The second production of the new 20th Century Pictures studio, Broadway Thru a Keyhole was a smart, well-cast musical that proved that studio heads Nicholas Schenk, formerly of United Artists, and ex-Warner Brothers head of production Darryl F. Zanuck were more than ready to take charge on their own.

Based on a story by Broadway columnist Walter Winchell, the film stars Constance Cummings as Joan, an aspiring dancer helped in her career by a gangster. Soon, she is a nightclub star. Rocci, the gangster, is in love with Joan, but although she is grateful, she falls for the club's crooner (Russ Columbo). Broadway Thru a Keyhole features top nightclub and theater stars, including famed club owner Texas Guinan, who plays a fictionalized version of herself. Blossom Seeley and Gregory Ratoff provide comic support. Look for future stars Lucille Ball, in a bit part in a beach scene, and Ann Sothern as a chorus girl. For a lighthearted movie musical, though, there was a lot of real-life drama, scandal, and tragedy associated with the people involved in Broadway Thru a Keyhole.

Broadway insiders recognized the film's story as based on a real-life romantic triangle that had played out a few years earlier between dancer Ruby Keeler, entertainer Al Jolson (who married Keeler in 1928), and mobster Larry Fay, who had reportedly been romantically involved with Keeler during her Broadway days. Shortly before Broadway Thru a Keyhole began production, Jolson ran into Winchell at a boxing match and punched him, citing reports about the forthcoming film as the reason. Winchell was quoted in the press as suggesting that Jolson should play the lead in the film himself. The real-life Fay had been shot and killed by a disgruntled employee the previous New Year's Eve.

Paul Kelly, who plays the gangster Rocci, had been acting on stage and in silent films since childhood. His career came to an abrupt halt in 1927, when he got into a drunken fight with the husband of a woman with whom Kelly was having an affair. The man died of a brain hemorrhage soon after, and Kelly was convicted of manslaughter. Broadway Thru a Keyhole was Kelly's first film after serving more than two years of a ten-year prison sentence. After his release he was eventually able to rebuild his career. For the next two decades, he earned plaudits for his work both onscreen and in the theater.

Broadway Thru a Keyhole was the second film for crooner Russ Columbo, just twenty-five years old, then one of the most popular singers and songwriters of the era. He wasn't much of an actor, but his brooding Italian good looks and his mellow voice made him a fan favorite. Sadly, he was killed in what was apparently a freak accident the following year, when an antique gun a friend was holding discharged and the bullet hit Columbo in the head. Texas Guinan died shortly after Broadway Thru a Keyhole opened, and director Lowell Sherman died the following year

20th Century Pictures had a longer and happier life than many of those involved in the film. In 1935, the company merged with the bankrupt Fox Film studio, and for more than eighty years has been one of the film industry's leading studios.

Director: Lowell Sherman
Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck
Screenplay: Gene Towne, Graham Baker, from a story by Walter Winchell
Cinematography: Barney McGill, Peverell Marley
Editor: Maurice Wright
Art Direction: Richard Day
Music: Songs by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel
Principal Cast: Constance Cummings (Joan Whelan), Paul Kelly (Frank Rocci), Russ Columbo (Clark Bryan), Blossom Seeley (Sybil Smith), Gregory Ratoff (Max Mefoofsky), Texas Guinan (Tex Kaley), Hugh O'Connell (Chuck Haskins), Hobart Cavanaugh (Peanuts Dinwiddie), Frances Williams (Singer), Eddie Foy, Jr. (Joan's Partner)
85 minutes

by Margarita Landazuri