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Broadway: The Golden Age
Dada Films


10.0

based on 22 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 5 votes
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Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Rick McKay, Beatrice Arthur, Hal Linden, Robert Goulet, Shirley MacLaine, Edie Adams, Alec Baldwin, and Kaye Ballard

The most important, ambitious and comprehensive film ever made about America's most celebrated indigenous art form, Broadway tells the stories of our theatrical legends, how they came to New York, and how they created this legendary century in American theatre. (Second Act Productions)

GENRE(S):	Documentary \| Musical
WRITTEN BY:	Rick McKay
DIRECTED BY:	Rick McKay
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: November 9, 2004 Video: November 9, 2004 Theatrical: June 11, 2004
RUNNING TIME:	111 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

Full title "Broadway: The Golden Age, By The Legends Who Were There"

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Moving and invaluable.

Dallas Observer Jean Oppenheimer

Pure joy to watch -- and an invaluable documentary record of a bygone era.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

It's one for the time capsule.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

The strength of McKay's film is not in identifying a cultural period, but in giving voice to so many great theater people. Their passion is infectious, their stories are priceless and their humor is boundless.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

This free-flowing film certainly hits the high points as it flips around its talking-head celebrity sound bites at warp speed.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

It's the sort of history you could nibble on for hours.

Variety Scott Foundas

Rick McKay's exceptional new documentary Broadway: The Golden Age presents a veritable avalanche of interviews with some of the biggest names in the history of the American theater, preserving for posterity their wise words and disarming anecdotes.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

This is cinema as oral tradition. And one heck of a cheap-seat deal.

Austin Chronicle Rachel Proctor May

Consisting of five years' worth of interviews illustrated by a mountain of archival footage, the film sails on the actors' consistent ability to spin a good yarn.

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

An intriguing exploration of New York theater at the height of its glory.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

It's the videotaped equivalent of a primary research data dump. But to quote Bette Davis by way of Edward Albee: What a dump.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

A delightful "That's Entertainment" for the theater.

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

The film will eventually be a must-own video item for theater buffs.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Anyone who attended Broadway shows in the days when ticket prices were reasonable and the actors and singers performed without amplification will feel a rush of nostalgia as these troupers offer what amounts to a breezy compilation of after-dinner remarks.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

If you love the theater, you've got to see the film.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

In one of the film's most persuasive bits, Farley Granger talks about chucking a lucrative film career in order to tread the boards in New York. Maybe it's that kind of magnetic draw that makes an age golden.

LA Weekly Ron Stringer

Performance after performance -- by Kim Stanley, Marlon Brando, Laurette Taylor . . . Never heard of her? That’s reason enough not to miss this movie.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Kamal Al-Solaylee

It takes more than a fan to analyze the legacy of a period. But a fan is just what it takes to indulge in that legacy, which is exactly what Broadway: The Golden Age is all about.

Village Voice Charles McNulty

More buff than historian, McKay chats with anyone who can tell him about the good old days, a vaguely defined period that sprawls from the mid '40s to the late '60s.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

What could easily have been a sentimental, fannish exercise in musty nostalgia is in fact a lovely tribute to an era of feverish creativity that seemed as though it would never end yet now lives only in memory.

Film Threat Phil Hall

A well-intended but hopelessly ill-focused documentary which wants to be the "That's Entertainment!" for the New York theater but seems like a hodgepodge of anecdotes, factoids and moldy memories.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The movie is mostly a megadose of good-old-days nostalgia.

The average user rating for this movie is 10.0 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Art gave it a 10:
Everyone I know has been waiting years for this film to be finished and released and I just saw it this weekend in NYC. It is EVERYTHING and MORE than I ever expected. Frankly, I still don't understand how it ever got made. Seems like hundreds of stars - Shirley MacLaine, Jeremy Irons, Angela Lansbury, Carol Burnett, Alec Baldwin, Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara, Tommy Tune, Carol Channing, John Raitt, and more. But, the lost footage in the film of performances is something that put me in tears. I never dreamed I would see Kim Stanley or Ethem Murman or Elaine Stritch or John Raitt or anyone actually performing in rare home movies - unbelievable. You could feel the whole theater sitting on the edge of their seats in this film. Rolling Stone is right - this IS one for the time capsule. And so are the others - it's like "That's Entertainment" but much more personal and moving and I can't wait for the dvd!

[Anonymous] gave it a 10:
What a treasure trove of anecdotes and footage. Just loved it.

Sandy gave it a 10:
I read the raves here in NYC in the daily papers but wasn't sure that a film about Broadway was something for me, but I saw Jeffrey Lyons on NBC say something like, "Chronicles of Riddick is terrible, instead go see Broadway: The Golden Age" and that convinced me. I am so happy I went! I have NO interest in Broadway but the movie is about so much more. I love movies and I want to see things that inspire me and this movie really does. It made me feel passionate and made me want to do great things just listening to these 100 great stars talk about coming to New York broke and following their dream. And it is FUNNY! I thought it would be serious but Shirley MacLaine and Charles Nelson Reilly CRACK ME UP! The whole audience was laughing and crying at the same time from the inspiration and the passion and the funny stuff. I am not writing this very well, but I just saw it last night and I am still excited. Go see it. The director did a talk with the audience after and he is wonderful and said it is going all over the country soon. You will love it. I am only 19 and never would have thought I would like it, but I LOVED it!

John Q. gave it a 10:
I am still stunned. I have never seen anything like this. It has more entertainment, passion, laughs and tears than any movie I have seen this year. I was blown away. And more stars than any of the supposed blockbusters. This one will be around when the rest of this summer's junk is long gone. I am going back to see it again this weekend. Amazing.

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Broadway: The Golden Age Dada Films

Broadway: The Golden Age
Dada Films