many of the acts on the radio were VISUAL acts--the Ink Spots dancing, the violinists' antics, etc.The film begins with John Payne punching people and being rather nasty--and he continues like that throughout the film. It turns out he's a man of vision--but one who is perennially angry. He hits upon yet another scheme to make a fortune when he meets Jack Oakie--a guy who LOVES early radio. Payne gets the great idea of creating a radio station--one that is paid for by sponsors. It's rocky going at first but soon he's created a network of stations--and he ends up taking Oakie's girl (Alice Faye). However, the marriage is a mess--as Payne is, in many ways, a pain--and Faye has had enough. Can their love somehow prevail? Can they manage to survive despite a meanie's (Cesar Romero) desire to crush them? The bottom line is that this is yet another clichéd film involving a long-suffering woman in a troubled relationship with a butt-head. And you know that even when Faye is talking about divorce, they STILL will be together when the film ends. But, frankly, I saw no reason for her to stand by her man--he was annoying from start to finish.Now in addition to my talking about the plot, I must mention a HUGE problem with this film. While it is supposed to be a pseudo-history of the radio industry, the acts they have in the film often make no sense at all. In one case, a singing group then starts dancing (the Nicholas Brothers). It's impressive dancing, but how can the audience at home SEE this when they are listening to them on the radio?! In another, there are LOTS of comic antics by three violinists. BUT, their humor is all physical--so how can the audience at home possibly know what's happening?!? This sort of insanity occurs throughout the film. And, while these routines are very good, they just make no sense in a history of radio! It's sloppy and silly at the same time. Overall, while the song and dance numbers are nice, the plot and radio idea are poor and make for a weak film--one of the weaker ones in Faye's career.

So how did radio networks get started. After all, they are the precursor of modern-day TV and even computer networks. I don't know how accurate the depiction is here, but at least the screenplay got me to wondering after years of incurious radio listening. In my book, that depiction is the best part of this clearly second-rate musical. The numbers themselves vary rather wildly in quality— the Nicholas Bros. are a show-stopper and the very definition of "flying feet", while the Ink Spots shine with "Alabama Bound". I confess to even being captivated by Oakie in his underwear doing a soft shoe while warbling into a primitive microphone. However, I agree with the reviewer who characterizes the usually sparkly Alice Faye as looking unusually tired. At the same time, the Wiere Bros. violin pantomime may be the worst stage act I've seen in some time. I guess they are a matter of taste-- at best.The production itself appears to be on a strict budget, with a series of rather drab sets and only one big production number, a chorus line backing up Faye. Now I'm no particular fan of Jack Oakie's. His sometimes relentless mugging can get tiresome. Here, however, he injects much-needed energy into a romantic plot line that too often sags under its own recycled weight. The overall result looks to me like Fox doing little more than meeting escapist demand on the eve of WWII.

Archie Mayo and the writers took a stock project (a show biz musical) and made it special. The plot line about the beginnings of radio doesn't get lost in the welter of specialty numbers nor does the love story intrude too much in the fun. We even get a sense of what it was like when radio was expanding from a hobbyist's pursuit to a a mass market entertainment industry. The cast is nearly top notch all around but the Wiere Brothers are a marvel, providing the best turn in the film despite competition from the Nicholas Brothers, the Ink Spots and the always professional and often underrated John Payne, Alice Faye and Jack Oakie. Payne was usually justified in sleepwalking through the roles Fox saddled him with, but in this outing he shows what he can do with a congenial plot, director and co-stars. The primary reason for watching this film is to see the Wiere Brothers at their antic best. They were a deft and whimsical European comedy trio--comedians, instrumentalists, dancers and jugglers--with a long lineage in Continental circus, ballet and opera, and their style may be baffling to tastes weened on hit-them-over-the-head roughhouse comedy. Nothing wrong with roughhouse, but the Wieres offer something gently different.

For those of us lucky enough to see Turner Classic Movies library of great MGM, Warners and RKO pictures, it comes as a letdown to see comparable 20th Century Fox pictures done with such juvenile plots--and there were many.The Great American Broadcast is worthwhile to see gorgeous Alice Faye (about the time she married Phil Harris), hear her great songs, see the incomparable Ink Spots, Weire Brothers and Nicholas Brothers! Also performing well in restrained character for a change is Jack Oakie.The backdrop of early radio is interesting, but the plot was so bad I had to turn away for a while--like broadcasting from a building rooftop from a tent in a thunderstorm(early AM low power radio would never reach far with all that lightning and static), also preposterous that John Payne would leave his beautiful new bride Alice Faye and run away to south america....only to have Jack Oakie beat him up to get him to look at her in the end....ha!!Thanks to the Fox Classic Movie Channel for providing a beautiful print, enjoy it just the same.