Bloodhounds of Broadway is a 1952 Technicolor musical film directed by Harmon Jones, produced by George Jessel and starring Mitzi Gaynor and Scott Brady. The script is based on a 1931 Damon Runyon story of the same title that was published in Collier's. The film was remade in 1989.

Plot

Emily Ann Stackerlee is a country girl who longs to work in showbusiness. She meets New York bookmaker Robert "Numbers Foster", who is hiding in Georgia.

Cast Mitzi Gaynor as Emily Ann Stackerlee Scott Brady as Robert "Numbers" Foster Mitzi Green as "52nd Tessie" Sammis Marguerite Chapman as Yvonne Dugan Michael O'Shea as Inspector McNamara Wally Vernon as Harry "Poorly" Sammis George E. Stone as Ropes McGonigle Henry Slate as Dave the Dude Edwin Max as Lookout Louie Larchment Richard Allan as Curtaintime Charlie

Production Damon Runyan's story "The Bloodhounds of Broadway" was published in the May 16, 1931 issue of Collier's magazine.

Producer George Jessel unsuccessfully appealed to Judy Garland to play the lead female role. Gloria DeHaven was cast in the role in February 1952, with filming scheduled to begin on April 14. Mitzi Gaynor replaced DeHaven in March. Keenan Wynn had been cast as Harry Sammis but withdrew in order to appear in Sky Full of Moon.

Reception In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther wrote: "What Twentieth Century-Fox has done to turn Mr. Runyon's obscure fiction into the stuff of a musical film is obviously not calculated to preserve the late writer's racy style. Just a trace of his brash exaggeration is detectable in the mild of night clubs and horse-rooms and flea-bags presented in this film. ... However, this amiable picture ... doesn't go too far astray in the field of musical romance—the field in which it is strewn—so the question is not whether it is Runyon but whether it is passable fun. On that point this cheerful department expresses a mild affirmative."

Critic John L. Scott of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "The picture combines melodrama, music and hillbilly comedy in its light but diverting plot. ... Most of 'Bloodhounds of Broadway' is told In easygoing fashion. While most of the principals look tough—they run a huge horsebetting ring—they all have sentimental streaks and are present chiefly for comedy purposes."

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