Knickerbocker Holiday (1944): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1944, Knickerbocker Holiday is a comedy, music and history film directed by Harry Joe Brown, running about 85 minutes. “WHEN TIMES SQUARE WAS FULL OF INDIANS...LITTLE OLD NEW YORK WAS FULL OF FUN!” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. 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.

Who’s in it. Knickerbocker Holiday stars Nelson Eddy as Brom Broeck, Charles Coburn as Peter Stuyvesant, Constance Dowling as Tina Tienhoven and Shelley Winters as Ulda Tienhoven, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 5.0/10, Knickerbocker Holiday has proved divisive with audiences.

Where to watch. In US you can rent or buy it from Amazon Video. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Knickerbocker Holiday page.

If you liked it. Fans of Knickerbocker Holiday tend to enjoy Forrest Gump, Parasite, Life Is Beautiful and Fight Club.