Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952)

Film: Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952)
Stars: Mitzi Gaynor, Scott Brady, Mitzi Green, Marguerite Chapman, Wally Vernon
Director: Harmon Jones
Oscar History: No nominations
Snap Judgment Ranking: 1/5 stars

Each month, as part of our 2019 Saturdays with the Stars series, we highlight a different actress of Hollywood's Golden Age.  This month, our focus is on Mitzi Gaynor-click here to learn more about Ms. Gaynor (and why I picked her), and click here for other Saturdays with the Stars articles.

Mitzi Gaynor is a bit odd in terms of the women we've discussed so far in this series.  Unlike so many of the actresses who spent years in modeling or on the stage or in bit parts, she basically was an overnight sensation.  She was a big enough deal to get her name on the poster for her first film My Blue Heaven, and was already above-the-line the following year with Golden Girl, a film we discussed a while back on the blog.  Since we've already talked about Golden Girl, we're going to instead focus on a movie from 1952, Bloodhounds of Broadway, to ground ourselves in the early days of Gaynor's stardom.  Early on in her career she made a lot of financially successful, but ultimately forgotten films like Bloodhounds (the only movie in her first five years that is remotely discussed today is There's No Business Like Show Business, and that's because it features Marilyn Monroe).  Since rediscovering forgotten gems is pretty much my favorite thing to do on this blog, I was curious if Gaynor would be able to bring some charm to the film in addition to her obvious singing-and-dancing ability.

(Spoilers Ahead) The movie's plot, like so many musicals of this era, is largely inconsequential, but suffice it to say we have "Numbers" Foster (Brady), a handsome bookie who is being chased by the police for illegal gambling.  He's being covered for by his vindictive lover Yvonne (Chapman), and she stays behind while he goes to Georgia as the police investigate.  In Georgia, he meets a backwoods girl named Emily (Gaynor) who can sing & dance, but also has the sophistication of Ellie May Clampett.  She's brought to New York by Numbers, and once she transforms from a tomboy into, well, Mitzi Gaynor, suddenly he starts to fall for her, which makes Yvonne jealous and she threatens to run to the cops unless Numbers stops seeing Emily.  The movie ends with Emily confessing her love for Numbers, and convincing him to go straight & do a year in prison, while in the process of course she becomes a big star on Broadway (the title of the film comes from the two giant bloodhounds who come along with Emily from Georgia).

The movie should be better than it is.  Gaynor's dancing is glorious, and it's fun to spot some of the "future star" cameos of Mary Wickes (who is always in such movies) and a very young Charles Bronson as a gangster, but it's also a slog.  The movie's central idea is that the men can't really see that Gaynor is beautiful until she gets dolled up, but with those eyes, and her accentuated bust-line, one has to assume the Georgia air made them blind.  None of the other leading players in this (other than Gaynor) were ever big stars (Chapman was a supporting player her whole career, Brady is known almost entirely for television if he's known at all), and it shows.  There's not enough spark in the performances, or in the script, to really warrant this being a movie to pay attention.  Even the musical numbers, save for a madcap tap number between Gaynor and future Mouseketeer Sharon Baird, are instantly forgettable.

While I have liked Gaynor in other roles (I also find her delectable in interviews-she gives good quote), Bloodhounds is not a good fit for her.  To be fair, this isn't really her fault as I can't think of an actor who might be able to sell Emily as written-the script never finds a way to compromise the innocent young woman with the vamp that she's expected to play in sultry musical numbers on the stage, how she can go from being a hillbilly to a sophisticated Cyd Charisse type (and then back again).  Gaynor is just too glamorous to believe as someone who started the film in braided pigtails.  Next week we'll journey into the center of Gaynor's film career, and considering her costar in the picture, glamour is likely only going to be an asset so I have high hopes as we continue our final star tribute of 2020.