and Brady, who really weren't that old, were usually type-cast as middle-aged matrons. As for Adolphe Menjou, he's makes a convincing Italian with dialect intact, never stepping out of character. At 98 minutes, "Broadway Gondolier" has that overlong feel at times. Overall, it's an acceptable radio musical satire with Powell at his prime.
Out of circulation on the local TV markets since the 1970s or 80s, "Broadway Gondolier" can still be seen and enjoyed whenever shown on Turner Classic Movies. (***)
The supporting cast consists of William Gargan as Cliff Stanley, Alice's jealous fiancé; Joseph Sawyer as Red, a cab driver; Bob Murphy as the singing policeman of classical music; James Burke as "Uncle Andy," the kiddie show host; and familiar stock company faces of Mary Treen, George Chandler and Paul Porcasi in smaller roles.
"Broadway Gondolier" is just another excuse of exercising Dick Powell's vocal chords and exploiting the movie with a handful of lively Harry Warren and Al Dubin tunes. The soundtrack includes: "Sweet and Low" (sung by the Canova family, one of them being the famous Judy); "Flagenheim Cheese" (sung by Sam Ash); "Outside of You" (sung by Dick Powell); Guiseppi Verdi's RIGOLETTO (sung by Adolphe Menjou); "The Pig and the Cow" (sung by Joan Blondell and Powell); "The Lonely Gondolier is Singing" (sung in Italian by Powell); "The Rose in Her Hair" (sung by Powell/ gondoliers and Italian citizens); "Flagenheim Cheese" (sung by Sam Ash); "Outside of You" (instrumental, conducted by Ted Fio Rito and his orchestra/sung by band members); "The Rose in Her Hair" (sung by Powell); "Lulu's Back in Town" (sung by Powell and The Mills Brothers); "You Could Be Kissed" (sung by Powell, band members/ reprized by the trick voice antics of Candy Candido); "The Lonely Gondolier is Singing" (Powell); "Flagenheim Cheese" (Sam Ash); "Outside of You" (Powell); "Flagenheim Cheese" (reprise by Powell, Blondell and Ash). There are also Italian lyrics to "Il Gondoliere" and "Rosa D'Amour."
Of the handful of songs, many pleasing to the ear, "The Rose in Her Hair" is the best while "Lulu's Back in Town" is the most memorable. "Lulu" could have easily been a production number with Blondell in the title role and Powell the lead singer, but "Broadway Gondolier" consists of no dance numbers, only vocalists singing into a microphone. This is one way of saving the studio the added expense of a lavish scale production number or two.
As for the plot, it lacks logic, especially when Powell's character is discovered as an Italian-born gondolier in Venice, speaking NO English whatsoever, but able to sing his songs in English. Then when he returns to New York in the guise of an Italian, he supports no Italian accent, even when singing over the radio. One can gather that the listeners in the story, along with its viewing audience, overlooking this, just sitting back and listen to Powell sing, sing, sing.
"Broadway Gondolier" occasionally strains for laughs, with much of the comedy handled by Louise Fazenda in a role that could have been enacted by Alice Brady. Interestingly, both Fazenda and Brady, who really weren't that old, were usually type-cast as middle-aged matrons. As for Adolphe Menjou, he's makes a convincing Italian with dialect intact, never stepping out of character. At 98 minutes, "Broadway Gondolier" has that overlong feel at times. Overall, it's an acceptable radio musical satire with Powell at his prime.
Out of circulation on the local TV markets since the 1970s or 80s, "Broadway Gondolier" can still be seen and enjoyed whenever shown on Turner Classic Movies. (***)
Made in the Days When Cops and Cabdrivers Sang "Rigoletto"
Handlinghandel11 September 2002
This little known Dick Powell-Joan Blondell romance musical, with a good turn by Louise Fazenda, is a charmer. What I like most is its erudition. Those must have been the days. At the beginning, occasionally in the middle, and near the end, everyone on the street seems to know the turns and lyrics to arias from Rigoletto."
"What's THAT?!" most movie audiences would ask today.
It opens with two music critics debating how one aria goes, then their cab driver -- who turns into the title character when he masquerades, per his vocal coach Adolph Menjou, as an Italian to get on the radio here -- joins in and a beat cop also does.
The rest of the music is very nice, too; but not quite Verdi.
