The Broadway Melody Review
By Christopher Null
Two sisters (Anita Page and Bessie Love) are vaudeville performers trying to break into Broadway -- and when they get their chance, love gets in the way. Soon enough a love quadrangle has formed, as class struggles and a variety of misunderstandings rear their heads.
The staid plot and threadbare song and dance routines are bouyed by two outstanding performances by Page and Love. A number of supporting performances in the film are also worthwhile. The film -- one of the first musicals ever -- was a massive hit in its day, and Warner Brothers would make three sequels of the film over the next 11 years, each following a nearly identical plot line. (Out of ideas, they're all called The Broadway Melody of 19XX, whatever year it happened to be.)
Today it's mainly a curiosity for film buffs who want to see how musicals erupted in the early days of the talkie.
Facts and Figures
Year: 1929
Run time: 100 mins
In Theaters: Thursday 6th June 1929
Distributed by: MGM Home Entertainment
Reviews
Contactmusic.com: 3 / 5
Rotten Tomatoes: 35%
Fresh: 6 Rotten: 11
IMDB: 6.5 / 10
Cast & Crew
Director: Harry Beaumont
Producer: Irving Thalberg, Lawrence Weingarten
Screenwriter: Norman Houston, James Gleason
Starring: Charles King as Eddie Kearns, Anita Page as Queenie Mahoney, Bessie Love as Hank Mahoney
Also starring: Irving Thalberg, Lawrence Weingarten, Norman Houston, James Gleason