This classic musical was unfamiliar to me, but I was more than happy to make my acquaintance with “It Happened in Brooklyn.” Frank Sinatra stars as Danny Miller, a young man who has been serving overseas for the last four years. It’s finally time for him to return home. He and a bunch of other military men are staying one last night in England at a nice manor house before shipping out the next day, and he meets up with Jamie (Peter Lawford) a young composer who doesn’t know how to have fun. Danny tells Jamie that there’s nothing but fun in Brooklyn, and invites him to come over some time, although he doesn’t expect him to take him up on it.
When Danny gets back home, he’s excited to see Brooklyn again. He’s been fantasizing about coming home for four years, but it seems that not everyone shares his rosy view of his favorite New York borough. One disenchanted person is Anne Fielding (Kathryn Grayson) the music teacher at Danny’s old elementary school. She doesn’t believe for one minute that Brooklyn holds anything for her but heartache. She had wanted to sing in the opera, but was repeatedly rejected, and she feels trapped.
Rooming temporarily with school janitor Nick Lombardi (Jimmy Durante) Danny sets out on a dual mission – get a good job and win Anne’s heart. With Nick’s encouragement, Danny upgrades from his old job and gets a new one demonstrating new songs at a music store. In the department of Anne, however, things don’t go so smoothly, especially when Jamie turns up and turns the couple into a triangle.
This movie is full of lovely music, performed by both Grayson and Sinatra. Lawford’s eyebrows are quite sympathetically impressive, and Durante is a hoot, as usual. This is definitely one to add to your classic movies “must see” list.
This film was not rated.
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