Bunuel1976 Review of The Big Broadcast of 1938

The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)

THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1938 (Mitchell Leisen, 1938) **1/2

[6/10 · 28 February 2009]

This was the fourth and last in a series of "Big Broadcast" movies made by Paramount over a period of seven years; they were essentially the studio's reply to MGM's run of "Broadway Melody" releases. I've watched two among the latter franchise (see below and the 1940 entry) but this is my first brush with the "Big Broadcast" series; comparing the two, it seems the MGM films had much more plot than Paramount's – but the latter, to their ultimate advantage, incorporated much more comedy. In this particular case, we get two(!) W.C. Fields and, in his screen debut, Bob Hope; the former is his typical larger-than-life and iconoclastic self (traveling on a motorbike that can spread its wings and fly!) – who manages to revive two of his favorite game routines i.e. golf and billiards – while the latter is already the wisecracking heel (who has four wives to his name and another in the offing!) emceeing the entertainment aboard one of two cruise-liners engaged in a race. The show involves several long-forgotten (and now highly-resistible) attractions – ranging from a Mexican heart-throb to a female soprano – and even a bland bit of animation (courtesy of Leon Schlesinger from Warners' "Looney Tunes" stable). Needless to say, there is the obligatory romance as well – between Hope's proposed No. 5 wife Dorothy Lamour and inventor Leif Erickson, Hope's own re-affirmed affection for ex-spouse Shirley Ross (while singing his signature tune, the Oscar-winning "Thanks For The Memory") and between Fields' even wackier daughter Martha Raye and her companion Lynne Overman. All the various stars (including a redundant third comic in Ben Blue) get to do their thing, but the laughter element is clearly the most effective – with Fields' surreal antics (the best of which, perhaps, is when he unwittingly blows up a gas station) and Hope's quips mixing quite well (though the two barely ever meet throughout!). Most of the music, then, is pretty dire (as already intimated), while the choreography includes an energetic number highlighting Raye and the expected splashy finale. At least, director Leisen (who had also helmed the previous entry from 1937) lends the film his customary surface style.