I don't know exactly why, but I didn't have high hopes for this film, but I quite wrong. A very good mid-1930s musical! Let's start out with the negatives. Chief among them was the casting of -- or perhaps I should blame it on the director on the performance of -- Buddy Ebsen. I'll admit to not being a particular fan of Ebsen's, and perhaps that's quite a bit to do with his sting on "THe Beverly Hillbillies" in the 1960s, but I am really not impressed here. It seems to me that what they (or he) wanted to do with his character was to make a White Stepin Fetchit, except that Lincoln Perry was more talented. I really see NOTHING entertaining about Ebsen's acting here, and his dancing is not much more than satisfactory. My other criticism is the sneezing routine; what a waste of celluloid.Aside from those 2 issues, there's quite a bit of good stuff here, starting with an otherwise fine cast. Robert Taylor is very good as the trying-to-be a Broadway producer. Eleanor Powell always impresses me with her dancing, although this is not her finest performance. Judy Garland is really good here as a teenage girl on her way to stardom, and this is the film where she performs her memorable love letter to Clark Gable ("You Made Me Love You"); what a fine vocalist she was even at this young age (15). It's great to see Sophie Tucker, particularly where she does a somewhat short version of "Some Of These Days"; she also plays a wonderfully sympathetic character here. George Murphy shows just how good a dancer he was, and that was darned good...although sometimes he had to look down, while Fred Astaire never would have. Robert Benchley is here, but adds little. Billy Gilbert is very funny in his constant apoplecty.In terms of a plot...well it's a hodge podge of horse racing, a Broadway play, love and jealousy, and dreams of stardom. Yes, a hodge podge, but it somehow all comes together without seeming to silly.While this is not one of the later great musicals put out by MGM, bu mid-1930s standards, it's very good and well worth watching.

The story of Broadway MELODY OF 1938 is not so much zany as just simply bizarre. Raised on a horse farm where she also somehow learned to sing and dance, Eleanor Powell goes to New York in search of fame and fortune on the Great White Way, where she meets (a) George Murphy and Buddy Ebsen, two horse trainers who are also dancers; (b) Robert Taylor, a producer determined to star her in his new show; and (c) one of the horses from her farm. When the horse comes up lame, Eleanor rescues him--and before too long it becomes necessary for the horse to win the big race in order to finance the show!Eleanor Powell was MGM's great dancing star of the era, George Murphy was one of the screen's most reliable hoofers, and Buddy Ebsen was renowned as a character actor with an eccentric dance style--all three have tremendous star quality and they generate several charming moments. But today the film is chiefly recalled for two supporting players: Sophie Tucker and Judy Garland.Sophie Tucker had been a great stage star for more than 20 years when this film was made, and MELODY offers one of her rare screen appearances: with her no-nonsense, no-holds-barred style, she leaves little doubt about why she was so celebrated--especially when she launches into her signature song "Some of These Days." Garland, on the other hand, was just really beginning her film career, a slightly chunky teenager with a great big voice--and after putting it through the bullseye with a knockout performance of "Everybody Sing" she nailed the audiences of the day with her famous version of "You Made Me Love You," sung to a photograph of Clark Gable. It was the stuff dreams are made of, and from that moment on her film career was straight up all the way.The stars knock themselves out to make it fun, and very often it is. But as a whole, it never really seems work in a consistent sort of way. When all is said and done, Broadway MELODY OF 1938 is the sort of show that you watch for certain scenes rather than for the show itself, which is considerably less than the sum of its parts. Recommended for 1930s musical fans, but even they will likely find very thin stuff indeed.Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

MGM's Broadway Melody of 1938 was actually made in 1937. It is now famous as the young Judy Garland's MGM debut feature film. In it, she sings her ode to Clark Gable's photograph, "Dear Mr. Gable". The words were added especially for her to the standard, "You Made Me Love You." However, Judy only has a small role in the film, playing the daughter of old Broadway stalwart Sophie Tucker. Sophie Tucker runs a performer boarding house where Eleanor Powell eventually finds herself. She plays a young lady, who pines for a horse that she helped raise. Robert Taylor is a producer trying to get funding for his show, etc. They meet, fall in love, and along the way we're treated to a melange of depression era nostalgia in the form of comedy, laughter, song and dance, and typical 1930's hokey plot points. Besides Garland's songs, including "Everybody Sing", the musical highlights are the tap dancing of Buddy Ebsen, George Murphy, and Powell to "Follow In My Footsteps" and Murphy and Powell dancing to "I'm Feelin' Like A Million". Director Roy Del Ruth, who did a number of these type of films in the 1930's, keeps things moving at a brisk pace and we're swept away. Well-timed humor is provided by Binnie Barnes, Raymond Walburn, and Billy Gilbert. The always welcome Robert Benchley even turns up in a small bit. However, the songs are not that memorable, and the film has a typically overproduced MGM finale, bigger than the film itself. **1/2 of 4 stars.

What can you say when you have the talented tootsies of Eleanor Powell and George Murphy, the fabulous songs of Judy Garland and Sophie Tucker, the handsome debonair Robert Taylor and the funny Buddy Ebsen and Binnie Barnes and several other unforgettable talents! Sophie's song Red Hot Mama is just one of those songs that needs to be heard again and again. Broadway Melody is a piece of Americana that everyone should give a chance....you might just like it!