Themes: Big Break, Musician's Life, Unlikely Criminals
Main Cast: Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Al Jolson, William Frawley, Joyce Compton
Release Year: 1939
Country: US
Run Time: 86 minutes
Plot
This barely-disguised portrait of singer Fanny Brice led to Brice's lawsuit against 20th Century Fox for defamation of character, a case which was settled out of court. Alice Faye plays Rose Sargent, a New York singer of the 1920s who falls for handsome, cocky wheeler-dealer Bart Clinton (Tyrone Power in a role patterned on Brice's troubled real-life paramour Nicky Arnstein). Rose's new romance is much to the dismay of her pal and former partner Ted Cotter (Al Jolson), who doesn't trust the slick, smooth-talking Bart. Eventually, Rose and Bart marry, but as the entertainment careers of Rose and Ted take off, Bart's tendency to get over his head in get-rich-quick schemes evolves into a bona fide criminal career. Rose finally makes the big time, becoming a popular star with the Ziegfeld Follies, and Bart skips town in order to preserve her reputation. However, Bart is nabbed by the authorities and sentenced to five years in jail. Despite the public scandal, Rose and Bart's devotion remained undiminished. Songs include the classics "California, Here I Come", "Toot Toot Tootsie Goodbye", "I'm Just Wild About Harry" and the perhaps unwise inclusion of "Funny Lady" Brice's signature song, "My Man". ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
Rose of Washington Square is at best a middling musical tearjerker, but it will have special interest for certain people. Naturally, fans of stars Alice Faye, Tyrone Power and Al Jolson will be attracted to Rose. But so will fans of Fanny Brice and the much later Funny Girl, for Rose tells the same story, that of Brice and her love for the luscious but shifty Nicky Arnstein, although it does so without acknowledging its real life source. Funny Girl benefited from a tighter construction and songs that were tailored to both the characters and the story; Rose makes do with some numbers that are dynamite but that, with one or two exceptions, don't transcend their onstage "number" status to delineate character. Rose also has the bad luck to tell the Brice story in a patently uninteresting way and to be directed by Gregory Ratoff in a fairly obvious manner that makes the film quite predictable. What Rose does have going for it is its trio of stars. Power looks as handsome as ever and his innate charm is crucial to keeping the audience interested in the love story. Faye is tops, handling the sudsy material with aplomb and delivering her songs, especially the Brice signature "My Man" with great style. And Jolson is Jolson, captured in all his glory; his performance style will strike many as mannered, but for those "into" the man, rose is a treasure trove of some of his most notable songs. It's also a treasure trove of his blackface, which is unfortunate -- but also an inseparable part of his style. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Richard Day - Art Director, Rudolph Sternad - Art Director, Nunnally Johnson - Associate Producer, Seymour Felix - Choreography, Royer - Costume Designer, Gregory Ratoff - Director, Louis Loeffler - Editor, Louis Silvers - Composer (Music Score), Louis Silvers - Musical Direction/Supervision, Mack Gordon - Songwriter, James F. Hanley - Songwriter, Ballard MacDonald - Songwriter, Harry Revel - Songwriter, Karl W. Freund - Cinematographer, Nunnally Johnson - Producer, Darryl F. Zanuck - Producer, Thomas K. Little - Set Designer, John Francis Larkin - Screen Story, Nunnally Johnson - Screenwriter, Mack Gordon - Lyricist, Harry Revel - Lyricist, Jerry Horwin - Short Story Author
Set in 1920s New York City, it focuses on singer Rose Sargent and her turbulent relationship with con artist Barton DeWitt Clinton, whose criminal activities threaten her professional success in the Ziegfeld Follies.
Although the names of the principal characters were changed, the plot was so obviously inspired by vaudeville entertainer Fanny Brice's career and marriage to gamblerNicky Arnstein (both the film's title tune and "My Man" were closely associated with Brice) that she sued 20th Century Fox for $750,000. The studio settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
