AllMovie

Films like The Big Broadcast of 1936, which are essentially revues tied together with a wispy little storyline that no one would really miss if it disappeared, tend to be very uneven affairs, and such is the case with 1936. It has its ups, it has its downs, and it comes out slightly on the "downs" side when all is said and done. It would have been better had the would-be zany "plot" been eighty-sixed; aside from providing for a decent climactic chase, it's otherwise a lot of filler that detracts from the better points of the film. Among those better points is a very young Ethel Merman "woof-woof-ing" her way through "The Animal in Me," complete with elephant choreography; an extremely amusing house building/demolition skit by Willie, West and McGinty; some knock-out dancing from Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and the effervescent Nicholas Brothers; amusing comedy from Mary Boland and Charlie Ruggles; and the fetching foprm of Ina Ray Hutton conducting her "Melodears." Bing Crosby is also on hand to perform "I Wished on the Moon," which is fine but not as special as one would wish. On the debit side, there's a pretty but rather dull contribution from the Vienna Boys Choir; surprisingly unamusing hijinks from Jack Oakie and Henry Wadsworth (tied in to the unnecessary plot); and an excruciating heart-tugger involving a little boy donating blood to save his sick little sister.