Broadway Melody of 1940 Reviews

The fourth and final entry in the Broadway Melody franchise, The Broadway Melody of 1940 follows a familiar pattern of ‘star is born,’ mistaken identities, and romance. It’s our lone chance to watch Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell dance together, and that accounts for a lot of the pleasures of this film. These two are grace personified in their combination of athleticism and sophistication. The elegance just drips off the screen when they dance.

It’s a shame that neither of them is particularly adept at the whole acting thing quite yet. They’re fine as personalities and spring to god-like life in their musical scenes, but there’s no romantic heat generated between the two like Astaire’s pairings with Ginger Rogers. Much of the acting is left to the ever smiling and handsome George Murphy and a befuddled Frank Morgan. We must also pause at random intervals to allow for various specialty acts to do their thing, and they’re a mixed bag.

In the end, The Broadway Melody of 1940 is a finely made and amusing little trifle. It’s a glimpse of the MGM machine churning out product from its refinery at a clipped pace with not a stray hair or sweaty brow to be found. This is pure fantasy from the dream factory’s strongest purveyor of the artificial life.