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Such a frustrating disappointment

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

I called Doris a good dancer in Tea for Two, 1950, one year before this movie Lullaby of Broadway. Doris had a car accident in 1937, which strongly curtailed her dancing future. In this movie, again, her tap steps are somewhat slower than those of Gene Nelson, but I have never heard that Gene's legs had earlier been injured. Doris wasn't just a great singer; she could dance. She must have done a lot of work to even dance for these musical movies, which I must admit I probably like better than her later movies with Rock Hudson, et al. I even liked Doris in her Calamity Jane movie, in which she leaps, bounds and jumps all over the place. That is certainly athletic.I loved Doris' gold gown in this movie; the billowing skirt was the best, but the neck straps I did not care for. Her daytime costuming was demure and ladylike as befitted the day, with high blouse necklines along with strands of white pearls.Gene Nelson was an awesome dancer. His leaps onto the piano and over the head of the pianist were dazzling, but it's too bad he didn't learn from the Nicholas Brothers School of Leaps and Bounds. He was still a great dancer, however, and I just loved his dancing in his 1955 Oklahoma movie.SZ Sakall and Florence Bates are always great scene stealers. They weren't children or animals, against whom other actors traditionally hate to play, but they always are unforgettable. SZ and Florence are always great at playing 'thorns in the side'. I remember Florence as Madame Dilyovska in On the Town.De Wolfe is his usual ditsy insane self, a comic with perfect timing and verbal inflection. Anne Triola is great as his sidekick, but I detected a lot of second class citizenship where her character was concerned. She was always saying she was not as good as that all superior Lefty played by De Wolfe.You can tell that I studied Women's Studies at university. Movies today should not be putting women's characters down as second class and inferior to men.Lefty was such a loser, however, that he had to act as a starving butler to the local brewer. The brewer couldn't even afford to feed Lefty. Lefty should have spent his time going on auditions to try and get back into show business, or was Lefty ever really, truly in show business? Perhaps he used to sing in a crummy dive in the worst sections of the city? Putting on airs, eh, Mr. Lefty?????I love dance movies. This is not 42nd Street. This is not The Red Shoes. It is a classic to me, however. I like to see Doris Day dance with Gene Nelson. I like to see SZ Sakall over and over again in several different movies. I still like the Nicholas Brothers, whom due to period racism I feel were not put in as many dance movies as I would have liked.I am a theatrical historian and movie reviewer. I have a Bachelor of Arts Degree in American History, with close to a minor in fine arts and performing arts of theatre, dance and voice, plus theatrical censorship and critiquing studies.All in all, I rate this movie as Excellent: 10/10

If you're a pushover for Fifties movie-musicals that stress music over story, "Lullaby of Broadway" may represent that genre's prototype. This is not to say that musicals with thin storylines are necessarily bad. The success of the earlier Astaire-Rogers films depended on dancing, music, and an occasional wisecrack or a fancy bit of dialogue--in that order. "Lullaby" isn't in the class of "Top Hat" by a long way. But it does represent a trend of movie-making that Warner Brothers embarked on briefly during the early 1950's: Cheesecake a la Day ("It's a Great Feeling," "On Moonlight Bay," "By the Light of the Silvery Moon," etc.). In her autobiography, "Doris Day: Her Own Story" (published in 1976), the actress describes her early years as a contract player for Jack L. Warner and the heated disputes she had with the autocratic movie czar regarding miscasting and bad scripts. But in "Lullaby," there is virtually no script to complain of. It's a revue, and thus, not a movie in the traditional sense. But what a revue! From Ray Heindorf's jazzy 1951 arrangement of the old title tune (from "Gold Diggers of 1935") over the opening credits, to the Prinzs' inventive choreography, this movie clicks along in high gear from one showstopper to the next.Day also recalled in her memoirs that "Lullaby" contained, by far, the toughest dance routines of any film she ever made. One particularly challenging scene called for her to perform an intricate series of steps on a huge staircase--while weighted down in a gold-lame dress. At first, she balked, warning the crew to have an ambulance waiting after the first take. With encouragement from the director David Butler and others, however, she did manage to successfully complete the dance number."Lullaby of Broadway" is not the best of the Day/Warners musicals--that distinction goes to "Calamity Jane" (1953)--but it's as good as the rest. With Gene Nelson as Day's dance-partner, Billy De Wolfe as a vaudevillian-turned-valet, and the almost unbearable S. Z. "Cuddles" Sakall, as a Broadway "angel."

Doris Day searches for her mother (Gladys George) who she imagines to be a great Broadway star. On arriving in New York she finds things don't always go to plan, but she finds her own talents become in demand. Romantic interest from hoofer Gene Nelson (and their duet number "Somebody Loves Me" has plenty of zip); and the usual Warners irritation factor from "Cuddles" Sakall, never really all that funny. Like other musicals from the studio during the 50s, "Lullaby" steals its score from older and better showcases of the 1930s; in this case, even apeing the final title number on its early sighting in "Gold Diggers of 1935". The other numbers include "Zing Went The Strings of My Heart", better associated with Judy Garland than Miss Day.

I saw this when I was a small boy, when it was revived in a neighborhood theatre, and then many years later on TV. Finally, with the advent of the VCR, I purchased this entertaining musical.This is probably the picture that caused me fall in love with Doris Day. That personality! That smile! That Voice! From the opening number, "Just One of Those Things," to the last spectacular song and dance of "Lullaby of Broadway," this is a delight.I especially enjoyed Doris' scenes with Gladys George (not "Cooper") as someone else reported. "It's tough being a mother. I need a couple more rehearsals." She was wonderful as Jessica Howard, has-been star of Broadway, now singing in a Greenwich Village dive.Gene Nelson was mischievous as the lecherous dancer who chases Miss Day and Billy DeWolfe was inappropriately prissy as the "boyfriend" of Ann Triola. Of course, I always enjoy watching S. Z. "Cuddles" Sakall. This was his third time appearing with Miss Day.Doris looked fantastic in Technicolor and the many closeups they gave her underscored her natural beauty, even though her freckles were covered up. She sang very nicely and danced up a storm with Gene Nelson, something that if done today, would get Oscar nominations. I especially enjoyed "You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me" and "I Love The Way You Say Goodnight." I was disappointed that Miss Day didn't have a ballad in this picture. What an oversight!Day and her ilk made it look too easy, even though a LOT of work went into making these films.