Headin' for Broadway is a 1980 American drama film directed by Joseph Brooks and written by Joseph Brooks, Larry Gross, and Hilary Henkin. The film stars Rex Smith, Terri Treas, Vivian Reed, Paul Carafotes, Gary Gendell and Benjamin Rayson. The film was released in May 1980, by 20th Century Fox.
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Plot
Four young hopefuls from different parts of the country head to Broadway for a shot at stardom. They include Fast Eddie, a Los Angeles singer and composer; Carrie a farm girl from Ohio; Valerie, a talented but poor church singer and waitress from Harlem; and Ralphy, a cocky kid from Philadelphia.
Critical reception
Leonard Maltin dismissed the film as "astonishingly amateurish" and stated that it "looks like a film they tried to save in the editing room; it didn't work." John Elliot was equally dismissive in his review, stating that it was "An inconsequential film that should be retitled Heading Nowhere." CineMag critic J. Paul Costabile praised Gene Foote's portrayal of the choreographer but otherwise felt that the cast's talents were hampered by poor material. The Boston Globe critic Michael Blowen stated, "Every moment tastes like a cream puff washed down with a pint of undiluted maple syrup. Brooks never ventures into the psychological underpinnings of his ambitious quartet or lets his camera gaze on the sleazier side of Broadway." Noel Taylor in The Ottawa Citizen similarly dismissed the film as "imitation syrup", but praised Vivian Reed's performance as "riveting" and the only one to "survive the Brooks treatment".