"Broadway melody 38" is the second fantastic "melody" film after "Broadway melody 36". One of the reasons " Melody 36" was so great was due to the wonderful Eleanor Powell. Her talented dancing magic and her lovely beauty just lights up the screen. Eleanor is back in "Melody 38" for more of that. Eleanor is also wonderful in "Born to dance", "Rosalie", "Lady be good", and "Broadway melody 40''. The wonderful Judy Garland joins this film too. She lights up the screen with her beautiful singing. Sophie Tucker, another great old time actress is here as the owner of a boarding house for performers trying to get work. Judy is staying there, and Eleanor comes over there too. Also, the guy from "Melody 36" as the "expert" snoorer is back this time as an "expert" sneezer, which would've been OK if they left it alone with him just being the snorer in "Melody 36". It's just for that reason I rate this film a 9 and a half instead of 10, but I decided to round it off to a 10 since so much of this film is wonderful. I liked Buddy Ebson and George Murphy in the opera singing barber shop ("Singing barbar of Seville"). The singing barber and his partner Billy Gilbert were a good couple of characters added to the film starting with them gambling together on the races with the horse "Fast asleep", and Billy saying "you better hope for your sake that that horse doesn't get sleepy in the race". Then, when Buddy and George found that they needed their money and the money Billy put down for something else and couldn't bet on the race, Billy and his partner chase them down, "Ah-haa!, so that's where are yoouu!!". I liked Billy's way of not being able to quite phrase things correctly, such as "and don't give me the cross doub。 of $800 and kept avoiding me, but I would be angry. And $800 then was similar to like $8000 today), she then gets them all to make peace and bet together in another race with the horse "Fast asleep". That horse was a former horse of Eleanor's (she had to sell him due to the depression). She is now trying to buy him back, with the help of Robert Taylor and George trying to come up with the money for her to do so, including at a bidding auction. Robert doesn't want Eleanor to know that he wants to buy her horse back, which makes sense due to Robert not wanting to remain too desperate since he has a crush on her. Robert gives George the money, George asks "where shall I tell her I got it?' Robert: "tell her anything, tell her it was bank night" George: "I get it, tell her anything except that it came from you" Robert: "That's right". I can relate to him loving Eleanor. There's more of her wonderful dancing in this film, this time to "I'm feeling like a million" and "Follow in my footsteps". Eleanor shows more of her amazing dance talent, all of her great kicks, twirls, and other fabulous dance moves. Eleanor could sing beautifully too, as she sings " Yours and mine". Then Judy Garland's wonderful " Everybody sing" in the waiting room. Judy sings great, then the stuffy, quirky waiting room assistant joining in the song ("sing a song of sixpence "), then some fat guy joining in with a very deep, bass voice. " Everybody sing" was one of two pieces of Judy's famous songs in this film. The other's the famous "Dear Mr. Gable, you made me love you", with Judy sitting at her dresser looking at a scrapbook of Clark Gable. And Judy singing it with her very talented voice and with so much passion. It was one of her many wonderful memorable pieces of cinematic gold in the years between the late 1930s and 1950 with Judy at MGM. Between her, Eleanor, and numerous others in the film, "Broadway melody 38" is another wonderful golden age treasure.
Review of Broadway Melody of 1938
