1930a - Broadway Melody

Director: Harry Beaumont

Production Company:  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Leads: Bessie Love, Anita Page, Charles King

“Your troubles there are out of style, ‘cause Broadway always wears a smile.” – Title Track (as sung by Eddie Kerns)

Setting

Broadway, New York

The Plot

Sister act Hank and Queenie Mahoney [Love and Page] arrive in New York ready to wow Broadway. With some help from Hank’s friend Eddie [King], and a few flirtations from Queenie, they get their feet in the door.

The film opens in the midst of the cacophony that often accompanies a studio, which paused to hear Eddie Kerns sing Broadway Melody. The song is sold and he makes it his mission to perform it with the Mahoney Sisters, who are in their hotel room devising a crafty way to avoid tipping the bellhop.

Hank and Eddie are almost an item, however Eddie is in love with Queenie…who in turn tries to find someone else to love to avoid hurting Hank. 

The Review

The film had great music, dancing and acting. I particularly enjoyed the Wedding of the Painted Doll number which was vibrant and fun; I loved how they had the dancers rise up through the stage floor. Some of the songs were later used in the 1952 musical Singin’ in the Rain (one of my all-time favourites) so it was interesting to see them in their original context and get some of the references used in that film.

Charles King had a lovely singing voice, adding a beautiful performance of the hit song “You Were Meant For Me”.

Anita Page, known at the time as “the girl with the most beautiful face in Hollywood” (and by me as the girl with the longest mouthful of a nickname) shone as Queenie. Her acting lacked a bit of naturality, however it’s important to note in the post-silent era they were still hired more on their looks than their vocal skills. She went on to be the last surviving attendee of the first Academy Awards in 1929...so there’s a little trivia titbit for you.

The girls didn’t get a major shining moment in the singing/dancing arena which was a shame given it was a musical. The storyline seemed to lose focus and become disjointed; I had not developed enough of a relationship with the characters to care about the love triangle (which was solved too conveniently). It seemed to me the major focus was on the sound, being a fairly new addition to films of that era, and the scriptwriting fell on the wayside as a result.

Page’s New York accent slipped in a few times, despite her character being fresh from the West and looking for “woyk”...one of the small anomalies the studios of the day weren’t used to considering.
It was interesting to see Queenie picked out based on her legs, which were naturally curvaceous but twice the size of today’s models who are picked out for similar reasons. I'm sure that leaves plenty of debate about pop culture and body image.
Sadly, Broadway Melody was not engaging enough for me. The title makes it sound like a musical of non-stop excitement whereas the storyline was quite dull, making it seem to go on for longer than 100 minutes.

For the time, however, it must have been such a marvel to see talking and singing on screen that the audiences of 1929 wouldn't have been too bothered about the plot.

I can’t be too harsh of course, it was 1929 after all and many aspects of film (especially audio) were in their infancy. It is worth seeing, even if just for the Wedding of the Painted Doll and to see how far films have come over the decades since.

The Slap

Jock Warriner...nobody likes a womaniser do they? I might have kept the diamond bracelet instead of throwing it at him.