"What's THAT?!" most movie audiences would ask today.
It opens with two music critics debating how one aria goes, then their cab driver -- who turns into the title character when he masquerades, per his vocal coach Adolph Menjou, as an Italian to get on the radio here -- joins in and a beat cop also does.
The rest of the music is very nice, too; but not quite Verdi.
Beware of all the above NEGATIVE Reviews here !!!
john-49501 January 2017
I saw this film in 1959 on late night Television at age 14. It left a very favorable and lasting impression with me. I only discovered today day via the Internet, the actual title was "BROADWAY GONDOLIER". I can remember seeing Dick Powell as a gondolier, singing pleasant music and what did I know of the movies at the age of 14 years? Virtually zero at that age! I remember my laughing a lot through this film, if you folks reading this posting have recently seen this very enjoyable Musical Comedy entertainment count yourselves very lucky indeed. As far as I am concerned, I indeed envy your good fortune. It is currently Un-Available on DVD, I suspect it has never been released to Home-Video. We are lucky that the Warner Brothers made such a generally enjoyable entertainment for us at the time of the "Mid-Point of the Great Depression" in 1935. I am sure audiences were wanting to escape their financial woes during the time of this film's release, and that Movie Stars in general would have been living the "High-Life" in comparison to the average person in the street. Irrespective whether Dick Powell was pleading for stronger movie roles, only passing time and film Historians have revealed these facts to us... I have been wanting to get a copy of this film, and I am hoping the Warner Archive will release it on DVD before much longer. I disagree with all the "Negative" reviews posted here on IMDb about this film and many other films. Going to the Movies is like taking a ride in a car, you either want to be on the journey or you do not. A lot of present day audiences are prejudiced against seeing "Black-and-White" movies and many have told me so. Dear reader, if you get the opportunity to view this Black-and-White Film, you need to realize one finer point of movie production in the 1930's and through to the 1950's... And that is that Black-and-White films were made on Nitrate Film Stock using Fine-Grain Silver-Salts to produce real intense Blacks and many Shades of Grey through to Zero-Silver-Salts giving Dazzling White Light from the Carbon-Arc Projector-Lamp-Houses on the Cinema Screens of that time. And unless you are seeing an original 35mm Black-and-White "Original" Nitrate Print struck from the original Camera Negative being projected from a Carbon-Arc Lamp-House, you will usually be seeing the Movie from an Old-16mm-Print (from a Television Station ) using Low-Contrast copies, and you are not seeing the film that audiences were viewing at the time of the Original Release, even during the Great Depression. Later in my life, I was employed as Cinema Projectionist ( for over 30 years ) and I recall my mentor revealing to me that in his youth, he was employed as a junior to soak the Nitrate 35mm Movie prints in a bath tub, and his job was to recover the SILVER-SALTS from the Film-Stock, and the Film Exchanges recovered the actual SILVER from the prints, bringing in a great deal of money as a consequence. This was revealed to me by a Chief Projectionist who had worked in Cinemas and Overseas in the Armed Services as Projectionist during World War 2. Dear reader, I hope you are now, a little better informed, that you are not seeing "Black-and-White" films these days ( in the year 2017 ) as they were Originally presented to audiences during the Golden Years of Cinema in the 1930's and the 1940's, but you are seeing a mere facsimile of what was Originally presented during those Golden years. And back then, and in my time in Cinemas, we took care and were proud of the way we presented each and every motion picture to the Cinema-going public, I am proud to claim to you dear reader I was a "Show-Man"...Please to all fellow reviewers, please no more nasty comments... and to you dear reader, Thank You...
Delightful, silly fun
jcravens428 August 2023
Dick Powell is at the top of his game as both a crooner and a comedic star. And it's fantastic to see Joan Blondell in a lead role. And Adolphe Menjou in a campy role, singing? It's light, fluffy, charming fun that also provides a terrific glimpse into life in 1934 and 1935 (watch how the window on the cruise ship is opened). It's hilarious that everyone on the street seems to know Opera tunes. Also, for anyone who thinks singers and actors today are selling out by appearing in commercials - singers and actors have ALWAYS sold products via or adjacent to their "art," as this film shows. Yet another film that makes me wish there were still nightclubs and live radio shows (not just Wait Wait Don't Tell Me).
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