"It doesn't have to be classical art as long as it comes from the heart" - Jimmy Durante (as Nick Lombardi in 'It Happened in Brooklyn')
'It Happened in Brooklyn' is a 1947 musical directed by Richard Whorf and starring Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Peter Lawford, Jimmy Durante, Gloria Grahame & Marcy McGuire. The film contains 6 songs written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne, as well as a few opera arias.
Watch the trailer:
Danny Webson Miller (played by Sinatra) has been in the army for four years, and returns to his one true love: the city of Brooklyn. Before his return he meets a shy young composer, Jamie Shellgrove (played by Lawford). Jamie's grandfather asks Danny to help make Jamie more social by introducing him to some girls in Brooklyn. After returning to Brooklyn Danny meets schoolteacher Anne Fielding (played by Grayson) and is reunited with an old friend, Nick Lombardi (played by Durante).Musical program
- "Whose Baby Are You?" - Frank Sinatra
- "The Brooklyn Bridge" - Frank Sinatra
- "The Bell Song" - Kathryn Grayson
- "I Believe" - Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Durante & Bobby Long
- "The Song's Gotta Come From the Heart" - Frank Sinatra & Jimmy Durante
- "La Ci Darem La Mano" - Kathryn Grayson & Frank Sinatra
- "It's the Same Old Dream" - Frank Sinatra
- "It's the Same Old Dream (Reprise) - Students ensemble
- "Time After Time" - Frank Sinatra
- "Time After Time (Reprise)" - Kathryn Grayson
- "Whose Baby Are You? (Reprise)" - Peter Lawford
Song: "The Song's Gotta Come From the Heart" - Frank Siantra & Jimmy Durante
Song: "Time After Time (Reprise)" - Kathryn Grayson
Song: "La Ci Darem La Mano" - Kathryn Grayson & Frank Sinatra
Song: "I Believe" - Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Durante & Bobby Long
Did you know...
- This was Frank Sinatra's third MGM film, and the third time he & Kathryn Grayson appeared in the same film
- The piano music played in the film was played by an unseen 17 year old Andre Previn, who had just joined the MGM musical department
Closing remarks
One of the weaker MGM musicals with a moderately bad script and very little substance. The film was primarily designed to showcase the vocal talent of Frank Sinatra - which is what the majority of Elvis Presley's filmography would endeavour to do. I'm not a fan of the ending and the way in which the film just cuts off.There are some good songs in the film, "Time After Time", "I Believe" & the Sinatra/Durante duet "The Songs Gotta Come From the Heart".
I find Jimmy Durante carries the film pretty much on his own and at the same time shows us what vaudeville greatness is.
My star of the month. And perhaps the Real star of this movie is very minor minor who tap-danced his way to stardom and that star is the wonderfully gifted, Bobby Long*
ReplyDeleteHe had all the makings of a great star. He had the Quadruple Thread of Talent: He can act, sing, dance (especially tap) and does acrobats. I think he was a gymnast too.
But this kid was Talented with a capital "T" beyond belief!
That's rare to find in any child celebrity nowadays.
Then all of a sudden he vanished.
And not just from the limelight, but from life itself. All of his records were erased from history. It's like as if he never existed. Except in this movie.
Someone has to know what Really happened to him. And someday the Truth will finally come out and his story will be told At Long Last.
Thank U Bobby Long* for entertaining us even if it was just in one movie.
To me, you will never be forgotten and your are my favorite celebrity star*
God Bless Bobby Long & His Family*
ReplyDeleteI never forgot about Bobby Long ♡
ReplyDeleteToday marks 75 years since this uniquely talented movie came out.
ReplyDeleteIt Happened in Brooklyn may have flopped gaining only $2,664,000 at the box office on its opening weekend.
It opened at Graham's Egyptian Theater in Hollywood on Tuesday March 9th of'47,
Then on Thursday March 11th to Saturday the 13th, it had a Huge opening weekend in New York, especially in Brooklyn itself. There was even a blimp and cable car rides across the Brooklyn Bridge.
Fans were pouring in from Everywhere wanting to get the opportunity of meeting their favorite stars in person. Frank Sinatra being one of them. (Sinatra didn't attend the Brooklyn premiere but showed up at the Broadway premiere at the Capitol Theater).
Bobby Long had the time of his life going 2 each premiere and after going on a 2-month tour 2 promote the movie.
It was the only time he ever felt like a real star. Unfortunately it didn't last.
Bobby and his family vanished somewhere between September and December of '47. Their disappearance was never reported. And Bobby Long became nothing more but a forgotten memory.
But not anymore. He will always have a place in my heart. So I raise a glass to Bobby Long. Never forgotten again.
Happy Anniversary 2 IHIB & God Bless Bobby Long *