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The Broadway Melody

Play trailer Poster for The Broadway Melody 1929 1h 50m Musical Play Trailer Watchlist
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42% Tomatometer 31 Reviews 21% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Vaudeville sisters "Hank" (Bessie Love) and Queenie Mahoney (Anita Page) take their act to the Broadway stage in New York when Eddie (Charles King), a professional song-and-dance man appearing in a new show, invites his girlfriend Hank to join him. Soon after, Eddie transfers his affections to Queenie, who attempts to do right by her sister by dating another man -- high society member Jock Warriner (Kenneth Thompson). The showbiz melodrama is quickly overshadowed by the romantic subplot.
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The Broadway Melody

The Broadway Melody

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Critics Consensus

The Broadway Melody is interesting as an example of an early Hollywood musical, but otherwise, it's essentially bereft of appeal for modern audiences.

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Critics Reviews

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SMH Staff Sydney Morning Herald 02/05/2020
If all the songs and ballets were taken out of The Broadway Melody it would still remain an absorbing spoken drama. On the other hand, If the dramatic element were taken away, the film would still be appealing as a spectacular revue. Go to Full Review
Irene Thirer New York Daily News 02/17/2015
Zowie! What a picture! Humor, drama, romance, action, thrill! And how! Go to Full Review
Mordaunt Hall New York Times 01/06/2014
Although the audible devices worked exceedingly well in most instances, it is questionable whether it would not have been wiser to leave some of the voices to the imagination. Go to Full Review
Robert F. Sisk Baltimore Sun 05/14/2024
See The Broadway Melody. Your informant has a sneaking idea that it will mark some sort of an epoch in picture making. Its very delving into the musical comedy field and the success of its effort make such a supposition reasonable. Go to Full Review
Christopher Lloyd The Film Yap 11/27/2023
4/5
Though derided by some as a hopelessly outdated relic, the first musical Oscar winner for Best Picture remains a surprisingly gritty and daring romantic triangle story. Go to Full Review
Pare Lorentz Judge 10/30/2023
[It's] filled with those stupendous sets which the movies produce from time to time just to show Ziegfeld that he is still in the amateur class but the dialogue, story, and music all sound very, very familiar. Broadway Melody is off-key most of the time. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Christian K @ckacar Jan 28 Pretty unentertaining throughout. The music and performances were rough and it was a slog for me to get through. See more ChrisCSH H 09/08/2024 Broadway Melody is completely outdated for this day and age but for the time it was incredibly realistic and as the first talking Oscar winner for best picture and also first talking musical for the time, it was incredibly ambitious and revolutionary for the time along with not only musical numbers, but also a love triangle, which is quite entertaining. See more 12/11/2021 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. See more david f 05/22/2021 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. See more william d @acsdoug 05/07/2021 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. See more 01/18/2021 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? See more Read all reviews
The Broadway Melody

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Movie Info

Synopsis Vaudeville sisters "Hank" (Bessie Love) and Queenie Mahoney (Anita Page) take their act to the Broadway stage in New York when Eddie (Charles King), a professional song-and-dance man appearing in a new show, invites his girlfriend Hank to join him. Soon after, Eddie transfers his affections to Queenie, who attempts to do right by her sister by dating another man -- high society member Jock Warriner (Kenneth Thompson). The showbiz melodrama is quickly overshadowed by the romantic subplot.
Director
Harry Beaumont
Distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Genre
Musical
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 1, 1929, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 1, 2012
Runtime
1h 50m
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