Helen Broderick
Actor · 1891 – 1959 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Helen Broderick (August 11, 1891 - September 25, 1959) was a wonderfully funny character comedienne with vaudeville and stage experience, a close friend of Jeanne Eagels. The story goes, that at the age of 14 she ran away from home, because her mother, who appeared in operatic comedy, was totally obsessed by the theatre. Paradoxically, all the people she met turned out to be performers, and Helen (who needed to make a living, after all) ended up where she hadn't wanted to end up - on the stage. She started out as a chorus girl in the first Ziegfeld Follies in 1907. Her talent for comedy was discovered quite by accident. In 1911, she was understudy to the actress Ina Claire in the Broadway play 'Jumping Jupiter'. One night, Claire was unable to perform and Helen Broderick stood in as the romantic lead. She soon had the audience in stitches, trampling about the stage like an elephant, rolling her big saucer eyes and attempting to croon 'Cuddle Near Me All Day Long' in her rather unique voice. The romance was no more and instead turned into a popular farce with Helen now permanently installed in the lead role. For a while, Helen partnered her husband, Lester Crawford, in vaudeville. In the 1920's, she enjoyed success on Broadway, most notably in 'Fifty Million Frenchmen' ( a role she took to Hollywood in 1931). Her best parts in the movies were as the perennial friend or chaperone of the heroine (an earlier Eve Arden), delivering acidic wisecracks in her inimitable dead-pan manner. She was particularly amusing in Top Hat (1935) and Swing Time (1936) with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers; and in The Rage of Paris (1938) with Danielle Darrieux.
Movies24
Movie6.8RomanceComedyLucky is tricked into missing his own wedding to Margaret and has to make $25,000 so her father will allow him to marry her. He and business partner Pop go to New York where they run into dancing instructor Penny. She and Lucky form a successful dance partnership, but romance is blighted by his old attachment to Margaret and hers for Ricky.
Swing Time
1936 · 256 votes
Movie7.3MusicComedyShowman Jerry Travers is working for producer Horace Hardwick in London. Jerry demonstrates his new dance steps late one night in Horace's hotel room, much to the annoyance of sleeping Dale Tremont below. She goes upstairs to complain and the two are immediately attracted to each other. Complications arise when Dale mistakes Jerry for Horace.
Top Hat
1935 · 344 votes
Movie6.4ComedyDramaJane is a nice girl and has had her eyes on a young man who seems more interested in his hand-built car than in Jane. She decides to shed her "nice girl" image when an associate of her father comes to town on his way to study Australian Aboriginal tribes.
Nice Girl?
1941 · 5 votes
Movie6.3ComedyRomanceA young soldier on a pass in New York City visits the famed Stage Door Canteen, where famous stars of theatre and film appear and host a recreational center for servicemen during the war. The soldier meets a pretty young hostess and they enjoy the many entertainers and a growing romance.
Stage Door Canteen
1943 · 20 votes
Movie5.8ComedyRomanceThe day after Carol returns from a European trip, she wakes up to find her dead father's creditors hauling everything away. Her aunt wants her to marry a millionaire, but Carol insists on getting a job.
She's Got Everything
1937 · 4 votes
Movie6.2ComedyRomanceA singer finds another heir (Gene Raymond) to marry, to avoid the one (Joe Penner) her mother found.
The Life of the Party
1937 · 5 votes
Movie5.4ComedyRomanceCarolyn Martin is a fashion model who hastily marries her boyfriend, engineer Michael Martin. But part of the marriage arrangement requires that Carolyn quit her $50-per-week modeling job to be a full-time housewife; the couple will instead live on Michael’s $35-per-week job.
The Bride Walks Out
1936 · 15 votes
Movie5.4ComedyMysteryWhen the body of Violet Feverel is discovered on the Central Park bridle path, Inspector Oscar Piper presumes her death was accidental, until his friend, amateur detective Hildegarde Withers, locates Violet’s horse and discovers it is streaked with blood.
Murder on a Bridle Path
1936 · 11 votes
Movie5.8ComedyRomanceNicole has no job and is several weeks behind with her rent. Her solution to her problems is to try and snare a rich husband. Enlisting the help of her friend Gloria and the maitre'd at a ritzy New York City hotel, the trio plot to have Gloria catch the eye of Bill Duncan, a millionaire staying at the hotel. The plan works and the two quickly become engaged. Nicole's plan may be thwarted by Bill's friend, Jim Trevor, who's met Nicole before and sees through her plot.
