The Broadway Melody

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Louisa E I didn't understand the plot of this movie. The story seems to progress with no reasoning behind it. People have weird and toxic relationships. Nothing seems realistic or genuine. The men are all creeps. Why Queenie would go with Ed astounds me. There were no stand-out actors for me. Bessie Love was ok when angry, but I didn't buy the sad scenes. I liked the opening with the various suites of music. They are showing off this new technology well. However, this movie's so-called professional musicians are terrible and amateur. The only performances I liked were the quartet at the dance and the Wedding of the Painted Doll number, which was a good audio-visual spectacular. The costumes were great, and the set design for the theatre was cool. I can't believe it won! It has the lowest score on IMDB for all the Oscar Best Picture winners. I'm not surprised. I'm okay with Bessie Love's nomination and even the directorial nomination, but I think there were no winners here. 6/10. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/09/23 Full Review Audience Member The first sound film to win an Academy Award it was also the first musical to use a Technicolor sequence, which sparked the trend of color being used. While it was the top grossing picture of 1929 and it is the first complete example of the Hollywodo musical, it is cliche ridden and overly melodramatic. It's an interesting example of an early Hollywood musical but otherwise is void of appeal. It has not stood the test of time in ways that many of its more artistic contemporaries have. Some deficiencies can be attributed to the way the genre has been re-shaped and improved. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review david f This is kind of a slight film but it's worth watching for its significance in the history of Hollywood. One of the first talkies ever made, and the first musical film of many, it features a couple of songs that later reached cinematic perfection in "Singin in the Rain" and it's absolutely fascinating to see these early takes on "Broadway Melody", "Wedding of The Painted Doll", and "You Were Meant For Me" in black and white. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review william d MGM still had a lot to learn about making musicals - and sound movies generally for that matter. Still, if you're interested in early cinema and it's development you might find this worthwhile. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Fast forward through the usual awful dancing and music and actually you get one of the better Oscar best picture winners from the early days. There is at least an interesting love triangle and a bit of personality to the film. Not the best film but not as dreadful as some. Why is that girl called Hank though? And why does everyone find her bang average sister to be so much hotter than her? Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Steve D Might be historically significant but it isn't good. The actors keep it going. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/05/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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