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From Kevin John Bozelka's blog. Click picture for link.
Date of Release: Oct 16, 1929
Director: Charles J. Hunt
Studio: Rayart Pictures
Leading Actors: Tommy Christian, Ellalee Ruby, Jack J. Clark, Lucy Ames, Art Barnett
Music: Billy Moll
Choreographer: Jack Clark
The Making Of
Rayart Pictures Corporation, initially a silent film company, filmed various musical shorts at one of several east coast studios, Metropolitan Sound Studios, in New Jersey. One of those films, Howdy Broadway was not widely released and was a monumental flop. It is now available on DVD through Alpha Home Entertainment.
Plot
A backstage comedy centered on college students.
What The Critics Said
The NY Times described Howdy Broadway as “amateurish”, and a “barely released embarrassment that didn’t further the careers of anyone involved”. The film receives similarly harsh reviews from modern day viewers.
Richard Koszarski, in his book Hollywood on the Hudson, describes Hunt’s direction of the film as “incompetent and listless”. He states that Howdy Broadway “offers nothing to suggest any degree of pride, interest or imagination on the part of those who made it.”
According to Edwin M. Bradley, Howdy Broadway was “made to capitlize on the modest following of bandleader-saxophonist-composer Tommy Christian and his band the Collegians”. The production company, Rayart Pictures, folded shortly after the advent of talkies. It’s easy to see why.
Modern Day Viewing
The best thing about this film is that it is only 47 minutes long. The script, direction, and editing are so woeful, it’s comedic. It’s easy to see where the Singin’ In the Rain creative team later drew their inspiration.
The script, by director Charles J. Hunt, is undeveloped and full of terrible dialogue. Centered around a group of jocks who inexplicably become Broadway performers, we learn nothing about the characters, nor do we particularly care for them.
The direction is similarly inadequate. Each scene is blocked as if for a stage play. The ensemble stands awkwardly in the background, watching the action with their best “listening” faces on. Random musicians, the real life Collegians, are inexplicably poised at the ready to play in almost every scene. Two ensemble members each have a line, but the microphones don’t pick them up.
The acting is mostly suitable for silent films, hammy and over-the-top. In an early number, the actor spends the entire song looking away from the camera to an unseen audience, stage left. In the next scene, an irate police officer delivers his entire speech upstage, with his back to the camera.
The editing is also amateurish. Scenes take too long to end, with actors standing still, as if waiting for “cut” to be called. Cuts between different shots within one scene make the actors appear to switch positions although they are standing still, and the sound is often not synchronized with the image.
Women appear in the film as the sweet love interest, the scheming performer, and the scantily clad chorus girls. The lead female, Lucy Ames, is a nice enough soprano, but her lack of depth or desires beyond her beau make her uninteresting. Lyrics such as “Anything you say, anything you need, I’ll agree. You can always count on me” make her even less endearing. Her costume, a pretty dress with a giant white corsage that covers her entire shoulder, is so distracting that even her male counterpart has no choice but to play with it while she sings.
Sweet though forgettable songs, with a good balance of ballads and jaunty up-tempo numbers, at least keep the film rolling at a reasonable pace. The orchestrations are simple, predominantly making use of piano, guitar, a violin or two, and an alto sax. Two songs occur as an expression of a character’s feelings, however most of the song and dance numbers are performed as a show within a show.
The choreography is basic, and at times hilarious. One number features a solo male dancer doing some impressive high kicks, while another features chorus girls tap dancing. Most of the dancing is filmed with the whole body in the frame, though one solo number cuts to close-ups of the male dancer’s “fancy” footwork.
Howdy Broadway is amusing to watch today, thanks to how utterly awful it is. As a musical, it is completely forgettable. As a piece of film history, it is fascinating to see how far we still have to go before the “glory days” of the Hollywood musical.
Director: Charles J. Hunt
Studio: Rayart Pictures
Leading Actors: Tommy Christian, Ellalee Ruby, Jack J. Clark, Lucy Ames, Art Barnett
Music: Billy Moll
Choreographer: Jack Clark
The Making Of
Rayart Pictures Corporation, initially a silent film company, filmed various musical shorts at one of several east coast studios, Metropolitan Sound Studios, in New Jersey. One of those films, Howdy Broadway was not widely released and was a monumental flop. It is now available on DVD through Alpha Home Entertainment.
Plot
A backstage comedy centered on college students.
What The Critics Said
The NY Times described Howdy Broadway as “amateurish”, and a “barely released embarrassment that didn’t further the careers of anyone involved”. The film receives similarly harsh reviews from modern day viewers.
Richard Koszarski, in his book Hollywood on the Hudson, describes Hunt’s direction of the film as “incompetent and listless”. He states that Howdy Broadway “offers nothing to suggest any degree of pride, interest or imagination on the part of those who made it.”
According to Edwin M. Bradley, Howdy Broadway was “made to capitlize on the modest following of bandleader-saxophonist-composer Tommy Christian and his band the Collegians”. The production company, Rayart Pictures, folded shortly after the advent of talkies. It’s easy to see why.
Modern Day Viewing
The best thing about this film is that it is only 47 minutes long. The script, direction, and editing are so woeful, it’s comedic. It’s easy to see where the Singin’ In the Rain creative team later drew their inspiration.
The script, by director Charles J. Hunt, is undeveloped and full of terrible dialogue. Centered around a group of jocks who inexplicably become Broadway performers, we learn nothing about the characters, nor do we particularly care for them.
The direction is similarly inadequate. Each scene is blocked as if for a stage play. The ensemble stands awkwardly in the background, watching the action with their best “listening” faces on. Random musicians, the real life Collegians, are inexplicably poised at the ready to play in almost every scene. Two ensemble members each have a line, but the microphones don’t pick them up.
The acting is mostly suitable for silent films, hammy and over-the-top. In an early number, the actor spends the entire song looking away from the camera to an unseen audience, stage left. In the next scene, an irate police officer delivers his entire speech upstage, with his back to the camera.
The editing is also amateurish. Scenes take too long to end, with actors standing still, as if waiting for “cut” to be called. Cuts between different shots within one scene make the actors appear to switch positions although they are standing still, and the sound is often not synchronized with the image.
Women appear in the film as the sweet love interest, the scheming performer, and the scantily clad chorus girls. The lead female, Lucy Ames, is a nice enough soprano, but her lack of depth or desires beyond her beau make her uninteresting. Lyrics such as “Anything you say, anything you need, I’ll agree. You can always count on me” make her even less endearing. Her costume, a pretty dress with a giant white corsage that covers her entire shoulder, is so distracting that even her male counterpart has no choice but to play with it while she sings.
Sweet though forgettable songs, with a good balance of ballads and jaunty up-tempo numbers, at least keep the film rolling at a reasonable pace. The orchestrations are simple, predominantly making use of piano, guitar, a violin or two, and an alto sax. Two songs occur as an expression of a character’s feelings, however most of the song and dance numbers are performed as a show within a show.
The choreography is basic, and at times hilarious. One number features a solo male dancer doing some impressive high kicks, while another features chorus girls tap dancing. Most of the dancing is filmed with the whole body in the frame, though one solo number cuts to close-ups of the male dancer’s “fancy” footwork.
Howdy Broadway is amusing to watch today, thanks to how utterly awful it is. As a musical, it is completely forgettable. As a piece of film history, it is fascinating to see how far we still have to go before the “glory days” of the Hollywood musical.