It Happened in Brooklyn

source: It Happened in Brooklyn

Wonderful film with a stellar cast. Frank Sinatra and Peter Lawford shine as two quiet buddies who return to Brooklyn after World War 11 service in England. Actually, it's a first trip to Brooklyn. The film is so endearing due to its themes of clinging to your aspirations. Sinatra finds Kathryn Grayson and falls in love, but when she introduces Lawford to him, you know the rest. Jimmy Durante plays a rather subdued custodian in a school where Grayson teaches music. She is down as she wants an operatic career. The film is lifting when she and the 3 guys all join forces to make sure that a poorly financed student, who is brilliant at the piano, can continue his musical education after college. In Hollywood tradition, they succeed. Tamara Shayne shows her usual earthy appealing as the boy's mother. Sinatra belts out Time After Time and Grayson's operatic scene is memorable. This film is definitely heartwarming and a joy to watch.

Some musicals are filled with great songs and you cannot help but like them. "It Happened in Brooklyn", oddly, is a film with no great songs and , and, believe it or not, the story is by far the strongest part of the film. This is very unusual for a musical and I found that every time they sang, my attention span wavered--especially with some of the more operatic tunes sung by Kathryn Grayson. She was a lovely actress and I liked her in the film, but I just don't like this style of music. Even good operatic music annoys me...and I am pretty sure I am not alone on this. The story begins with a private, Danny (Frank Sinatra) at a party but he just isn't in the mood. Instead, he's mooning about being back in Brooklyn--and he's expected to be sent back there soon. However, at the party he makes a friendship with a member of royalty and his son, Jamie (Peter Lawford). Danny offers to show Jamie around if he ever comes to Brooklyn. Soon, Danny is back in his old stomping ground, though it's funny to watch all the Brooklyners talking about how they hate the place! He's also surprised that finding a place to live and a job isn't nearly as easy as he expected. Fortunately, he finds a nice old acquaintance, Nick (Jimmy Durante) and he invites Danny to live with him. As for Nick, he's a cute character and takes a special interest in Danny and a teacher at his school, Anne (Grayson). Nick thinks they'll make a nice couple and does his best to get them together. However, when Jamie unexpectedly shows up, it soon becomes apparent that he, too, is smitten with Anne. And, Anne might just be interested in Jamie--even though she and Danny are now dating. How will all this work out? See the film! The plot is simple but works very well because you really like the characters. They all seem so nice--and that's why it's a shame when it suddenly becomes a three-way romance. Still, since they are all such nice people, they cannot possibly hurt poor Danny...so they do nothing. Again, how will this work out? By the way, in the scene at the rooftop Italian restaurant, pay attention to the wine that the three folks are drinking with their spaghetti. First, it's a white wine, then it becomes red wine and, finally, it's white again!! Maybe most won't notice this, but I did since I thought 'wow...I wouldn't drink white wine with spaghetti!'--and then it magically changed! I assume this was not intentional....or perhaps it was an inside joke!

This movie is super entertaining. All 4 stars are excellent. For those who only know Mr. Sinatra from his later films, his early ones are fun and warm and very entertaining. It isn't all Frank. Miss Grayson exhibits quite a voice, and Mr. Lawford is perfect as a young man lacking life experience. I liked that much time was given to side stories with talented, delightful young people. They would never do this, but Jimmy Durante could have easily been nominated for an Academy Award, for his hilarious, well-timed, musical performance. There were no bad guys! No one out to demean and disrupt! It is a story about decent folks trying to find a comfortable place in the post-war society. Yes, it is sentimental. But it is so with warmth and much sweet charm,

"It Happened In Brooklyn" is so good-natured and cloying you can't help but like it. It's about a soldier (Sinatra) just discharged from the army after WW II to find a girl friend and a life. He disembarkation point is England, and after making friends with Peter Lawford, off he goes, returning to Brooklyn. From here the plot is so contrived it is hard to recount due to the lack of believability, and the story can barely drag its carcass from one song to the next, so shameless are the screenwriters. But the songs. They are exquisite, written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne, and the main reason for my rating. Sinatra is in fine voice, and Jimmy Durante has been irreplaceable on America's stellar list of entertainers. "Time After Time', "It's the Same Old Dream" are two of Frank's better numbers, but the piece de resistance is Sinatra and Durante doing, " It's Gotta Come From The Heart". Priceless. There are a couple of opera numbers for Kathryn Grayson, so there is something for everyone in this picture. It is a flag-waver and a preposterous tall tale, but it all works. All you have to do is wait for the musical numbers. And they are worth waiting for.

