MGM's "The Broadway Melody" has often been criticized and lampooned, but the film holds up better than its reputation would suggest and has historical, social, and entertainment value that merit its viewing. This musical from the early days of sound won the second Best Picture Academy award and the first that went to a sound film. While its technical accomplishments may have impressed audiences in 1929, they are important today only as they show the hurdles that faced an industry in transition. The sound is harsh, which can be expected from early recording techniques, and, like the struggling technicians comically demonstrated in "Singin' in the Rain," sound created several problems for filmmakers. The camera in "The Broadway Melody" rarely moves, most of the scenes are in long-shot or mid-shot, and occasionally characters blur when they walk out of the camera's focal range. Thus, observant viewers can spot in this movie many of the real situations that faced the studios and directors during the sound transition period in the late 1920's.

Another interesting aspect of "The Broadway Melody" is social. Like the two fliers in "Wings" from the prior year, the two sisters, who form a stage act that they are attempting to bring to Broadway, openly demonstrate affection in a manner that would raise eyebrows today. The two fliers in "Wings" kissed on the mouth, embraced, and openly showed an affection that could only be interpreted as love, although there was nothing sexual implied. Here too, the two sisters kiss on the mouth, sleep together in each other's arms, and embrace more than even two sisters would be permitted to do within current social norms. Again, there is apparently nothing sexual in their affection, only sibling love. Another changing social norm is the shifting role of gays in film, and a clip from this movie was included in "The Celluloid Closet" to illustrate the change over time. The male dresser in "The Broadway Melody" is a blatant stereotype of the sissy, and the derisive remarks and put downs that he endures from other characters would or should not be tolerated today. However, like the Stepin Fetchit characters that illustrate how African-Americans were once treated on film, the sissy depicted here is a valuable lesson in how minorities were once marginalized and derided in the movies.

However, "The Broadway Melody" is of merit not only for historical and social reasons but also for its entertainment value. While the backstage story has become familiar, the plot retains a certain dated interest and is not boring. Some of the songs are familiar from "Singin' in the Rain," where they were sung and performed as well as they ever will be. But nevertheless, hearing these familiar tunes as they were first performed is fun, even if the voices and sound are lacking all around, and the clumsy dance numbers that are often performed to these songs cry out for Busby Berkeley, although they retain a certain clunky charm. While the film is neither the classic that it should be nor the campy dud that its detractors claim, "The Broadway Melody" is definitely worth a look and makes an excellent double feature with "Singin' in the Rain" as a real example of what was spoofed in that musical classic.

This movie hasn't aged very well, but when it debuted it was a heck of a film--sparking many sequels as well as an entirely new genre of films, such as 42ND STREET, FOOTLIGHT PARADE and DANCING LADY. Because of this, even in spite of its many shortcomings, it's an important film historically speaking. The film may at times look like a bunch of clichés, but you should remember that although many of the plot elements would become clichéd over time, here they were quite original. It was also the first all singing/all talking musical (winning the Oscar for Best Picture),so it deserves to be remembered.

Hank and Queenie are sisters who have come to Broadway to make it big. Hank knows they will become stars as a team and doesn't seem willing to consider any other option. Frankly, as I watched their act, I couldn't help but think that these two women had practically no chemistry as a team-- they couldn't sing or dance all that well together. Well, despite Hank's confidence, Mr. Zanfield (a takeoff on Flo Ziegfeld) wasn't interested in the team--just Queenie. Queenie was not only much prettier but she also wasn't a giant pain in the neck and would take direction! Hank was too self-confident as well as pushy and obnoxious. Her only experience had been dancing in small venues but she tried to lecture the great Zanfield on how to put on a show! Despite Hank's general unlikability (to some she had "pluck and determination", to me she needed a rap in the mouth),she was still given a small part thanks to Queenie and Eddie's intervention. Hank, by the way, was the show's star and Hank's fiancé--that does sound a bit weird, huh?

