The Kid from Brooklyn (1946)

I love this movie so much

Please don't spend money on this.

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

I am a fan of Danny Kaye and have been a long time tracking down this, one of his first starring features. Sad to say it wasn't really worth the wait. The constituent ingredients are there, a fine supporting cast of Virginia Mayo, Vera Ellen and Lionel Stander, Marx Brothers director Norman Z MacLeod at the helm, the filming is in glorious colour, the songs by Jules Styne and Sammy Cahn, even the story of Kaye's 98 pound weakling being set up for a world title fight based on his ability to avoid rather than actually throw a punch all augured well.Somehow though it doesn't come together. At 1 hour 50 minutes it's way too long and you can see the padding, the songs are mediocre and even Kaye himself becomes somewhat irritating in his puffed-up swell mode. I also don't think I've seen such an odd and prepossessing start to a feature as the Goldwyn Girls singing an advertising ditty around a full-grown cow and it doesn't really get much better from there. Sure, Danny boy clowns and mugs his way through the film but you can almost see him being directed in this, which can't be a god thing. Vera Ellen comes off better with her elfin appearance and dancing exuberance, Virginia Mayo can't do much with her part of the pretty singer who in rather unlikely fashion falls for Kaye's clutzy character but Walter Abel and Eve Arden make a good team as the manager on the make and his acid-tongued P.A. The comedy mainly centres on Kaye's antics in the boxing ring but I've seen funnier skits in silent movies on the same subject. The same team of Kaye, Mayo and Macleod would soon reunite for Kaye's next feature, the classic "Secret Life Of Walter Mitty". Let's just say that with this inconsistent film they were sparring for the main event further down the line.

Danny Kaye in one of his funniest films. I saw this first in 1948 along with Wonder Man. The Technicolor is beautiful. The comedy infectious. The interplay between the characters superb. Vera-Ellen dances energetically while the lovely Virginia Mayo never disappoints. I am reminded of so many other great American musicals where colour, dance, great songs all combined to a visual masterpiece. This film is an uncomplicated delight. And not a vulgar word said Would that more films were made like this. It never dates. Enjoy!

Cute, silly very lightweight comic musical with Kaye antic as ever and an amazing array of wonderful supporting actresses. As for the main story it's a bit of nonsense about beanpole milkman Danny somehow becoming a winning prize fighter after accidentally knocking out the reigning champ. As preposterous as it sounds, the cast still make it fun by playing the goofy situations straight faced. About those supporting actresses. Eve Arden is acerbic and terrifically droll as a wised up gal with an astounding wardrobe and a way with a quip. Vera-Ellen in only her second film is youthful, fresh and she dances like a dream. She hadn't at this point succumbed to the over dieting that would make her emaciated with a frighteningly tiny waist and is buoyant and peppy. Fay Bainter is all fractured dignity as a society matron with a pugilistic bent and then there's Virginia Mayo sweetly charming and at the height of her beauty. They all perform expertly and since the film is shot in old style Technicolor they are all attired in primary hues which makes the screen alight with color.Best for Danny's fans but a fun comedy for anyone who is willing to suspend belief for a couple of hours.

One of Danny Kaye's earlier effort and pretty funny, sometimes very funny. He's a shy, nervous milkman for Sunshine Dairies, anxious to please, and is drawn into a street fight with the Middleweight Champion of the World (Cochran) and his burly friend (Stander). Kaye is good at "ducking" and his opponents accidentally knock each other out.The incident reaches the press and there is a big uproar -- MILKMAN KAYOES CHAMP!!! Cochran's manager (Abel) is a nervous wreck, not at all helped by his girl friend (Arden) who keeps making acerbic wisecracks about the events.Abel decides that the best bet is to train Kaye as a boxer, set him up with a few rigged wins, then have him face Cochran for the championship and bet all their money on Cochran.Kaye fits in his usual cowardice, corniness, and a nonsense song about modern dance and ballet, but he also does a fine turn as a physical comic. Some of the gags could have been choreographed by Buster Keaton. His awkwardness in the ring has to be seen to be appreciated. There is a long scene at the training camp, when Lionel Stander is trying to teach Kaye the fundamentals of boxing. "Okay, lemme have it on the chin -- give it all you got," orders Stander. And Kaye minces in circles around him, pattering his shoulder with boxing gloves as if they were powder puffs and he were applying make up. And he does it at a frenzied pace -- giving it all he's got.There are a couple of musical numbers, eminently forgettable except for Vera Ellen's energy. There has never been a peppier dancer except Ann Miller, whose range was more limited. I kvell when I watch someone dance expertly. I took a dance class once and realized that my limit was that of a drunken circus clown. You know, you really must admire people who can do things you can't do at all. And dancers use skills as finely honed as those of professional athletes. They have to be in tip-top shape. Singers have to remember lyrics, but dancers memorize every single step they take, along with their postures and port de bras. My hat is off, as much as my balance.It's corny and colorful. The wardrobe seems made for a splashy Goldwyn musical comedy. So do the Goldwyn girls. I wonder what they had to do to get a job as a Goldwyn girl. Nothing that cost them any dignity, I hope.