Give My Regards to Broadway
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Lloyd Bacon
Dan Dailey
Charles Winninger
Nancy Guild
Charles Ruggles
Fay Bainter
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Albert the Great & Company, which is made up of Albert Norwick, wife Fay, son Bert and daughters May and June, are a comedy jugglng act on the vaudeville circuit, and with the assistance of their agent, Toby Helper, enjoy many good bookings. When vaudeville's popularity wanes, Albert and his family leave the business and settle in Waterfield, New Jersey. There Albert takes a job as a shipping clerk at the Boyd Appliance Co., assuming that the move will be temporary. The years pass and Albert, who is still working at Boyd, is promoted to assistant foreman in charge of operations. Although the now-grown children have good jobs, Albert still regards his tenure at Boyd as a long lay-off between bookings and continues to practice juggling with Bert. The girls are encouraged to participate in rehearsals as well but, by now, have other interests; May is being courted by public accountant Frank Doty, while June is dating Arthur Waldron, Jr., whose father owns the Waldron Bottle Works. One night, a telegram arrives announcing that May and Frank have eloped. Albert is disappointed that he is losing a member of the act, but Fay tells him that May would never have been happy on the stage. A few weeks later, Toby comes to visit with news that Billy Rose is planning a big revue which might have a spot for the family's act. When Toby asks Fay privately if she really wants him to book them, she replies that she wants Albert to be happy. Bert, meanwhile, has been working in the drafting department of East Coast Electric and there meets Helen Wallace, whose father is the plant's recreation director. Wallace is pleased by posters Bert has designed for the company's baseball club and tries to recruit him for the team, believing that his ability as a juggler will be useful in the sport. When June brings Arthur to meet the family, Albert, fearful of losing another member of the act, drives him away. Later, Albert is promoted to foreman and Bert joins the baseball team. Mr. Boyd, Albert's boss, invites the family to a dance at the country club. During the evening, Albert offers to present the family's act as entertainment. June runs off embarrassed, and Albert and Bert are forced to do the act alone. Later, after June and Arthur decide to get married, the act is reduced to Albert the Great & Son. However, the Billy Rose booking fails to materialize. Bert is then offered a scholarship to M.I.T. to study electrical engineering, and Albert encourages him to accept. Toby tells Bert in confidence that the act does not have have a chance with the "old man" in it and suggests that Bert do a "single," but he turns him down. When an old family friend, August Dinkel, shows up at the Norwicks' with an offer of a guaranteed sixteen-week booking at an open-air carnival in Denver, followed by some one-night stands, Albert accepts without consulting Bert. Later, Bert asks Helen to marry him and has to tell his father that he does not want to be part of Dinkel's engagement. Bert explains to Albert that he has been enjoying himself in amateur baseball and will soon be playing in a state championship game, and he does not want to lose the scholarship opportunity. Although Bert tries to convince Albert not to give up all the years he has invested in his job, Albert feels that the entire family has turned against him but is adamant about accepting Dinkel's booking. On the day of Bert's championship game, Albert is at the railroad station waiting to leave for Denver when he hears the sounds of the game nearby and goes to see it. After watching Bert lead the team to an exciting victory, Albert goes to congratulate his son in the locker room and decides not to go to Denver after all. A couple of years later, during an anniversary party for Albert and Fay, attended by May and June, their husbands and children, as well as Bert and Helen and their baby son, Toby congratulates Albert on becoming vice-president in charge of operations, transportation and personnel at the Boyd Company. To Toby, however, he will always be Albert the Great.
Director
Lloyd Bacon
Cast
Dan Dailey
Charles Winninger
Nancy Guild
Charles Ruggles
Fay Bainter
Barbara Lawrence
Jane Nigh
Charles Russell
Sig Ruman
Howard Freeman
Herbert Anderson
Pat Flaherty
Harry Seymour
Paul Harvey
Lela Bliss
Georgia Caine
Matt Mchugh
Larry Valli
Billy Smith
William Kimbley
Dale Barringer
Charles Tannen
Edward Clark
John Wald
Ed Randolph
Brick Sullivan
Ken Christy
Bobby Hyatt
Margaret Brayton
Sam Mcdaniel
Diane Dale
Judith Mann
Crew
Peggy Adams
Louis Bacigalupi
David Buttolph
Bonnie Cashin
Les Clark
George M. Cohan
Bill T. Coughlin
Linda Cross
Hugh Cummings
Sammy Fain
Seymour Felix
Mack Gordon
Roger Heman
Charles Henderson
Charles Henderson
Samuel Hoffenstein
Bruce Hunsaker
Harry Jackson
Arthur Jacobson
Duke Johnson
Weslie Jones
Irving Kahal
Natalie Kalmus
Arthur L. Kirbach
John Klempner
Ernest Lansing
Charles Lemaire
Thomas Little
Cyril J. Mockridge
Walter Morosco
Richard Mueller
Lionel Newman
Ben Nye
Maurice De Packh
Edward Powell
Elizabeth Reinhardt
William Reynolds
Bill Riddle
Gene Rose
Vincent Rose
Irving Rosenberg
Benny Ryan
John Schonberger
Fred Sersen
Al Siegel
Herbert Spencer
J. Russell Spencer
Paul Stanhope
Joseph Sullivan
Urban Thielmann
Anthony Ugrin
Solly Violinsky
Francis Wheeler
Lyle Wheeler
Adolph Winninger
Sam Wurtzel
Darryl F. Zanuck
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of the film was Off to Buffalo. According to documents in the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department at the UCLA Arts-Special Collections Library, the studio purchased John Klempner's unpublished story "Papa Was a Juggler" (formerly titled ". . . and Son"), in August 1946 for $7,500. In February 1947, Samuel Hoffenstein and Elizabeth Reinhardt's screenplay became known as Off to Buffalo and was shot under that title. An opening historical montage of vaudevillians contains very brief clips from other Twentieth Century-Fox films, including Wilson with Eddie Foy, Jr., Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe with Willie Solar, Coney Island with Phyllis Kennedy and Nob Hill (see entries above and below). The CBCS lists three children portraying "Bert" at different ages but only one appears in the film, probably Dale Barringer. Hollywood Reporter production charts include Robert Arthur in the cast, but his appearance in the released film has not been confirmed. Factory exteriors were filmed in Torrance, CA. Charles Russell, who played Barbara Lawrence's husband in the film, married leading lady Nancy Guild during the production. Very brief passages from other popular songs of the period, including "Broadway Melody," "Oh, You Beautiful Doll," "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and "Good Morning to All" were used in the film.
