Bloodhounds of Broadway

1989 "When Life Was Glittering, Glamorous... And Dangerous..."
5.3| 1h33m| PG| en
Details

This musical is based on four short stories by Damon Runyon. In one tale, gambler Feet Samuels sells his body to science just as he realizes that Hortense loves him and that he would rather live than die. In another story, Harriet's parrot is killed, and she has problems dealing with her loss. Then, there is a gambler, "Regret", who has bloodhounds on his trail when he becomes a murder suspect. Finally, "The Brain" is bleeding profusely, and his friends search for a way to save his life through a blood transfusion.

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Reviews

TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film
Steineded How sad is this?
Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
lynchfilmlover This is a film I have wanted to see since it came out. It was my belief that the film went straight to VHS, with no cinematic release. Having read the notes here on IMDb, I now see it had a limited release.From memory, the film was not very well received. The cast is quite diverse. We see Randy Quaid, Madonna, Jennifer Grey, Julie Hagerty, Rutgar Hauer and Matt Dillon, to name just a few. It must be said that both Grey and more so Hauer are greatly underused.The film start badly with a musical number with the main singer clearly singing something completely different. This is listed as a musical but it is far from it. Looking at the credits, there are four listed: I can only remember two! Having said that, the duet where Madonna & Jennifer Grey sing 'I Surrender, Dear' is really a stand out moment. Even then, there voices don't quote fit the song, until the last note where they combine beautifully.The one thing that makes this film fail for me is that the 'music' soundtrack in the first twenty minutes and occasionally throughout, is way too loud. I had great difficulty hearing what the actors were saying at times. I know the answer would be to bring up the subtitles but sadly I was watching this on a obscure UK channel called 'Movie Mix'. It really did make me lose interest early on.Another thing I feel worked against the film was that, as the opening titles were in black and white, I feel the film would have worked better as period piece if it had stayed in black and white. Though there are certain shots that work in colour, there are not enough. Even the fake snow was annoying. At one point you could clearly see that it was just foam! It irritated enough that you could even picture the sound effects man, faking the sound of walking in the 'snow'.I must say as the film moved into its latter stages, I did find it slightly more interesting. When I worked out what the hell was going on and finally could hear the actors, I did start to care for the characters. I guess I should take into consideration that this is the first film I have reviewed here that I have never seen before. Perhaps this needs another viewing, though I am not going to rush to do that.As I stated earlier, Hauer was underused. Grey didn't seem to fit at all. At one point when she is confronting someone gives the look that she is about to fall into another character completely and quote something from Dirty Dancing. Madonna was wooden to begin with but grows likable as the movie progresses. I could go on but the film just doesn't come together that well. By the time it does, the film is over.Interestingly, there is a film of the same name that was made in 1952. Though it has no direct link to this film. They are both based on four different Damon Runyon stories. As a footnote, yes this is worth a watch but with the subtitles on!
wes-connors This film is "narrated" as a New York City reporter's memories of New Year's Eve 1928, called "The last big blowout of the Jazz Age," on Broadway. There are murders, crap games, and other assorted mayhem. It begins at Mindy's "infamous" restaurant. That's where, as you may (or may not) recall, Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando contemplated the sales of cheesecake and strudel. Like Mr. Sinatra, these folks say "beautiful" in all four syllables. They get the lingo, but it never really seems like genuine Damon Runyon. And, the film has good trappings, but fails to catch anything resembling a good story.**** Bloodhounds of Broadway (5/15/89) Howard Brookner ~ Matt Dillon, Jennifer Grey, Madonna, Randy Quaid
ptb-8 Hmmm, unreleased, huh. This film might be the At Long Last Love of gangster musicals. From a Guys and Dolls perspective, BLOODHOUNDS is a funny and quite lavish Damon Runyan inspired semi musical with an astonishing cast. It was not released in cinemas in Australia and it really should have been. There is nothing at all preventing this film from doing good business if it has been promoted to be exactly what it is: an all star gangster musical with a huge and famous cast. I saw it on tape promoted as "Found! The lost Madonna movie" which is an outrageous deceit, given the many other more interesting actors, all gussied up and frantically rushing about from one nightclub to the other in snowy city streets. Madonna's great duet with Jennifer Grey, fresh from Dirty Dancing would alone have been enough to propel this funny pretty pic into any number of luxury cinemas (we still had them in the 80s). But, no, it wasn't to be and this easy to love 30s farce is still rather lost. What a waste! Lets see if a DVD release (with possibly fascinating interviews and extras) sees BLOODHOUNDS OF Broadway deservedly find its delighted audience. Apparently it opened in ONE New York cinema in 1989 with a reel missing. It was reviewed that way and unknowingly played like that for several weeks. Thus damaging its survival and any further plans.
Die beste Freundin After touring the world in 1987, Madonna decided to surprise her audience once again with a total departure from her previous work. Her part in ´Bloodhounds of Broadway´ is an absolute delight. She is funny and touching (something she hadn´t showed in her movies since ´Desperate seeking Susan´) as Hortance Hattaway, a twenties show girl who´s been around the block a few times and has footprints all over her back. Two of the most entertaining highlights are her performances in the nightclub where most of the action takes place (it´s New Years Eve). Especially the duet with Jeniffer Grey (who´s not dubbed, but took singing lessons to do the job herself!) is a real treat. Shame there´s no soundtrack available.

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