Knickerbocker Holiday

Director: Harry Joe Brown Harry Joe Brown

Overview

The wild and woolly early days of New York -- when it was still known as New Amsterdam -- provide the backdrop for this period musical-comedy. In 1650, Peter Stuyvesant (Charles Coburn) arrives in New Amsterdam to assume his duties as governor. Stuyvesant is hardly the fun-loving type, and one of his first official acts is to call for the death of Brom Broeck (Nelson Eddy), a newspaper publisher well-known for his fearless exposes of police and government corruption. However, Broeck hasn't done anything that would justify the death penalty, so Stuyvesant waits (without much patience) for Broeck to step out of line. Broeck is romancing a beautiful woman named Tina Tienhoven (Constance Dowling), whose sister Ulda (Shelley Winters) happens to be dating his best friend, Ten Pin (Johnnie "Scat" Davis). After Stuyvesant's men toss Broeck in jail on a trumped-up charge, Stuyvesant sets his sights on winning Tina's affections. However, as Broeck begins to organize his fellow New Amsterdamians in a bid for independence, he tries to convince Stuyvesant that working for justice might do him more good that following his current policies of graft and corruption. Based on a Broadway musical with songs by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson, Knickerbocker Holiday's score was beefed up for its screen incarnation with a number of new tunes by Sammy Cahn and Jules Styne, though the best known song from the stage version remained the best remembered selection from the film, September Song.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/10/2017
UPC:	0644827400324
Original Release:	1944
Source:	Reel Vault
Language:	English
Time:	1:25:00
Sales rank:	31,540

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Nelson Eddy	Brom Broeck
Charles Coburn	Peter Stuyvesant
Constance Dowling	Tina Tienhoven
Ernest Cossart	Tienhoven
Johnnie Davis	Ten Pin
Richard Hale	Tammany,Clown
Shelley Winters	Ulda Tienhoven
Glenn Strange	Big Muscle
Fritz Feld	Poffenburgh
Otto Kruger	Roosevelt
Percival Vivian	De Vries
Charles Judels	Renssaler
Ferdinand Munier	De Pyster
Percy Kilbride	Schermerhorn the Jailer
Chester Conklin	Town Crier
Dick Baldwin	1st Pal
Lang Page	2nd Pal
Herbert Corthell	Captain
Phil Green	Sailor
Gerald Oliver Smith	English Colonist
John Sheehan	Irish Colonist
Sven Hugo Borg	Swedish Colonist
Dorothy Granger	Barmaid
Patti Sheldon	Giggling Girl
Ruth Tobey	Giggling Girl
Fern Emmett	Critical Woman
Bruce Cameron	Tumbler
Irving Fulton	Tumbler
Walter Pietila	Tumbler
Paul Allen Spears	Tumbler
Tony Shaller	Tumbler
Connie Conrad	Actor
Harold De Garro	Stilt Walker
Frieda Stoll	Actor
Harry Johnson	Juggler,Juggler,Actor
Louis Manley	Punch and Judy Show
Casey MacGregor	Fire Eater
Carmen Amaya	Gypsy dancer
Harry Bayfield	Clown
Buster Brody	Clown
Agustin Castellon Sabicas	Guitarist
Irving Bacon	Peter Van Stoon
Edward Earle	Barker
Harry C. Bradley	Old Man
George Bunny	Old Man

Technical Credits

Harry Joe Brown

Director,Producer

Editorial Reviews

An interesting if deeply flawed film, Knickerbocker Holiday is a musical comedy with rather deeper things on its mind, including political corruption, the definitions of patriotism and democracy, and the stubborn individualism at the root of Americanism. That it attempts to deal with these ideas is laudable; unfortunately, its handling of them is rather hit-and-miss, with the result that Knickerbocker promises much more than it delivers. It does boast three excellent songs from the original stage production, including the incomparable " September Song," and sharp eared listeners can hear another of the show's best songs, "It Never Was You," used as underscoring. The songs added for the film don't rank with these Kurt Weill classics, but they're quite pleasant and have that unmistakable Jule Styne sprightliness to them. Nelson Eddy's big baritone is put to good use in six numbers, but the demands put on his dramatic talent are much too taxing. Charles Coburn certainly has less voice but more ability, and gives out with a lovely and touching "September Song," and Constance Dowling is appropriately vivacious. Harry Joe Brown's direction is adequate, but rather is required to bolster the film's assets and disguise its shortcomings.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler