Two Girls on Broadway (MGM 1940)
Production Dates: January 18, 1940-March 1940
Release Date: April 19, 1940
Credited Cast and Crew:
Lana Turner, Joan Blondell, George Murphy, Kent Taylor
Directed by: S. Sylvan Simon
Writing Credits: Edmund Goulding (story), Joseph Fields, Jerome Chodorov
Original Music by: Roger Edens, Ted Fetter, Harry Revel, George Bassman, Chet Forrest, David Raskin, Robert W. Stringer and Bob Wright
Non-Original Music by: Nacio Herb Brown, Walter Donaldson, Edward Ward and Franz Waxman
Cinematography by: George J. Folsey
Synopsis: Lana and Joan Blondell as two sisters trying for a big break on Broadway.
My Review: Lana Turner? A dancer? It's true. During Lana's first few years at MGM, they were trying to figure out what she could do, while at the same time trying to build her up to the heights of stardom. Her dancing here is nothing short of terrific and while she is not exactly Ginger Rogers, she really holds her own and leads the viewer to wonder: Why didn't they let her do this kind of thing more often? She also gets to sing (!) a number ("Broadway's Still Broadway") with Joan Blondell. Her voice, though untrained, is adequate and not as terrible as history has made it out to be. Later on, MGM would overdub Lana's voice when she sang, but in the early years (and sometimes you really have to listen) it was Lana's voice all the way.
Your Review: What are YOUR thoughts on this film? Contact me at Liza@lanaturneronline.com
Reviewed by Taylor C. Downing on January 29, 2005
This film was a remake of a film from 1929 titled "The Broadway Melody" which was about two sisters (Anita Page and Bessie Love) who fall in love with the same man (Charles King) while trying to pursue their careers on Broadway. This version, made in 1940, disappoints me somewhat. Here, the original film was an expensive "A" film for MGM, yet, they've remade it into a "B" picture. The songs aren't all that good and here is how I would have cast it as the sisters (either Eleanor Powell and Ginger Rogers, Eleanor and Judy Garland, Rita Hayworth and Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth and Eleanor Powell, Lana Turner and Ginger Rogers, Lana Turner and Eleanor Powell, or Rita Hayworth and Lana Turner) and as they guy I would have casted either Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, or even Clark Gable. I feel as though this version could have been a true 1940's classic, but with the "B" picture standing, the songs, and some of the cast, it's just another dull second feature.
Highlights and Trivia
*During one of Lana's tap dancing numbers, houses from the "Munchkinland" set from The Wizard of Oz (1939) can be seen.
*Loosely based on 1930's The Broadway Melody of 1929.
*Released under the title Choose Your Partner in Great Britain
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