“BROADWAY”

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 3270, 31 May 1943, Page 5

“BROADWAY”

MOVING MELODRAMA ' I PROGRAMME AT REGENT MEMORABLE SONG SUCCESSES Sentimentalists will be treated to a nostalgic musical feast in Universal’s “Broadway,” the thrilling, moving melodrama of New York in the rousing days of “the roaring ’2os,” which, will show on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Regent Theatre with George Raft and Pat O’Brien co-starring and heading a brilliant film cast. Not a musical feature in the accepted sense, “Broadway” nevertheless strikes a sentimentally responsive chord by including in its score and specialties, more than a dozen musical numbers which have endured and endeared themselves with the public through the years. Memorable Selections Many of the most noted composers of popular music are represented in the “Broadway” selections, their popularity through the years having earned them eminence in America. Included in the musical resume are such sentimentally remembered and perennially popular numbers as “Sweet Georgia Brown,” “Dinah,” “Three O’Clock in the Morning,” “When Irish Eyes Are . .Smiling,” “Sidewalks of New York” and “Some of These Days.” These and others are given vocal and instrumental innings in “Broadway” by shrewd Producer Bruce Manning, who is a strong believer in the sentimental values of music in creating and enhancing dramatic moods. Manning has been closely identified with Deanna Durbin’s hit pictures, which have.’ relied importantly upon, such musical mood conveyances. Music, Plot, Combined The stressing of musical interpolations in “Broadway” is possible due ' . to the development of the story. It *. is played largely back-stage in a night club during the course of a hectic 48 hours during which action Shuttles to . , the cafe where Raft and other principals are seen as entertainers. Raft enacts the role of a hoofer and O’Brien is cast as “the . toughest cop on Broadway.” Additional headliners are Janet Blair as Raft s. dancing partner and acute angle of a romantic triangle between him .. . and Brod Crawford as a gang-leader. Anne -Gwynne as a lethal chorine, • Marjorie Rambeau and others aug- .; ment the cast. William A. Seiter directed. FINALLY TO-NIGHT “NAVY BLUES” ’ 5 “Navy Blues” will show finally tonight at the Regent Theatre. _ • ';