The Big Broadcast is so cute! Bing Crosby stars as himself-he actually plays Bing Crosby, the singing radio sensation. George Burns is George Burns, the radio station owner, and his silly secretary is Gracie Allen, who plays Gracie Allen. Bing frequently gets recognized, and when he meets a new friend, Stuart Erwin, who doesn't, Bing starts crooning "Where the Blue of the Night" to jar his memory.
This entire more is tongue-in-cheek, so if you like that humor, you'll split your sides laughing. Once, Stuart enters an empty room and says to the camera, "Hmm, no chair." From off-camera, someone literally slides a chair into frame for him to sit on. In another scene, Leila Hyams says, "First I cry because I'm happy, now I want to do something even sillier." Stuart guesses, "You want to laugh because you're sad?" The main plot of the movie involves a love triangle between Stuart, Leila, and Bing, and the film discusses the concept of hero worship, celebrity crushes, and real love. All that in a silly comedy? Well, when a comedy is a good comedy, it can revolve around actual topics while still including humor. So, the answer is yes.
In one scene, Bing and Stuart wake up in twin beds with no memory of what happened the night before. "This is my bedroom," Bing says, looking at the sheets. In the neighboring bed, Stuart asks, "Are we married?" Then, in pre-Code glory, the camera captures Leila's legs as she slips her negligee and underwear off then hops in the shower. Both Bing and Stuart talk to her while she's covered in only a shower curtain, and once she's fully dressed, Stuart shows her off and says, "Feel how solid she is!" Bing looks her up and down then asks Stuart where he should squeeze. Aren't pre-Code movies grand?
Unfortunately, once the "big broadcast" actually happens, during the last thirty minutes of the movie, it's full of radio acts and singers who are no longer household names today. Modern audiences will probably be very bored by the ending, but if you're bored, just remember the hilarity of the first part of the movie.
This entire more is tongue-in-cheek, so if you like that humor, you'll split your sides laughing. Once, Stuart enters an empty room and says to the camera, "Hmm, no chair." From off-camera, someone literally slides a chair into frame for him to sit on. In another scene, Leila Hyams says, "First I cry because I'm happy, now I want to do something even sillier." Stuart guesses, "You want to laugh because you're sad?" The main plot of the movie involves a love triangle between Stuart, Leila, and Bing, and the film discusses the concept of hero worship, celebrity crushes, and real love. All that in a silly comedy? Well, when a comedy is a good comedy, it can revolve around actual topics while still including humor. So, the answer is yes.
In one scene, Bing and Stuart wake up in twin beds with no memory of what happened the night before. "This is my bedroom," Bing says, looking at the sheets. In the neighboring bed, Stuart asks, "Are we married?" Then, in pre-Code glory, the camera captures Leila's legs as she slips her negligee and underwear off then hops in the shower. Both Bing and Stuart talk to her while she's covered in only a shower curtain, and once she's fully dressed, Stuart shows her off and says, "Feel how solid she is!" Bing looks her up and down then asks Stuart where he should squeeze. Aren't pre-Code movies grand?
Unfortunately, once the "big broadcast" actually happens, during the last thirty minutes of the movie, it's full of radio acts and singers who are no longer household names today. Modern audiences will probably be very bored by the ending, but if you're bored, just remember the hilarity of the first part of the movie.