Broadway Musketeers
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
Isabel Dowling (Margaret Lindsay), Fay Reynolds (Ann Sheridan), and Connie Todd (Marie Wilson) are three women who grew up together in an orphanage, and who meet again later in life. Each woman's life has taken a very different path: Isabel is married with a young daughter, Connie is an office secretary, and Fay performs in nightclubs. The three are reunited when Fay is arrested and Isabel and Connie arrive to bail her out. They make plans to keep in touch.
Isabel is bored and unhappy in her marriage. When she and Connie go to a nightclub to watch Fay sing, she meets gambler Phil Peyton (Richard Bond) and they soon begin an affair. Stanley Dowling (John Litel) discovers the affair; he divorces Isabel and retains custody of their daughter Judy (Janet Chapman). Isabel goes to live with Phil whose gambling soon ruins them. Fay and Stanley fall in love and marry.
Isabel has been separated from her daughter for some time when Fay takes pity on her and one day allows her to take Judy; however, Phil puts the child up as security against his debts. The gangsters to whom Phil owes money discover he has deceived them and that Judy was kidnapped from her father; they kill Phil in retribution. Trapped with Judy, Isabel overhears the gangsters deciding to kill the two of them to cover their crime. In a bid to save her daughter, Isabel throws herself from a window with a newspaper clipping about the kidnapping in her hand, trading her life to clue police in to Judy's whereabouts. Judy is rescued and thereafter symbolically takes her mother's place in the trio's ritual birthday meeting.

Review: Enjoyable Remake of Three on a Match. I found this remake of Three on a Match to be a bit more enjoyable than the original, thanks in no small part to the presence of Ann Sheridan.Nobody could pull off (no pun intended) an above-the-shoulder striptease like Miss Sheridan. Wowser! I know she didn't care much for her well-known nickname but you can see why the name stuck.Elsewhere in the movie John Litel does his usual job of providing solid support and little Janet Chapman is something else. She has to be one of the most likable child actors that I've ever seen in the movies.It's interesting to note that the very last scene in Broadway Musketeers, Ann Sheridan and Janet Chapman embracing, is nearly identical to the final shot of Little Miss Thoroughbred, also directed by John Farrow.. A Remake of Three on a Match. This movie is a remake of "Three on a Match" starring Ann Dvorak, Bette Davis and Joan Blondell, but if you haven't seen "Three on a Match" then see that first then this, some things were changed but its pretty good and you see a resemblance, the title "Broadway Musketeers" was a wrong name for the movie, but its worth watching, if you can catch it on Turner Classic Movies, I've got it. Margaret Lindsay, Ann Sheridan, and Marie Wilson star in this remake, but I have to say the first one was better, Margaret Lindsay plays the part Ann Dvorak plays, a rich girl who's not happy and goes the wrong way, the beautiful Ann Sheridan plays the showgirl, burlesque dancer like Joan Blondell played in the first one, she cleans up her life and replaces Margaret's character lifestyle, Marie Wilson plays the part Bette Davis, plays the stenographer, her character isn't much. Like I said this isn't the best film, but these girls are more beautiful and glamorous then Bette Davis, Joan Blondell, and Ann Dvorak were, they added some glamour to the movie, and this film didn't make them stars like Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak, Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis became, but worth watching. Ann Sheridan was the only one to become big but she's much forgotten today, but in the late 30s and 40s she was the top pin-up girl, beautiful girl she was, glamour queen.. Considering how terrific the original was, I see no reason to see this film instead.. One of the better Pre-Code movies was "Three on a Match" (1932). Not only was it a terrific film but it's one of Bette Davis' earliest films. It also is extremely lurid--the sort of way only Pre-Code films could be. Now, six years later, Warner Brothers have remade the picture as "Broadway Musketeer"...but with many of the more salacious scenes missing (such as the ultra-violent ending in the original). Considering how wonderful "Three on a Match" was, I just couldn't understand remaking it...but on a lark I decided to give this other film a try.The film has nothing to do with Broadway...and none of the characters have anything to do with the theater. Instead, it's about three women who grew up together in an orphanage, Isabelle (Margaret Lindsay), Fay (Ann Sheridan) and Connie (Marie Wilson). The film begins long after the three friends went their separate ways. Isabelle is married to a very successful man and has everything a woman could have wanted, Fay performs a racy* routine in nightclubs and Marie is a stenographer...an underdeveloped part. However, despite Isabelle having a child and loving husband, she's longing for excitement and ultimately destroys herself and loses her family. At the same time, Fay and Connie step in to pick up the pieces of Isabelle's family. What's next? Well, for starters, Isabelle manages to make things even worse---even after her husband divorces her.This is a very competent film and the cast is fine. However, they certainly aren't better than the original cast and the script is amazingly tame and lacks the edge and excitement of the original. Worth seeing, perhaps...but I suggest you just see "Three on a Match".*The racy dance is hilariously tame--so much so that you could perform it at a Baptist picnic!! This is one case where the Post- Code standards just didn't make any sense, as she was arrested for this lewd dance...a dance where all of her clothes remained on her body and the gyrations were minimal!