Cowboy from Brooklyn (Warner Bros.) (1938)

(Review ) “Cowboy from Brooklyn” Sets New High for Laughs STORY SYNOPSIS: (not for publication ) Elly Jordan (Dick Powell), a crooner from Brooklyn, gets a job as entertainer at a dude ranch run by Jane Hardy (Priscilla Lane). Roy Chadwick (Pat O’Brien), a Broadway producer, discovers him there and brings him to New York, billed as a singing cowboy, despite the fact that Elly is scared to death of horses. When he has to prove he’s an authentic cowboy by riding in the rodeo, Jane locates a hypnotist who persuades Elly he’s a real bronchobuster and all’s well, especially the romance between Jane and Elly. Check your dignity at the door when you go in to see “Cowboy from Brooklyn” which opened yesterday at the Strand. Comedies don’t come any funnier than this musical saga of a cowboy who never rides the range because he’s scared to death of horses. With the exception of a few sentimental interludes and some musical moments every minute of this production, which features Pat O’Brien, Dick Powell and Priscilla Lane, has at least fifty-nine seconds of hilarious comedy, with the result that the opening day audience roared with laughter almost continuously from the first scene to the last. It is a fast-moving farce, with songs introduced occasionally but always as a logical step in the plot, which revolves about the amusing misadventures of a singer. Some of the songs are old cowboy ballads, but there are also five new tunes, every one of which gives definite promise of being a big hit. The reviewer liked particularly the songs entitled “‘Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride”’ and “I'll Dream Tonight.” The screen play, adapted by Earl Baldwin from the stage play, “Howdy Stranger,” by Robert Sloane and Louis Pelletier, Jr., gets off to a flying start when Pat O’Brien, as a_ vacationing Broadway theatrical producer, mistakenly assumes that Dick Powell, who is being paid to entertain the guests at a Wyoming dude ranch with his singing, is an authentic cowboy. Powell is actually a Brooklyn boy who has never ridden a horse, is afraid of horses and is even frightened by such tiny animals as prairie dogs. Nevertheless, taken back to New York by O’Brien, he wins great fame on the radio as a crooning cowboy. It becomes necessary, however, for O’Brien to prove that his singer is a real cowboy, and he arranges to have the timid hero demonstrate his cowboy talents at a rodeo in Madison Square Garden. To tell here how this seemingly impossible task was hilariously managed would take the edge off one of the most ingeniously amusing sequences seen in any picture. The great promise as a comedian shown by Powell in_ his first motion picture role some years ago—‘'Blessed Event’’— is amply realized in his merciless caricature of the timid cowboy crooner. Pat O’Brien, of course, is veritable perfection in a fast-talking role and Priscilla Lane is both charming and amusing. The production was directed by Lloyd Bacon, and it confirms a judgment which has long been accepted in Hollywood — that he is one of the very best comedy directors in the business. TURNS WITH A MOVIE COWGIRL PUBLICIT Mat 205—30c THEY'RE THE BEST OF THE WEST—Pat O'Brien, Priscilla Lane and Dick Powell head the cast of "Cowboy from Brooklyn,’ Warner Bros. hilarious new musical comedy hit opening at the Strand Theatre today. CAST OF CHARACTERS Elly Jordan........... Dick Powell Roy Chadwick ......... Pat O’Brien Jane Hardy............ Priscilla Lane Sam Thorne.............. Dick Foran Maxine Chadwick..Ann Sheridan Jeff Hardy............ Johnnie Davis Pat Dunn........... Ronald Reagan Ma Hardy................ Emma Dunn Pop Hardy......... Granville Bates Professor Landis James Stephenson Mr. Jordan... Hobart Cavanaugh Mrs. Jordan...... Elizabeth Risdon Abby Pitts............ Dennie Moore Panthea .............. Rosella Towne Mrs. Krinkenheim...... May Boley Route: Foes eee Harry Barris Spec................ Candy Candido ‘Star’ Reporter...Donald Briggs ‘Chronicle’ Reporter Jeffrey Lynn ‘Beacon’ Reporter. John Ridgely Mr. Alvey........ William Davidson Myrtle Semple........... Mary Field PRODUCTION STAFF Directed by..............Lloyd Bacon Screen Play by..... Earl Baldwin From Play “Howdy Stranger” DY ee Robert Sloane and Louis Pelletier, Jr. Music and Lyrics by.................. Richard Whiting Johnny Mercer Harry Warren Orchestral Arrangements by Adolph Deutsch Musical Director Leo F. Forbstein Photography by Arthur Edeson, A. S. C. Film Editor......... James Gibbon Art Director........ Esdras Hartley Sound by........... Dolph Thomas and David Forrest Gowns by............ Milo Anderson On the set with Priscilla Lane, currently appearing in “‘Cowboy from Brooklyn” at the Strand. Mat 401—60c ad Priscilla Lane runs the gamut from ingenue to cowgirl in "Cowboy from Brooklyn." Dick Powell, as the Brooklyn band-leader, supplies the tunes and croons in a series of adventures that wind up on a dude ranch way out west. (I) Priscilla takes her first turn on the lariat with Wayne Morris. (2) Dick Foran ropes Priscilla in with a couple of tricks. (3) Now Priscilla gives the rope a twist all her own. (4) She tilts a milk bottle for a little friend. (5) She rolls her own. 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