Michael_Elliott Broadway Bill (1934) *** (out of 4) Wonderfully charming film about Dan Brooks (Warner Baxter), a man who walks away from his wife's family business so that he can enter his horse, Broadway Bill, in the Derby where the hopes to become a winner. The only one who believes in Dan is his wife's sister (Myrna Loy) and the not-all-there Colonel Pettigrew (Raymond Walburn). This film followed IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT so that's probably the main reason this here isn't as well remembered but apparently not even the director himself liked it as he would never speak about it an only discussed it in his book when talking about its remake RIDING HIGH. With that said, I personally found the film to be quite charming due in large part to the wonderful cast with Baxter and Loy leading the way with some very strong supporting performances. Baxter gets to play the fast-talking, go getter and he's wonderful in the part. He brings to so much energy and good charm to the role that you can't help but want to see him succeed. Loy is at her very best as she has no problems getting smiles and making for a good love interest even though the film keeps their relationship rather watered-down considering you really couldn't have a married man wrapped up with his sister in law. The supporting cast features Walburn getting plenty of laughs playing a lovable moron, Walter Connolly, Douglas Dumbrille, Margaret Hamilton and Raymond Walburn. Clarence Muse plays the servant in the film but he nearly steals the film as he's given plenty of a very good scenes and works extremely well with the entire cast. I was a little surprised to see how the movie ends but it's quite touching as only Capra could do. This isn't one of the director's greatest films but it's a pleasant little "B" movie that has a terrific cast, some nice laughs and a winning story so recommending it is easy.

MartinHafer Successful businessman Warner Baxter quits his job to return to the life of horse racing. Broadway Bill is a horse that Baxter thinks can take him to the big time. The problem is that he is practically broke and must scrimp and scheme to somehow get the money needed to get Bill in 'the big race'.This is an amazing film because it was nothing like I would have expected. Even though it appeared right after director Capra's masterpiece IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, it must have been in the planning stages long before hand. That's because IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT cleaned up at the Oscars and was a huge hit. You'd expect, therefore, that Capra's next film would have been a top-notch film--not some crappy old B-movie. Yet, aside from having a good cast, Broadway BILL is, at heart, just a clichéd B-movie--and certainly far from the director's best.Part of the problem is that it's hard to have a horse racing film that is fresh and exciting. In the 1930s, Hollywood made quite a few racing films--and they all seem very similar. In fact, as I watched Broadway BILL, I kept thinking "wow, this reminds me of another racing film I saw"--and this happened again and again. While I cannot remember every title, it's clearly a lot like SERGEANT MURPHY and especially LONG SHOT. In fact, you could say that LONG SHOT was a re-working of Broadway BILL--not exactly a remake, but using major chunks of the original story. It's a case of 'been there, done that'.In some ways, this sort of clichéd bilge is a surprise--not just because Capra was at the helm. You'd think it would be a better film with Warner Baxter, as he was a big name in 1934 as he'd already won an Oscar for IN OLD ARIZONA and had a starring performance the year before in 42ND STREET. Additionally, Myrna Loy had starred in the hugely successful THIN MAN earlier that year--and it catapulted her to stardom. You'd have thought she could have merited something better than this! Perhaps someone was holding family members of Capra, Baxter and Loy hostage--otherwise, there's no explaining this film! In addition to a clichéd B-movie plot, the picture also betrayed a cheapness you just wouldn't have expected from a Capra picture. In the very beginning of the movie, there is one of the very, very worst examples of rotten rear-projected camera work. It's obvious that Warner Baxter is clearly riding in a car that is stationary and the 'horse' running along side of his very, very clearly is being projected on a screen.The most amazing thing about this silly film is that in 1950, Capra would remake this movie as RIDING HIGH!! Remakes are a decent idea if the original story is flawed or the acting particularly bad and you somehow correct these flaws---but when the story idea is a clichéd and dusty old plot, a remake can't help but fail as well.My advice is to skip this one or DON'T expect it to be an A-picture. If you just pretend it's a cheap B-movie, then it's very pleasant experience, as it's reasonably entertaining...in a very modest way.

blanche-2 Frank Capra, who gave us so many well known films, such as "It Happened One Night," "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," and "It's a Wonderful Life," also gave us the lesser known "Broadway Bill" in 1934. The movie was remade later as "Riding High" with Bing Crosby, though it is not a favorite of Frank Capra.The story concerns Dan Brooks (Warner Baxter), married to a wealthy woman and working for her father (Walter Connelly). Dan is miserable. He walks away from the job and his wife, who refuses to accompany him, to pursue his dream of working in the racing industry. He gets behind a horse named "Broadway Bill." Bill is super-fast, but even with everything stacked against the horse, Dan knows he can win.Myrna Loy costars as Dan's sister-in-law, who believes in what he's doing and is secretly in love with him."Broadway Bill" is a sentimental film, with some satisfying moments. However, I have to admit I'm not crazy about the racing footage - I believe wire was used to trip the horses, which is disturbing.Not Capra's best, but not bad either if you can stomach accidents with horses.

Sergeiii Frank Capra is a great favourite of mine and I thoroughly appreciate his system of values. However, I find the message of "Broadway Bill" questionable at least. Flogging a horse to death rather than accepting your parent's money doesn't sound like a clever rationale to me. The only sense I can make of it is to take the horse's name "Broadway Bill" literally. This way it's cynical, on all other levels it's just stupid. Now that I've got that out of my chest, there are several great Capra moments ("Dough Boy!") to be found throughout the film. But the whole doesn't add up to anything worth keeping in mind. What a shame.