Before they became members of The Rat Pack, Frank Sinatra and Peter Lawford were both M-G-M contract players taking any picture offered them. So it was that one of their early teamings was in the studio's black-and-white musical entry, It Happened in Brooklyn. The other stars are Kathryn Grayson and the ever scene-stealing Jimmy Durante. The thin plots concern show biz aspirants in a romantic triangle helping an aspiring piano prodigy one age-17-shy of the requirement for a scholarship. That's pretty much it in a nutshell but despite that the acting performances, which includes another player from my favorite movie It's a Wonderful Life-Gloria Grahame-who plays an army nurse from Frankie's New York State hometown, are passably witty especially Durante who's hilarious whenever he starts talking in a falsetto. Among the nice original songs written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne was one called "Time After Time" which was nicely song by Sinatra and Grayson in separate segments. Grayson also has a beautiful fantasy sequence from the opera "Lakme" and Lawford warbles an entertaining swing number in front of a bunch of teenagers. Sinatra and Grayson also share an Italian opera number. The highlight, however, was Durante and Sinatra's duet on "The Song's Gotta Come From the Heart" with The Voice during his Schnozzola impression at the end. While the movie seemed a little longish at 103 minutes, I quite enjoyed It Happened in Brooklyn and the way things ended up. P.S. The "Time After Time" song here is definitely not the same as the one later sung by Cyndi Lauper in the '80s!

Jazzy singer Frank Sinatra (as Danny Webson Miller) returns to Brooklyn, after serving during World War II. Mr. Sinatra moves in with his old high school janitor Jimmy Durante (as Nick Lombardi). Sinatra suffers not from "shell shock", but from "stage fright", as he tries to make it in the music business. He falls in love with operatic soprano Kathryn Grayson (as Anne Fielding). A "love triangle" is formed when visiting pal Peter Lawford (as Jamie Shellgrove) also falls for Ms. Grayson. Not much of a movie, really. Sinatra is the highlight; he sings the timeless classic "Time After Time", and other songs written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne. Sinatra and Mr. Durante are a likable team, performing "The Song's Gotta Come from the Heart" and "I Believe", the latter with young Bobby Long (as Johnny O'Brien). Young pianist Billy Roy (as Leo Kardos) performs well. Sexy Gloria Grahame has an early walk around appearance. Sinatra's accompanying Columbia single was, deservedly, an instant double-sided hit: "I Believe" (#5) / "Time After Time" (#16). **** It Happened in Brooklyn (3/13/47) Richard Whorf ~ Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Durante, Kathryn Grayson, Peter Lawford

This movie deserves some rediscovery as a pre-50s gem of innocent witty dialogue, fresh performances, entertaining sets and as well as for its obliviousness to international boundaries. Jimmy Durante is a standout who well deserved his fame as a beloved comic. This movie deserves some rediscovery as a pre-50s gem of innocent witty dialogue, fresh performances, entertaining sets and as well as for its obliviousness to international boundaries. Jimmy Durante is a standout who well deserved his fame as a beloved comic. This movie deserves some rediscovery as a pre-50s gem of innocent witty dialogue, fresh performances, entertaining sets and as well as for its obliviousness to international boundaries. Jimmy Durante is a standout who well deserved his fame as a beloved comic.

-Shy singer Danny Miller (Frank Sinatra) musters out of the army and returns home to Brooklyn. He ends up rooming with school janitor Nick (Jimmy Durante), while romancing music teacher Anne (Kathryn Grayson). A love triangle forms when Danny's acquaintance Jamie (Peter Lawford) comes over from England in order to try his hand in the music business. There's a lot of music, and fans of early Sinatra will find much to enjoy. He attempts a semi-operatic duet with Grayson which was ill-advised. Grayson naturally gets a showcase operatic number late in the film during which the momentum screeches to a halt. Durante is amusing, and gets a couple of duets with Frank. Gloria Grahame makes the most of her small role as an army nurse at the film's start.

Here we go again. The English aristocrat who is a square until he gets under the wing of a not-so-wide boy from Chicago. Token love-interest is a school teacher who just happens to sing opera. Of course. This fluff aside, this film does have a large amount of charm and attractiveness and the songs are simply wonderful. High marks all round.