Director: Harry Beaumont
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Top Billed Actors: Bessie Love, Anita Page, Charles King
Won 1 Oscar:
Outstanding Picture - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Nominated for 2 more:
Best Director - Harry Beaumont
Best Actress - Bessie Love
Plot: Everybody drools over a dumb blonde and sings songs.
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Top Billed Actors: Bessie Love, Anita Page, Charles King
Won 1 Oscar:
Outstanding Picture - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Nominated for 2 more:
Best Director - Harry Beaumont
Best Actress - Bessie Love
Plot: Everybody drools over a dumb blonde and sings songs.
The second Awards, as opposed to the first, honored one film as the best of the eligible time period. For the 1928-1929 period, this honor belonged to The Broadway Melody (1929). The first true Hollywood musical, this movie from MGM set many trends that musicals would follow. It is the first to feature songs that belong to the plot, rather than just musical acts (although there are plenty of these musical numbers as well). It is also one of only three films to win Best Picture and not win anything else. Harry Beaumont and Bessie Love were nominated for directing and acting, respectively.
The Broadway Melody features many improvements over Fox's In Old Arizona (1928). The music for one, albeit dated, makes the movie much more bearable and pleasing to listen to. Not only are there elaborate acts on stage, but there are a few songs sung within the context of the story. The love triangle between the three main characters is also entertaining, even though it can be a tad overdramatic and cliché at times. My favorite musical number actually had no connection to the plot at all. I was almost mad as it seemed like a filler, but "The Wedding of the Painted Doll" features catchy music and fun dancing.
This movie does show how far we've come since the dawn of talking pictures. The acting in this movie is more bearable than in In Old Arizona but it still is cringe-worthy at times. When the characters scream at each other about Anita Page's character going out for multiple scenes, it's hard not to shake your head. Also, the plot could have used some more character development for the antagonist of the story. Love's and Charles King's characters keep reprimanding Page's character for going out with a man who likes to pamper her. Nothing is said on why this could be a bad relationship for Page. It is assumed that this guy is a 'player' or whatever the 1929 version of a man like that is but that is not necessarily shown in the film. All it would have took is a scene that shows the man flirting with another girl or showing him doing something to get the viewers on Love's and King's side. Instead, we get conflicting motives from each character and it becomes messy really fast.
Overall, this is a great look on what Broadway was like in the late twenties. The music isn't too memorable but it will get your feet tapping on occasion. The acting is still not up to today's standards.
My Score: 6/10
The Broadway Melody features many improvements over Fox's In Old Arizona (1928). The music for one, albeit dated, makes the movie much more bearable and pleasing to listen to. Not only are there elaborate acts on stage, but there are a few songs sung within the context of the story. The love triangle between the three main characters is also entertaining, even though it can be a tad overdramatic and cliché at times. My favorite musical number actually had no connection to the plot at all. I was almost mad as it seemed like a filler, but "The Wedding of the Painted Doll" features catchy music and fun dancing.
This movie does show how far we've come since the dawn of talking pictures. The acting in this movie is more bearable than in In Old Arizona but it still is cringe-worthy at times. When the characters scream at each other about Anita Page's character going out for multiple scenes, it's hard not to shake your head. Also, the plot could have used some more character development for the antagonist of the story. Love's and Charles King's characters keep reprimanding Page's character for going out with a man who likes to pamper her. Nothing is said on why this could be a bad relationship for Page. It is assumed that this guy is a 'player' or whatever the 1929 version of a man like that is but that is not necessarily shown in the film. All it would have took is a scene that shows the man flirting with another girl or showing him doing something to get the viewers on Love's and King's side. Instead, we get conflicting motives from each character and it becomes messy really fast.
Overall, this is a great look on what Broadway was like in the late twenties. The music isn't too memorable but it will get your feet tapping on occasion. The acting is still not up to today's standards.
My Score: 6/10