Helen Broderick

Helen Broderick

Born: August 11, 1891
Died: September 25, 1959
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Helen Broderick (August 11, 1891 - September 25, 1959) was a wonderfully funny character comedienne with vaudeville and stage experience, a close friend of Jeanne Eagels. The story goes, that at the age of 14 she ran away from home, because her mother, who appeared in operatic comedy, was totally obsessed by the theatre. Paradoxically, all the people she met turned out to be performers, and Helen (who needed to make a living, after all) ended up where she hadn't wanted to end up - on the stage.

She started out as a chorus girl in the first Ziegfeld Follies in 1907. Her talent for comedy was discovered quite by accident. In 1911, she was understudy to the actress Ina Claire in the Broadway play 'Jumping Jupiter'. One night, Claire was unable to perform and Helen Broderick stood in as the romantic lead. She soon had the audience in stitches, trampling about the stage like an elephant, rolling her big saucer eyes and attempting to croon 'Cuddle Near Me All Day Long' in her rather unique voice. The romance was no more and instead turned into a popular farce with Helen now permanently installed in the lead role. For a while, Helen partnered her husband, Lester Crawford, in vaudeville. In the 1920's, she enjoyed success on Broadway, most notably in 'Fifty Million Frenchmen' ( a role she took to Hollywood in 1931). Her best parts in the movies were as the perennial friend or chaperone of the heroine (an earlier Eve Arden), delivering acidic wisecracks in her inimitable dead-pan manner. She was particularly amusing in Top Hat (1935) and Swing Time (1936) with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers; and in The Rage of Paris (1938) with Danielle Darrieux.

Movies for Helen Broderick...

