The Big Broadcast of 1938

USA 1938
produced by
Harlan Thompson, William LeBaron (executive), Leon Schlesinger (animation sequence only) for Paramount
directed by Mitchell Leisen
starring W.C. Fields, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Shirley Ross, Leif Erickson, Martha Raye, Lynne Overman, Ben Blue, Patricia Wilder, Grace Bradley, Rufe Davis, Lionel Pape, Dorothy Howe (= Virginia Vale), Russell Hicks, Kirsten Flagstad, Wilfrid Pelletier, Tito Guízar, Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra, Richard Denning, Leonid Kinskey, Lal Chand Mehra, Edgar Norton
story by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan, adaptation by Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse, sceenplay by Walter DeLeon, Francis Martin, Ken Englund, music by Gordon Jenkins, John Leipold, George Parrish, Victor Young, musical direction by Boris Morros

review by
Mike Haberfelner

Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned)   CLICK HERE to buy from   CLICK HERE to buy from Double Feature: College Swing, The Big Broadcast of 1938 Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!

A race across the Atlantic between the super-modern cruise liners Gigantic and Colossal. Gigantic owner Bellows (W.C. Fields) wants to leave nothing to chance to win the race, so he sends his brother (also W.C. Fields) onto the Colossal - to do nothing in particular, but he knows his brother just attracts chaos, and him just being there will be enough to (innocently) sabotage the Colossal's chances to win the race. However, brother Bellows is so chaotic that he actually boards the Gigantic by accident, and in a matter of minutes, he has pretty much ruined the Gigantic's engines, but is so obsessed with himself that he won't let the ship's engineer (Leif Erickson) repair them, and he locks the whole crew away to steer the ship through iceberg infested waters himself. However, the engineer manages to repair the engine anyhow, and in the end, the Gigantic defeats the Colossal by no more than a few feet.

A subplot involves the Gigantic's master of ceremonies (Bob Hope) losing his fiancée (Dorothy Lamour) to the engineer but getting back together with his third ex-wife (Shirley Ross).

Simply put, a rather disappointing movie: Basically, the premise has potential, but instead of being developed into an actual story with build-up, highlights, resolution and everything it's just a series of sketches in which W.C. Fields' central character seems more than a little inconsistent even (though he has quite a few funny moments at least). And the ending seems to come out of nowhere. Then the story is even interrupted by the lovestory revolving around Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour which is more than a bit disappointing (whoever thought it would make a compelling story to have Dorothy Lamour leave loveable loser Bob Hope for your typical bland handsome guy Leif Erickson ... well, was wrong) and musical numbers that set in a bit too randomly and lack any real panache.

Oh, and by the way, Fields and Hope share next to no screentime in this film and do not actually interact with one another.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned)

The links below will take you just there!!!

Find The Big Broadcast of 1938 at the amazons ...   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.de Looking for imports? Find The Big Broadcast of 1938 here ...   eThaiCD.com Your shop for all things Thai

Thanks for watching !!!