Rose of Washington Square Reviews

Alice Faye is Rose Sargent, a struggling singer in the 1920s whose life is dramatically changed when she meets handsome Bart Clinton (Tyrone Power), a good-hearted wheeler dealer whose big money schemes never seem to come through. Always just a step ahead of trouble, Bart skips in and out of Rose's life as her career, like that of her former partner, Ted Cotter (Al Jolson), begins to take off. In time Bart and Peggy marry, and she lands a spot in the Ziegfeld Follies where she becomes a sensation; Bart's fortunes don't improve much, however, and he soon resorts to crime, then flees town to protect his wife's reputation. Ultimately she becomes a huge star, but, though Bart must serve a prison sentence, their love endures. Although his film career was coming to a quick close, Jolson has a field day here singing some of his greatest numbers, including "California, Here I Come" (B.G. De Sylva, Joseph Meyer, Jolson), "My Mammy" (Joe Young, Sam Lewis, Walter Donaldson), "Pretty Baby" (Gus Kahn, Tony Jackson, Egbert Van Alstyne), "Toot Toot Tootsie Goodbye" (Kahn, Ernie Erdman, Dan Russo), and "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody" (Jean Schwartz, Young, Lewis). Faye belts out her songs with real energy, particularly "My Man," a song long associated with Fanny Brice. In fact, ROSE OF WASHINGTON SQUARE has enough similarities to the real-life romance between Brice and Nicky Arnstein that the famous Funny Lady sued the studio, settling out of court. Other songs included: "I'm Just Wild About Harry" (Noble Sissle, Eubie Blake), "I Never Knew Heaven Could Speak" (Mack Gordon, Harry Revel), "Rose of Washington Square" (James Hanley, Ballard MacDonald, Joseph McCarthy), "The Curse of an Aching Heart" (Al Piantadosi, Henry Fink), "I'm Sorry I Made You Cry" (N.J. Clesi), "The Vamp" (Byron Gay), "Ja-da" (Bob Carleton).