Overview
Broadway Melody of 1936 is a musical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1935. In New York, the film opened at the Capitol Theatre, the site of many prestigious MGM premieres. It was a follow-up of sorts to the successful The Broadway Melody, which had been released in 1929, although, there is no story connection with the earlier film beyond the title and some music.
The film was written by Harry W. Conn, Moss Hart, Jack McGowan and Sid Silvers. It was directed by Roy Del Ruth and starred Jack Benny, Eleanor Powell, Robert Taylor, June Knight, Frances Langford, Sid Silvers, Buddy Ebsen and Vilma Ebsen (in their film debut). It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Plot
Irene Foster (Eleanor Powell) tries to convince her high school sweetheart, Broadway producer Robert Gordon (Robert Taylor), to give her a chance to star in his new musical, but he is too busy with the rich widow (June Knight) backing his show. Irene tries to show Gordon that she has the talent to succeed, but he will not hire her. Things become complicated when she begins impersonating a French dancer, who was actually the invention of a gossip columnist (Jack Benny, parodying Walter Winchell).
Cast
Jack Benny as Bert Keeler
Eleanor Powell as Irene Foster
Robert Taylor as Robert Gordon
Una Merkel as Kitty Corbett
Sid Silvers as Snoop Blue
Buddy Ebsen as Ted Burke
June Knight as Lillian Brent
Vilma Ebsen as Sally Burke
Nick Long, Jr. as Basil Newcombe
Robert John Wildhack as Hornblow (credited as Robert Wildhack)
Paul Harvey as Scully
Frances Langford as herself
Harry Stockwell as himself
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).