The problem is that after a while, Eddie starts to realize that Hank's little sister, Queenie, is prettier and a nicer person. It's obvious that he is falling in love with her and vice-versa. However, both Eddie and Queenie love Hank and can't hurt her, so Queenie begins dating Jock--a rich guy. Now up until the very end, we really DON'T know Jock is no-good, but the instant Queenie shows interest in Jock, Hank interferes and tries to split them up. This isn't a good idea, as Queenie is only dating Jock in order to get Eddie out of her system. However, the longer the film goes, the more Hank rides Queenie for dating Jock. Eventually, Queenie can't take Hank's bullying any more and runs off to the arms of Jock. Fortunately, at that moment Hank figures out the score and tells Eddie their engagement is over and encourages him to marry Queenie. Eddie confronts Jock and gets punched in the kisser. Queenie runs to him and pledges her undying love, as he was willing to stand up and fight to protect her honor. Now at this point, you assume the film is over but it goes on needlessly for about 15 more minutes.

The film had a lot of energy and was unique--a truly innovative film. There were a few cute supporting characters I liked, such as the extremely flamboyant costumer as well as the three "yes-men". They added some nice color to the film. Oh, and speaking of color, while the color has vanished over time (a common problem with Two-Color Technicolor),many of the big production numbers were shot in a primitive form of color. Also, the title song ("Broadway Melody") was pretty good, but they sang it about six times during the film and four times in a row! I chalk this up not to lousy production values but to the fact this was the first musical extravaganza. Another minor problem that for me was not really a problem was the extensive use of inter-title cards. Considering this was such an early talkie, it's not surprising that they relied a bit too much on these cards to connect scenes.

Let's address rest of the people in the film. The character "Uncle Jed" was annoying and insensitive. His schtick was stuttering like Porky Pig and this got old very quickly. Also, if you haven't guessed from my above comments, Hank was just too darn unlikable and you wanted Eddie to dump her. Had she been softened up a bit (less pushy, controlling and rude),then the audience would have cared more for her plight. Also, when she and Queenie have their showdown, it's one of the shrillest scenes in movie history and should have been toned down a bit.

Now there are also many technical problems with the film. Many of the edits are very sloppy--either being edited too soon or allowing pointless footage to remain that should have been shortened. Frankly, it's editing is just awful--especially in one very long and protracted scene where Queenie just stares off in space towards the end. Also, while "Melody of Broadway" is pretty good, the rest of the songs aren't. In fact, during one song that was being sung by a guy dressed as a Roman soldier, the sound and singing was so bad I couldn't understand any of the song. This wasn't just me, either, as the film featured excellent Closed Captioning when shown on Turner Classic Movies but when it came to this song, the captioning stopped--obviously they couldn't figure it out as well! Also, while for 1929 the dance numbers were big and impressive, but about 1932 or 1933, these numbers looked amazingly small, poorly choreographed and flat--needing a strong injection of the Busby Berkely touch.

An important but flawed film.

Seeing The Broadway Melody for the first time for historical interest and to see whether it really was down there as one of the worst Best Picture winners, it wasn't as bad as I'd heard it cited to be. It is a long way from perfect, the editing is sloppy which hinders the choreography(which sometimes was dull, small-scale and stagy),much of the supporting cast overact(Jed Prouty is especially annoying) and Anita Page's- as charmingly photogenic as she is- acting doesn't seem very natural at all. However, while not Best Picture worthy it is not one of the worst films ever made, not by a long shot. The costumes are just lovely and the sets are good as well. The dialogue is snappy(the orchestra is trying to drown me out line is very funny),the story while slow at times does have a simple nostalgic fun and charm to it and Page is very photogenic as said already. Charles King has a beautiful voice, he isn't the best of actors either but he's charming and not annoying. The choreography wasn't hugely impressive, but it does have some good moments, choreographically the best number by a landslide is Wedding of a Painted Doll. The Broadway Melody is competently directed, but Best Director worthy, not so sure. The best aspects of The Broadway Melody are the songs and the performance of Bessie Love, the only assets that come across as truly outstanding. The songs are marvellous, The Broadway Melody and You Were Meant for Me are classics. And Love is just terrific as Queenie, she does so much with the character and was more than deserving of her Oscar nomination. In conclusion, not a great film but better than it's made out to be. 6.5/10 Bethany Cox