 During these ritualistic meals that resemble board meetings, Alice is seated opposite an empty chair reserved for her future husband who, like her brothers-in-law, will be required to work for her father.Dan rejects the constraints that box him into J. L.'s lifeless world—literally a world of paper boxes—and decides to follow his love and passion for horse racing.The screenplay for "Broadway Bill" was written by Robert Riskin, based on the unpublished short story "Strictly Confidential" by "New York Daily Mirror" columnist Mark Hellinger.