Main Cast: Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Vera-Ellen, Steve Cochran, Eve Arden
Release Year: 1946
Country: US
Run Time: 113 minutes
Plot
Danny Kaye's The Kid From Brooklyn is a virtual scene-for-scene remake of Harold Lloyd's The Milky Way (1936), with music and Technicolor added to the proceedings. Kaye is cast as timid milkman Burleigh Sullivan, who through a fluke knocks out prizefighting champion Speed McFarlane (Steve Cochran). Sensing a swell publicity angle, McFarlane's manager Gabby Sloan (Walter Abel) promotes Burleigh as the next middleweight champ-and to insure this victory, Gabby fixes several pre-title bouts. Unaware that his fighting prowess is a sham, Burleigh develops a swelled head, which alienates him from everyone he cares about, including his sweetheart Polly Pringle (Virginia Mayo). The truth comes out during the climactic title fight, but a chastened Burleigh emerges victorious thanks to a series of incredible plot twists. The strong supporting cast includes Vera-Ellen as Burleigh's sister Susie, Eve Arden as Gabby's wisecracking girl friday Ann Westley, and, repeating his role from Milky Way, Lionel Stander as Speed's lamebrained trainer Spider Schultz. Danny Kaye does his best to play Burleigh Sullivan rather than Danny Kaye, though his efforts are undermined by the interpolated "specialty" number "Pavlova," which just plain doesn't belong in this picture. Like The Milky Way, The Kid From Brooklyn was adapted from the Broadway play by Lynn Root. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
As with many of the cinema's other unique comics, Danny Kaye was a difficult personality around which to build a film. Like many of his films, The Kid From Brooklyn is certainly entertaining; also like many of his films, it isn't completely satisfying, although it has a number of good moments. The screenplay is the main culprit; the premise is ridiculous and thus the film needs especially witty and diverting dialogue and situations to distract from this basic flaw. It doesn't get it. Nor is it helped by Norman Z. McLeod's uninspired direction. Kaye, of course, makes it watchable, although even he can't make the transition from mild-mannered milquetoast to egotist either believable or palatable. He's immensely entertaining in the "Pavlova" number, although not enough so to make anyone forget that there's no reason for the sequence to be in the film. The supporting cast is good, with Vera-Ellen sensational in her two dance segments, especially "Hey! What's Your Name?" Virginia Mayo is a little dull, but Steve Cochran is surprisingly good, and Eve Arden livens things up considerably. Kid would be followed by a string of superior Kaye efforts, starting with The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Perry Ferguson - Art Director, Stewart Chaney - Art Director, Bernard Pearce - Choreography, Miles White - Costume Designer, Norman Z. McLeod - Director, Dan Mandell - Editor, Sammy Cahn - Composer (Music Score), Carmen Dragon - Composer (Music Score), Max Liebman - Composer (Music Score), Jule Styne - Composer (Music Score), Sylvia Fine - Composer (Music Score), Carmen Dragon - Musical Direction/Supervision, Sammy Cahn - Songwriter, Max Liebman - Songwriter, Jule Styne - Songwriter, Sylvia Fine - Songwriter, Robert Stephanoff - Makeup, Gregg Toland - Cinematographer, Samuel Goldwyn - Producer, Howard Bristol - Set Designer, Don Hartman - Screenwriter, Melville Shavelson - Screenwriter, Frank R. Butler - Play Author, Grover Jones - Play Author, Lynn Root - Play Author, Richard Connell - Play Author, Harry Clork - Play Author
