Broadway Gondolier is a 1935 film directed by Lloyd Bacon.
Dick Purcell (Dick Powell) is a New York taxi driver, but he has dreams of being an opera singer and has been taking singing lessons. When two music critics take a ride in his cab, he impresses them enough for them to write him a letter of introduction to E.V. Richards, a producer for a radio network. His entry into the radio business is complicated, but Richards's sympathetic secretary Alice (Joan Blondell) gets Dick a spot on a radio show. It goes disastrously wrong, and Dick is booted out of the building. Dick finally decides he won't ever make it as a singer in America, so instead he journeys to Italy. Through an odd series of events this winds up with Dick back in New York, where he hits it big as a singer, while pretending to be Italian.
Tropes:
- As Long as It Sounds Foreign: When he has to pretend to be Italian for Mrs. Flagenheim, Dick babbles a lot of Italian-sounding nonsense. Like when he ends a sentence with "Sacramento, California!"
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: In their first meeting Alice is dismissive of Dick and his note (which is written on the back of a "No Vacancy" sign"), and insults him. Naturally, they fall in love.
- Brand X: Cliff writes an adventure series called Buck Gordon. It is an obvious portmanteau for the two popular radio shows of the era, Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon.
- Depraved Kids' Show Host: A mild example with "Uncle Andy", the host of the kid's show for which Dick is asked to make animal noises. When Dick greets him with a cheerful "How are you?", Andy snarls "Worried. So what?" Andy also seems to take pleasure in making Dick make embarrassing animal noises, causing Dick to quit in a huff and punch Andy in the face.
- Dogged Nice Guy: Cliff, who writes an adventure show for the radio network, and seems to think that by sheer persistence Alice will become his girlfriend. As often happens with this trope, when he finally realizes that Alice only has feelings for Dick, he turns nasty.
- Dramatic Irony: Mrs. Flagenheim hears the singing of Dick, who is pretending to be an Italian. She says "You could never find a voice like that in America."
- High-Class Call Girl: Gender-flipped with Ramon, a taxi dancer who puts the moves on Mrs. Flagenheim in Venice, and who is implied to be a gigolo.
- The Musical Musical: A film about a guy trying to make it as a singer, which features him singing a lot of songs.
- Officer O'Hara: The traffic cop who tries to give Dick a ticket has the stereotypical Irish accent. (He turns out to be a big opera fan, and he, Dick, and the two critics start singing Rigoletto together.)
- Sexy Backless Outfit: Joan Blondell always wore these, and sure enough, Alice is wearing one at the dance, and on the gondola ride home where Mrs. Flagenheim meets Dick.
- Sitting Sexy on a Piano: The orchestra on the radio show where Dick gets to sing, has two good-looking lady singers who sit perched on top of a piano, before they hop down to sing.
- Take This Job and Shove It: Dick gets a radio gig for the network, but it isn't singing, it's making silly animal noises for a kid's show. It could have been a foot in the door, but an embarrassed Dick snaps, angrily quitting over a live microphone and calling the listening kids "brats", before punching Andy the host in the face.
- Telegraph Gag STOP: Alice, on the ship back home with Dick, shows him a telegram from Cliff just assuming that Cliff and she will get married when Alice arrives. Dick then scribbles out a message for her to send in answer: "Dear Cliff STOP Just met Dick STOP Love Dick STOP Am kissing Dick now can't STOP Alice."
- Worst News Judgment Ever: "GIGANTIC RADIO HOAX", a front page headline after Dick confesses on the air, seems excessive.