Because of Him
Title: Because of Him
Character: Nora
Released: January 18, 1946
Type: Movie
A young woman who wants to break into the theater schemes to become the protege of a famous Broadway star.
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Love, Honor and Goodbye
Title: Love, Honor and Goodbye
Character: Mary Riley
Released: September 15, 1945
Type: Movie
A lawyer's wife walks out on him, then poses as a French nurse to spy on him.
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3 Is a Family
Title: 3 Is a Family
Character: Irma
Released: November 23, 1944
Type: Movie
Based on a play by Phoebe and Henry Ephron, "3 Is a Family" is a 1940s farce. Charlie Ruggles plays a hubby whose bungled business schemes force his wife, Fay Bainter, to enter the workplace. The couple's daughter, Marjorie Reynolds, shows up with her twin babies in tow. Son Arthur Lake arrives with his pregnant wife (Jeff Donnell). And overbearing maiden aunt Helen Broderick also decides to move in. Because his wife is away at work, poor old Charlie Ruggles is not only housekeeper, but nursemaid and servant as well.
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Her Primitive Man
Title: Her Primitive Man
Character: Mrs. Winthrop
Released: May 29, 1944
Type: Movie
An anthropologist unwittingly takes a man disguised as a "primitive man" back to New York as a specimen.
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Chip Off the Old Block
Title: Chip Off the Old Block
Character: Glory Marlow Sr.
Released: February 1, 1944
Type: Movie
The son of a strict Navy officer falls for the daughter of a musical-comedy star.
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Stage Door Canteen
Title: Stage Door Canteen
Character: Helen Broderick
Released: June 24, 1943
Type: Movie
A young soldier on a pass in New York City visits the famed Stage Door Canteen, where famous stars of the theater and films appear and host a recreational center for servicemen during the war. The soldier meets a pretty young hostess and they enjoy the many entertainers and a growing romance
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Father Takes a Wife
Title: Father Takes a Wife
Character: Aunt Julie
Released: October 3, 1941
Type: Movie
A famous actress has to win over her ready-made family when she weds a shipping magnate.
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Nice Girl?
Title: Nice Girl?
Character: Cora Foster
Released: February 21, 1941
Type: Movie
Jane is a nice girl and has had her eyes on a young man who seems more interested in his hand-built car than in Jane. She decides to shed her "nice girl" image when an associate of her father comes to town on his way to study Australian Aboriginal tribes.
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Virginia
Title: Virginia
Character: Theo Clairmont
Released: January 28, 1941
Type: Movie
Post-Civil War romantic drama about defeated Southerners, starring Madeleine Carroll and Fred MacMurray.
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No, No, Nanette
Title: No, No, Nanette
Character: Mrs. Susan Smith
Released: December 19, 1940
Type: Movie
Perky young Nanette attempts to save the marriage of her uncle and aunt by untangling Uncle Jimmy from several innocent but ensnaring flirtations. Attempting one such unentanglement, Nanette enlists the help of theatrical producer Bill Trainor, who promptly falls in love with her. The same thing happens when artist Tom Gillespie is called on for help. But soon Uncle Jimmy's flirtations become too numerous, and Nanette's romances with Tom and Bill run into trouble. Will Uncle Jimmy's marriage survive, and will Nanette find happiness with Tom, Bill, or somebody else?
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The Captain Is a Lady
Title: The Captain Is a Lady
Character: Nancy Crocker
Released: June 21, 1940
Type: Movie
Because of a bad investment, Captain and Mrs. Peabody are evicted from their home. Mrs. Peabody finds lodging at a retirement home, but as only single women are allowed, the Captain has to make other arrangements. However, after witnessing their tearful goodbye, the home's residents vote to allow the couple to move in together. The Captain is a reluctant lodger, uncomfortable at being surrounded by so much femininity, and bristles when his pals start referring to him as "Old Lady". The time has come for Captain Peabody to reassert his manhood!
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Honeymoon in Bali
Title: Honeymoon in Bali
Character: Lorna "Smitty" Smith
Released: September 29, 1939
Type: Movie
Bill Burnett, a resident of Bali, visits New York City, meets and falls in love with Gail Allen, the successful manager of a Fifth Avenue shop, who is determined to remain free and independent. Bill proposes, Gail declines and Bill goes home to Bali. But a young girl, Rosie, and Tony the Window Cleaner, who dispels advice on every floor, soon have Gail thinking maybe she was a bit hasty with her no to Bill's proposal. Ere long she discovers that she does love Bill and can't live without him. She goes down to Bali to give him the good news. He learns that he is soon to marry Noel Van Ness. She goes back to New York City.
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Naughty But Nice
Title: Naughty But Nice
Character: Aunt Martha Hogan
Released: June 23, 1939
Type: Movie
Donald Hardwick (Dick Powell) is a stuffed-shirt, classical music professor. His family and small-town music college that he works are of equal mindset. When Don visits his black-sheep aunt in New York in order to find a buyer for his Rhapsody he is exposed to her shocking swing music crowd. His life begins to make dramatic changes after drinking a "lemonade" that turns out to be a Hurricane.
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Stand Up and Fight
Title: Stand Up and Fight
Character: Amanda Griffith
