Tin Pan Alley (film)

Tin Pan Alley is a 1940 musical film directed by Walter Lang and starring Alice Faye and Betty Grable (their only film together^[2]) as vaudeville singers/sisters and John Payne and Jack Oakie as songwriters in the years before World War I.

Tin Pan Alley
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Walter Lang
Screenplay by	Robert Ellis Helen Logan
Story by	Pamela Harris
Produced by	Kenneth Macgowan
Starring	Alice Faye Betty Grable Jack Oakie John Payne
Cinematography	Leon Shamroy
Edited by	Walter A. Thompson
Music by	Alfred Newman
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	November 29, 1940 (1940-11-29)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1.645 million (U.S. and Canada rentals)[1]

Alfred Newman received the 1940 Academy Award for Best Musical Score for his work on the film, the second of his nine Oscars. The film was also nominated for American Film Institute's 2006 list of the AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals.^[3]

Plot

Katie and Lily Blaine are a singing-sister act playing the vaudeville circuit. Songwriters Skeets Harrigan and Harry Calhoun see star potential in the sister act.

Cast

• Alice Faye as Katie Blane
• Betty Grable as Lily Blane
• Jack Oakie as Harry Calhoun
• John Payne as Francis 'Skeets' Harrigan
• Allen Jenkins as Casey
• Esther Ralston as Nora Bayes
• Fayard Nicholas as Dance Specialty
• Harold Nicholas as Dance Specialty
• Ben Carter as Boy
• John Loder as Captain Reginald 'Reggie' Carstair
• Elisha Cook Jr. as Joe Codd
• Fred Keating as Harvey Raymond

Casting

Betty Grable in the film.

Before filming began, there was said to be a feud between Faye and Grable, although the two actresses had never met. On the first day of production, the actresses quickly got along and became lifelong friends.

Tyrone Power and Don Ameche were considered for the leading roles, but scheduling conflicts took them out of the running.