The Rage of Paris
1938 · 20 votes
Movie6.8ComedyMusicDonald Hardwick (Dick Powell) is a stuffed-shirt, classical music professor. His family and small-town music college that he works are of equal mindset. When Don visits his black-sheep aunt in New York in order to find a buyer for his Rhapsody he is exposed to her shocking swing music crowd. His life begins to make dramatic changes after drinking a "lemonade" that turns out to be a Hurricane.
Naughty but Nice
1939 · 8 votes
Movie6.0DramaHistoryA southern aristocrat clashes with a driver transporting stolen slaves to freedom.
Stand Up and Fight
1939 · 5 votes
Movie5.8ComedyA girl in search of a rich husband mistakes a millionaire for a male model.
Smartest Girl in Town
1936 · 5 votes
Movie3.8ComedyAn opera singer travels to Reno to divorce her rancher husband.
The Road to Reno
1938 · 5 votes
Movie7.0MusicComedyThe son of a strict Navy officer falls for the daughter of a musical-comedy star.
Chip Off the Old Block
1944 · 2 votes
Movie6.2MusicComedyPerky young Nanette attempts to save the marriage of her uncle and aunt by untangling Uncle Jimmy from several innocent but ensnaring flirtations. Attempting one such unentanglement, Nanette enlists the help of theatrical producer Bill Trainor, who promptly falls in love with her. The same thing happens when artist Tom Gillespie is called on for help. But soon Uncle Jimmy's flirtations become too numerous, and Nanette's romances with Tom and Bill run into trouble. Will Uncle Jimmy's marriage survive, and will Nanette find happiness with Tom, Bill, or somebody else?
No, No, Nanette
1940 · 5 votes
Movie7.5ComedyAn anthropologist unwittingly takes a man disguised as a "primitive man" back to New York as a specimen.
Her Primitive Man
1944 · 2 votes
Movie5.5ComedyRomanceA lawyer's wife walks out on him, then poses as a French nurse to spy on him.
Love, Honor and Goodbye
1945 · 4 votes
Movie6.2ComedyCrimeA juror at a murder trial is convinced the defendant is innocent.
We're on the Jury
1937 · 6 votes
Movie6.8ComedyRomanceA famous actress has to win over her ready-made family when she weds a shipping magnate.
Father Takes a Wife
1941 · 6 votes
Movie7.5ComedyBecause of a bad investment, Captain and Mrs. Peabody are evicted from their home. Mrs. Peabody finds lodging at a retirement home, but as only single women are allowed, the Captain has to make other arrangements. However, after witnessing their tearful goodbye, the home's residents vote to allow the couple to move in together. The Captain is a reluctant lodger, uncomfortable at being surrounded by so much femininity, and bristles when his pals start referring to him as "Old Lady". The time has come for Captain Peabody to reassert his manhood!
The Captain is a Lady
1940 · 2 votes
Movie7.0ComedyRomanceAn aspiring theater producer convinces his wealthy uncle to finance a play on the condition that he lives the play’s far-fetched plot: making a cross-country trip with no money.
Love on a Bet
1936 · 4 votes
Movie9.0ComedyBased on a play by Phoebe and Henry Ephron, "3 Is a Family" is a 1940s farce. Charlie Ruggles plays a hubby whose bungled business schemes force his wife to enter the workplace. The couple's daughter shows up with her twin babies in tow. Son Arthur Lake arrives with his pregnant wife. And overbearing maiden aunt Helen Broderick also decides to move in. Because his wife is away at work, poor old Charlie Ruggles is not only housekeeper, but nursemaid and servant as well.
3 Is a Family
1944 · 1 votes
Movie6.3ComedyRomanceWealthy Jack bets friend Michael he can woo Lu Lu without money within 2 weeks. Michael hires inept detectives to stop Jack, leading to comedic misadventures as Jack pursues Lu Lu while hiding his penniless state.
50 Million Frenchmen
1931 · 4 votes
Movie7.5ComedyRomanceBill Burnett, a resident of Bali, visits New York City, meets and falls in love with Gail Allen, the successful manager of a Fifth Avenue shop, who is determined to remain free and independent. Bill proposes, Gail declines and Bill goes home to Bali. But a young girl, Rosie, and Tony the Window Cleaner, who dispels advice on every floor, soon have Gail thinking maybe she was a bit hasty with her no to Bill's proposal. Ere long she discovers that she does love Bill and can't live without him. She goes down to Bali to give him the good news. He learns that he is soon to marry Noel Van Ness. She goes back to New York City.
Honeymoon in Bali
1939 · 3 votes