The Broadway Melody

Starring: Charles King, Anita Page, Bessie Love
Directed by: Harry Beaumont
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Musical, Romance
1929

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two sisters (Anita Page, Bessie Love) move to New York to join a broadway show. They discover achieving fame and fortune is more challenging than they imagined.

Review:

Tim: The Broadway Melody is an interesting film. It's the second Academy Award winner for Best Picture (technically the first to be called "Best Picture" when it won), it's the first all-talking musical, the first musical to win Best Picture, and the first film to win Best Picture without winning any other Academy Awards. It's a pretty historic film. I thought it was a good movie, but certainly not great.

The story was actually pretty good and had some interesting depth to it. It's a now familiar story, about the quest for fame and fortune, and the challenges that come with that. However, the story feels fairly fresh here. It's about two sisters who have achieved some success in showbiz, although in a small town setting. They move to New York to join a broadway chorus line, but this is much more difficult than expected. We see the ups and downs of their struggle, as well as how New York changes people. This is an aspect of the film I wasn't expecting, but appreciated. The bright lights of New York certainly do change people- sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. I loved that aspect of the film.

Unfortunately, this story far too often strays into the melodramatic. The movie needed a bit more restraint. Some of this is the fault of the actors, some of it is the script. It definitely felt too over-the-top and overly dramatic in various places. This certainly hurts the movie. Bessie Love gives a very strong performance as Hank- I was quite impressed with her. Anita Page is mostly good, although she certainly is weaker than Love. Page glows on screen, but her acting was not terrific. I didn't really care all that much for Charles King. King suffers some from his unlikable character, but his acting wasn't excellent. His performance does leave something to be desired.

The music is fairly good, although there's very few truly memorable songs. "The Broadway Melody" is definitely a standout. The music is good and only a few numbers tend to drag a little long. Overall, this was good.

While the film's story is interesting, the movie as a whole has a bit too many flaws. I still enjoyed this film and liked watching it. The music is good and the characters are interesting. The film does tend to get overly dramatic, but as a whole, this is a good movie. I'm not sure this deserved Best Picture (albeit in a weak years for movies), but it's a worthwhile film and due to its historical significance, it's worth seeing.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Cavalcade, Singin' in the Rain, The Sound of Music