Released: January 6, 1939
Type: Movie
A southern aristocrat clashes with a driver transporting stolen slaves to freedom.
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Service de Luxe
Title: Service de Luxe
Character: Pearl
Released: October 12, 1938
Type: Movie
Glamorous and efficient Helen Murphy runs a service that will provide any type of assistance to wealthy customers, but what she's really looking for is a man who can take care of himself.
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The Road to Reno
Title: The Road to Reno
Character: Aunt Minerva
Released: August 1, 1938
Type: Movie
An opera singer travels to Reno to divorce her rancher husband.
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The Rage of Paris
Title: The Rage of Paris
Character: Gloria Patterson
Released: June 9, 1938
Type: Movie
Nicole has no job and is several weeks behind with her rent. Her solution to her problems is to try and snare a rich husband. Enlisting the help of her friend Gloria and the maitre'd at a ritzy New York City hotel, the trio plot to have Gloria catch the eye of Bill Duncan, a millionaire staying at the hotel. The plan works and the two quickly become engaged. Nicole's plan may be thwarted by Bill's friend, Jim Trevor, who's met Nicole before and sees through her plot.
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Radio City Revels
Title: Radio City Revels
Character: Gertie
Released: February 11, 1938
Type: Movie
A down-on-his-luck songwriter attempts to peddle musical compositions of a naive Arkansas hillbilly under his own name. Comedy.
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She's Got Everything
Title: She's Got Everything
Character: Aunt Jane
Released: December 31, 1937
Type: Movie
The day after Carol returns from a European trip, she wakes up to find her dead father's creditors hauling everything away. Her aunt wants her to marry a millionaire, but Carol insists on getting a job.
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The Life of the Party
Title: The Life of the Party
Character: Pauline
Released: September 3, 1937
Type: Movie
A singer finds another heir (Gene Raymond) to marry, to avoid the one (Joe Penner) her mother found.
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Meet the Missus
Title: Meet the Missus
Character: Emma Foster
Released: June 4, 1937
Type: Movie
A small town Ohio barber accompanies his ditzy wife to Atlantic City, where she competes in the Happy Noodle Company's Mrs. America Contest.
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We're on the Jury
Title: We're on the Jury
Character: Agnes Dean
Released: February 12, 1937
Type: Movie
A juror at a murder trial is convinced the defendant is innocent.
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Smartest Girl in Town
Title: Smartest Girl in Town
Character: Gwen
Released: November 27, 1936
Type: Movie
A girl in search of a rich husband mistakes a millionaire for a male model.
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Swing Time
Title: Swing Time
Character: Mabel Anderson
Released: August 27, 1936
Type: Movie
Lucky is tricked into missing his own wedding again and has to make $25,000 so her father allows him to marry Margaret. He and business partner Pop go to New York where they run into dancing instructor Penny. She and Lucky form a successful dance partnership, but romance is blighted by his old attachment to Margaret and hers for Ricky Romero.
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The Bride Walks Out
Title: The Bride Walks Out
Character: Mattie Dodson
Released: July 10, 1936
Type: Movie
Carolyn Martin is a fashion model who hastily marries her boyfriend, engineer Michael Martin. But part of the marriage arrangement requires that Carolyn quit her $50-per-week modeling job to be a full-time housewife; the couple will instead live on Michael’s $35-per-week job.
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Murder on a Bridle Path
Title: Murder on a Bridle Path
Character: Hildegarde Withers
Released: April 17, 1936
Type: Movie
When the body of Violet Feverel is discovered on the Central Park bridle path, Inspector Oscar Piper is about to declare her death accidental from a thrown horse, until his friend and amateur detective Hildegarde Withers locates the horse and discovers blood on the horse.
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Love on a Bet
Title: Love on a Bet
Character: Aunt Charlotte
Released: March 6, 1936
Type: Movie
Aspiring Producer Michael McCreigh convinces Uncle Carlton to finance a play on the condition that he lives the play's ridiculous plot. If Michael fails, he must work in Carlton's meat packing plant.
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To Beat the Band
Title: To Beat the Band
Character: Mrs. Freeda McCrary
Released: November 23, 1935
Type: Movie
An eccentric heir must marry a widow in order to collect the millions left to him in his aunt's will, so a suicidal neighbor agrees to marry the man's young fiancée before offing himself.
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Top Hat
Title: Top Hat
Character: Madge Hardwick
Released: August 29, 1935
Type: Movie
Showman Jerry Travers is working for producer Horace Hardwick in London. Jerry demonstrates his new dance steps late one night in Horace's hotel room, much to the annoyance of sleeping Dale Tremont below. She goes upstairs to complain and the two are immediately attracted to each other. Complications arise when Dale mistakes Jerry for Horace.
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50 Million Frenchmen
Title: 50 Million Frenchmen
Character: Violet
Released: February 14, 1931
Type: Movie
In this comedy, two men make an extravagant $50,000 dollar bet that one of them will be able to successfully court a lovely woman without spending any money. To foil his scheme, the other bettor hires two henchmen to stop him.