Review of She's Back on Broadway

This is the last in what we might think of as a trilogy of 'minor' musicals which included Warner's Virginia Mayo and Gene Nelson among the star, released in 1951, '52 and '53. The others are "Painting the Clouds with Sunshine" and "She's Working Her Way through College". This one is more talky than the others, with drama more important. Also, unlike the other 2, for most of the film, the musicals are staged as backstage rehearsals, rather than finalized shows. Near the end, we do finally see parts of the first public performance of the play "Breakfast in Bed". .......... Although Nelson technically is the male lead, Cochran is the de facto male lead. The drama mainly consists of the troubled relationship between Catherine(Virginia Mayo) and Rick(Steve Cochran), and the equally troubled relationships between Rick and his male associates. ...........The film begins with Catherine, as a former Hollywood star, frustrated with the recent dearth of roles for her. Her agent suggests she abandon Hollywood, and try to return to her roots on Broadway. She takes his advise, and soon we find her negotiating with her former director and presumably lover: Rick. Rick is still miffed that she abandoned him 6 years ago for a better offer from a Hollywood studio. If he hires her, he is afraid she may abandon him again. After she tries to assure him that she won't wander again, he finally gives her a chance to star in his next show. As in the other 2 films of this trilogy, Virginia and Nelson sometimes sing and/or dance together or separately. Virginia's singing was always dubbed, as she was primarily a dancer and actress in musicals. Sometimes, Patrice Wymore replaced her as the lead singer/dancer in a number. Patrice was, for a time, Errol Flynn's wife, and he promoted her film career. Virginia discovers that Patrice(Karen) is living with Rick. Surprisingly, Karen didn't seem too disturbed when she saw Rick and Catherine kissing. She was even willing to move out of the way, when she sensed that Rick had a stronger attraction to Catherine than to her. But, Catherine complicates things again. See the film to find out what happens...........From another reviewer, I understand that this was hardly the first film in which Virginia and Cochran were, at times, a romantic couple.