Broadway Bill

11/30/19341h 44m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

~ The Comedy Successor to 'It Happened One Night' ~

Overview:

Tycoon J.L. Higgins controls his whole family, but one of his sons-in-law, Dan Brooks, and his daughter Alice are fed up with that. Brooks quits his job as manager of J.L.'s paper box factory and devotes his life to his racing horse Broadway Bill, but his bankroll is thin and the luck is against him. He is arrested because of $150 he owes somebody for horse food, but suddenly a planned fraud by somebody else seems to offer him a chance...

Director:

Frank Capra

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$668,900.00

Revenue:

$1,400,000.00

Key words:

gambling
horse
family business
colonel
heiress

Cast

Warner Baxter

~ as ~

Dan Brooks

Myrna Loy

~ as ~

Alice 'Princess' Higgins

Walter Connolly

~ as ~

J.L. Higgins

Helen Vinson

~ as ~

Margaret

Douglass Dumbrille

~ as ~

Eddie Morgan

Raymond Walburn

~ as ~

Colonel Pettigrew

Lynne Overman

~ as ~

Happy McGuire

Clarence Muse

~ as ~

Whitey

Broadway Bill

~ as ~

Broadway Bill - a Horse

Margaret Hamilton

~ as ~

Edna

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 1 year(s) ago
6
At a family dinner, patriarch "Higgins" (Walter Connolly) - who has his name on practically everything - is bemoaning the failures of his cardboard box division. That's run by son-in-law "Dan" (Warner Baxter) but he's bored witless by the whole operation and decides he wants to quit and focus on his eponymous racehorse. He quickly discovers that owning an horse is a pricey occupation, and without a job or family money he is soon borrowing from anyone he can to keep the thing on four legs. It's first outing at the track is an unmitigated disaster, followed by a spell in jail for not paying his debts. Then "Alice" (Myrna Loy) steps in to help - and maybe, just maybe, they can get the horse entered into the Imperial Derby. What now ensues is actually quite good fun and features some of the tightest and exciting horse-racing coverage I've ever seen. The romantic elements can be largely ignored as the hapless "Dan" begins to look like he can make his father-in-law eat some humble pie and irritate the gambling fraternity at the same time. There are a couple of engaging supporting contributions - Raymond Walburn and Lynne Overman add value and if you're eagle-eyed you might spot Margaret Hamilton too. It's quickly paced and light-heartedly humorous and though probably twenty minutes too long, is still worth a watch.