Columbia Pictures
Not part of a collection.
Angels Over Broadway
A Romance Born Between Dusk and Dawn
Small-time businessman Charles Engle is threatened with exposure for embezzling $3,000 for his free-spending wife. Deciding on suicide, he scribbles a note, stuffs it in his pocket and goes for one last night on the town. He is pulled into a poker game by conman Bill O'Brien and singer Nina Barone, but when they discover the dropped note, they resolve to turn the tables, get Engle his $3,000 and save his life.
- Original title
- Angels Over Broadway
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- —
- Revenue
- —
talisencrw
May 2, 2016 · via TMDB
This was a fun watch, included in my oddly-titled yet truly economical Mill Creek 'Classic Romances' 8-pack, which I purchased because I love old movies and it was only $10. Though if you really stretch the definition of 'romance', the designation fits, that aspect is but a very minor component of this, and the other films', workings. The 2-time Oscar winner (both wins, and all six nominations, were for screenwriting prowess) Ben Hecht directed this, and he did a decent job, even throwing in the odd bit of idiosyncratic flair. I must admit though I admire him more for his writing--he's made such a mark on cinema with simply the handful I'll casually mention here (Underworld--an Oscar-winner, The Front Page, Scarface, Nothing Sacred, Angels with Dirty Faces, Gunga Din, His Girl Friday, The Shop Around the Corner, Foreign Correspondent, Lifeboat, Spellbound, Gilda, Notorious, Rope) from ones I have personally seen and adored. I must admit I'm more familiar with Douglas Fairbanks Sr.'s work than that of his son here, and it's really different watching Rita Hayworth at this stage of her career, playing a shy, naïve waif--nothing like the force of nature she would become just a few years later with 'Gilda' and her short, tempestuous marriage to Orson Welles. In short, the story works for me, that of a boozing playwright, struggling actress and hustler helping a suicidal man out of a jam. It's a sweet little movie that's worth owning and rewatching. I honestly wish they still made little wonders like this these days. Not everything has to be either Star Wars or Hamlet.
John Chard
Sep 25, 2014 · via TMDB
No demons, just excellently written angels. Produced, directed and written by Ben Hecht, Angels Over Broadway is a film that I personally hadn't heard of until it showed up on one of the British Freeview stations this last week. The first thing what surprised was the bona fide classy cast list, Mr Charm himself, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Miss Beautiful 1940, Rita Hayworth, Mr Ever Watchable, Thomas Mitchell & Mr Undermentioned, John Qualen. The next thing that surprised me was during a bit of research I learned that critics of the day gave the picture a hard time for not soft soaping the audience, madness really, because this is a razor sharp and highly efficient picture. Set around one night on Broadway, our four main characters come together courtesy of Charles Engle's {Qualen} intention to kill himself over a huge debt. Mistakenly thinking that Engle has loads of cash to burn, Bill O'Brien {Fairbanks} enlists Nina Barona {Hayworth} in the hope of luring Engle to a poker game run by seedy gangster types, and thus fleecing him of his cash, where of course the pair of them will get a cut. Yet boozy playwright Gene Gibbons {Mitchell}, upon learning of Engle's suicidal leanings, hatches a plan to turn the tables on the poker fiddlers and turn Engle's life around. Naturally tho, not everything is going to go to plan! A smashing film that shines brightly with quality acting and comically astute writing, so if you get the chance then give it a go and you might be as surprised as I was. 8/10
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Bill O'Brien
Rita Hayworth
Nina Barona
Thomas Mitchell
Gene Gibbons
John Qualen
Charles Engle
Constance Worth
Sylvia Marbe
Harry Antrim
Court Clerk (uncredited)
Walter Baldwin
Rennick (uncredited)
Richard Bond
Stevie - Sylvia's Escort (uncredited)
Jimmy Conlin
Pawn Shop Proprietor (uncredited)
Edward Earle
Vincent - Headwaiter (uncredited)
Bess Flowers
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Carlton Griffin
Nightclub Waiter (uncredited)
Ben Hecht
Man in Night Court (uncredited)
Ethelreda Leopold
Cigarette Girl (uncredited)
Blanche Payson
Large Woman (uncredited)
Lee Phelps
Police Lieutenant (uncredited)
Walter Sande
Lunch Wagon Counterman (uncredited)
Cy Schindell
Jack (uncredited)
Harry Strang
Gambler (uncredited)
John Tyrrell
2nd Waiter (uncredited)
Billy Wayne
Second Cabby (uncredited)
Ben Hecht
Director
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Associate Producer
Ben Hecht
Producer
George Antheil
Original Music Composer
Ben Hecht
Writer
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Oct 2, 1940
