Knickerbocker Holiday (1944)

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The wild and woolly early days of New York -- when it was still known as New Amsterdam -- provide the backdrop for this period musical-comedy. In 1650, Peter Stuyvesant (Charles Coburn) arrives in New Amsterdam to assume his duties as governor. Stuyvesant is hardly the fun-loving type, and one of… More The wild and woolly early days of New York -- when it was still known as New Amsterdam -- provide the backdrop for this period musical-comedy. In 1650, Peter Stuyvesant (Charles Coburn) arrives in New Amsterdam to assume his duties as governor. Stuyvesant is hardly the fun-loving type, and one of his first official acts is to call for the death of Brom Broeck (Nelson Eddy), a newspaper publisher well-known for his fearless exposes of police and government corruption. However, Broeck hasn't done anything that would justify the death penalty, so Stuyvesant waits (without much patience) for Broeck to step out of line. Broeck is romancing a beautiful woman named Tina Tienhoven (Constance Dowling), whose sister Ulda (Shelley Winters) happens to be dating his best friend, Ten Pin (Johnnie "Scat" Davis). After Stuyvesant's men toss Broeck in jail on a trumped-up charge, Stuyvesant sets his sights on winning Tina's affections. However, as Broeck begins to organize his fellow New Amsterdamians in a bid for independence, he tries to convince Stuyvesant that working for justice might do him more good that following his current policies of graft and corruption. Based on a Broadway musical with songs by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson, Knickerbocker Holiday's score was beefed up for its screen incarnation with a number of new tunes by Sammy Cahn and Jules Styne, though the best known song from the stage version remained the best remembered selection from the film, September Song. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 25 min.
Directed By: Harry Joe Brown
Genres: Musical & Performing Arts, Comedy

On DVD: Jun 6, 2000

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Cast

            Nelson Eddy as Brom Broeck

            Charles Coburn as Peter Stuyvesant

            Constance Dowling as Tina Tienhoven

            Ernest Cossart as Tienhoven

            Shelley Winters as Ulda Tienhoven

            Johnnie Davis as Ten Pin

            Percy Kilbride as Schermerhorn the Jailer

            Chester Conklin as Town trumpeter

            Otto Kruger as Roosevelt

            Richard Hale as Tammany

            Fritz Feld as Poffenburgh

            Irving Bacon as Peter Van Stoon

            Dick Baldwin as 1st Pal

            Sven Hugo Borg as Swedish Colonist

            Harry C. Bradley
            
            George Bunny as Old Man

            Herbert Corthell as Captain

            Edward Earle as Barker

            Fern Emmett as Critical Woman

            Irving Fulton
            
            Dorothy Granger as Barmaid

            Charles Judels as Renasaler

            Ferdinand Munier as De Pyster

            John Sheehan as Irish Colonist

            Gerald Oliver Smith as English Colonist

            Glenn Strange as Big Muscle

            Ruth Tobey as Giggling Girl

            Percival Vivian as De Vries

            Fred Johnson
            
            Carmen Amaya as Gypsy dancer

            Bruce Cameron
            
            Bobby Hale as Clown

            Casey MacGregor as Fire Eater

            Connie Conrad
            
            Harold DeGarro as Stilt Walker

            Harry Johnson
            
            Louis Manley as Punch and Judy Show

            Walter Pietila
            
            Frieda Stoll
            
See full cast

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