The Broadway Melody (1929)
…………………………………………………
The Broadway Melody Movie Review
The Broadway Melody is a 1929 musical film directed by Harry Beaumont and starring Charles King, Anita Page and Bessie Love. It is far from great, but also far from bad.
………………………………………………….
“Why, it’s cream in the can, baby“
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
Yes, The Broadway Melody is infamous for winning Best Picture and it’s considered to be one of the worst, even by many the very worst, Best Picture winners. I, however, entirely disagree with that notion personally. Yes, the film had no business winning the award and is very dated and flawed, but certainly not terrible.
The story is awfully melodramatic. The love triangle is cliched and that is the part of the film which I honestly hated the most. The musical parts are fine and otherwise the sibling relationship is actually very well developed and interesting. I found the film quite touching at times and definitely that sister dynamic and complicated relationship is the standout aspect of the entire production.
Hank is such a likable character whom I really liked and I do think that she was treated rather badly by the movie which bothered me as she’s by far the most sympathetic of any characters here. Queenie is much less likable and is honestly a bitch at times. Her relationship with Hank is complex and well realized, but she herself is unappealing. And of course Eddie is a forgettable, rather annoying character.
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
The movie is pre-Code so obviously there are some sexual liberties taken here, especially with the dresses they wear which are super short. There are also a lesbian and a gay male character present in the film and both are stereotypical, but still their presence in a film alone is intriguing for 1929.
The film is definitely pretty well acted across the board. Charles King is the weakest link. He’s okay, but he has a rather annoying voice in my opinion. Anita Page is definitely quite solid, but talking too fast and she’s way too loud at times. As for Bessie Love, well, she’s easily the standout part of this film both as a character and as an actress. She truly delivered one very strong, emotive performance and thus she entirely deserved her Oscar nomination in my book.
The Broadway Melody is the first sound film and the first musical to win an Oscar and is thus a historically important film. But it isn’t particularly successful as a musical. It has songs which drive the plot forward and is thus groundbreaking in that achievement, but most of its five songs are forgettable with You Were Meant for Me being well sung and Boy Friend being one of the appealing highlights. The titular number, though, is by far the musical highlight here. Although it is repeated way too often in the film, it still remains an incredibly catchy, entertaining and well composed number which I really like.
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
The movie definitely features pretty good sound design for its time. Not great, but not as poor as most of its contemporaries. The score is fine and the look into the musical scene of the time offers a fascinating time capsule. The dialogue is frustratingly weak and the story is slight, but the characterization and emotion are pretty solid. It did not deserve to win Best Picture and the nod for Best Director is also ridiculous, but at least Bessie Love deserved her nomination.
The Broadway Melody features an awfully melodramatic storyline with a clichéd love triangle and pretty weak dialogue. The songs are solid and the titular number is the catchy, fun highlight, though it’s repeated too often. Some of the characters are annoying, but the sister relationship is well realized and the standout part of the film. The same goes for Bessie Love’s very good, deservingly Oscar nominated performance. So the film is an undeserved Best Picture winner without a doubt, but still it isn’t one of the worst to win it. It’s far from great, but far from terrible either as it’s too harshly judged in my opinion.
