Crashin' Broadway (1932) Review - A Silly, Cheap Little Western

If you have less than an hour to spare and want to see how cheap movies were made in 1932, yes, Crashin' Broadway is worth a quick look. It is perfect for anyone who loves silly B-westerns where the plot makes absolutely no sense.

But if you want a serious drama or even a halfway decent Broadway musical, you will probably despise this film.

The whole thing starts in New York, supposedly. I say "supposedly" because the Broadway theater looks suspiciously like a dark hallway with a single lightbulb.

Tad Wallace, played by Rex Bell, has his show flop immediately. So, naturally, his brilliant idea is to take his entire theater troop out West to perform for cowboys. Because that is where the big theater money is, obviously.

The Sudden Shift to the Desert

The transition from the city to the dusty trails is so fast it might give you whiplash. One minute they are complaining about ticket sales, and the next they are riding in a stagecoach through the dirt.

This is where we meet the villain, Jeffries. This guy does not just rob banks; he literally burns down the local theater just to be mean.

It is such a wonderfully petty crime. Why burn the theater? Where are they going to perform now?

Then Jeffries goes ahead and kills a guy named Griswold. Suddenly, our theater troop has to turn into a bunch of amateur detectives.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Crashin' Broadway (1933) through its definitive frames.

Using "Acting" to Catch a Killer

This is my favorite part of the movie because it is so incredibly goofy. Tad decides they will trap the killer by using their "talents" as stage actors.

I was half expecting them to do some Shakespeare to confuse the bad guys. Instead, it mostly involves a lot of sneaking around and some very loud sound effects.

It reminds me a bit of the comedic chaos in The Kid from Spain, but with about five percent of the budget. Or maybe a really cheap version of The Money Corral, where the Western tropes feel like they were written on a napkin during lunch.

The acting is... well, it is there. Rex Bell smiles a lot and has very nice hair that never seems to get dusty, even when he is rolling around in the dirt.

And we get George "Gabby" Hayes here too! He is always a treat, even before he fully became the grumpy old sidekick we all know and love.

Small Details I Noticed

• There is a dog in one scene that looks completely confused about why it is on a movie set. It keeps looking at the camera crew for help.
• The background noise in the saloon scenes is just the same three guys shouting "Hey!" over and over.
• One of the fistfights has sound effects that are delayed by at least two seconds. You hear the punch before the fist even moves.

The movie is only about fifty-five minutes long, which is its greatest strength. It does not have time to get boring because it is constantly rushing to the next ridiculous plot point.

Is it a masterpiece? Absolutely not.

But there is a strange charm to how fast they had to shoot this thing. You can almost feel the director waving his hands off-screen, telling everyone to hurry up because they are losing daylight.

If you like odd little relics of early sound cinema, give it a spin. Just do not expect any actual Broadway dancing.