The Broadway Melody


 "The Broadway Melody" 1929 directed by Harry Beaumont, written by Edmund Goulding, Norman Houston, James Gleason for MGM.

Bessie Love, Anita Page, Charles King, Eddie Kane, Jed Prouty, Kenneth Thomson, J. Emmett Beck, Nacio Herb Brown, Ray Cooke, Mary Doran, Edward Dillon, Arthur Freed, James Burroughs, Betty Arthur, Drew Demorest...
If one looks beyond the too many scenes in which Bessie Love (Hank) and Charles Kind (Eddie) yell at Anita Page (Queenie) not to go out with Kenneth Thomson (Jacques Warriner), the film has many very fine scenes and musical numbers. It won Best Picture for the Oscar leaving behind "Hollywood Revue of 1929", "Alibi", "In Old Arizona", and "The Patriot" (a Lost Film, sad to say) and all were adjusting to sound technology. The film is, by today's standards, "creaky".
One aspect of the film is the very great performance by Bessie Love who was Oscar nominated for Best Actress along with Betty Compson for "The Barker", Ruth Chatterton for "Madame X", Jeanne Eagels for "The Letter", and "Mary Pickford, the winner, for "Coquette". The scene where she realizes Eddie is in love with Queenie is amazing and very touching. Add to that, she also sings and dances up a storm while being a tough dame, (in the manner of a Joan Blondell) with a heart of gold. MGM certainly didn't foster her career very well, and they didn't renew her contract at the end of 1930! She is one of the main reasons that I recommend seeing this film of historical significance. It's not aged very well but I have a hunch it was considered quite flawed in its day since the writing isn't very good. Musicals quickly became box office poison and Charles King went back to the stage, Anita Page retired from films in 1936, and Bessie Love went to live in England in 1936. The early musicals film people see are "42nd Street", "Gold Diggers of 1933", and "Footlight Parade" and not "The Broadway Melody" which is more static as the camera had to be boxed due to the sound of its motor that the microphone picked up. In honor of the cameramen in the boxes and the crew dealing with the microphones causing several retakes, do see "The Broadway Melody". You'll love Bessie Love.

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