Tin Pan Alley is a 1940 musical film directed by Walter Lang and starring Alice Faye and Betty Grable (their only film together[2]) as vaudeville singers/sisters and John Payne and Jack Oakie as songwriters in the years before World War I.

Tin Pan Alley
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWalter Lang
Screenplay byRobert Ellis
Helen Logan
Story byPamela Harris
Produced byKenneth Macgowan
StarringAlice Faye
Betty Grable
Jack Oakie
John Payne
CinematographyLeon Shamroy
Edited byWalter A. Thompson
Music byAlfred Newman
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • November 29, 1940 (1940-11-29)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.645 million (U.S. and Canada rentals)[1]

Alfred Newman received the 1940 Academy Award for Best Musical Score for his work on the film, the second of his nine Oscars. The film was also nominated for American Film Institute's 2006 list of the AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals.[3]

Plot edit

Katie and Lily Blaine are a singing-sister act playing the vaudeville circuit. Songwriters Skeets Harrigan and Harry Calhoun see star potential in the sister act.

Cast edit

Casting edit

 
Betty Grable in the film.

Before filming began, there was said to be a feud between Faye and Grable, although the two actresses had never met. On the first day of production, the actresses quickly got along and became lifelong friends.

Tyrone Power and Don Ameche were considered for the leading roles, but scheduling conflicts took them out of the running.

References edit

  1. ^ "All-time Film Rental Champs". Variety. October 15, 1990.
  2. ^ Green, Stanley (1999) Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.), pub. Hal Leonard Corporation ISBN 0-634-00765-3 page 100
  3. ^ "AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-13.

External links edit