The Broadway Melody (1929) Review

Title: The Broadway Melody
Year: 1929
Director: Harry Beaumont
Country: US
Language: English

 In 1927 Warner Brothers' The Jazz Singer became the first picture with sound to hit theatres. Shortly after, audiences everywhere were clamouring for "Talkies" and silent movies became a financial detriment. Studios struggled to meet the demand as the technology was fairly new & had a tremendous amount of limitations. In 1929 we had the first "all talkie" winner at the Oscars. 

In The Broadway Melody, a  pair of sisters from the vaudeville circuit try to make it big time on Broadway, but matters of the heart complicate the attempt.

The Broadway Melody (1929) was billed as the first ALL Talking, ALL Dancing motion picture event. It was an incredibly big deal; a huge footnote in the history of cinema. It was the highest grossing picture of 1929 and helped paved the way for talkies in Cinema.
 

Despite it being revolutionary at the time, The Broadway Melody is extremely dated for Modern audiences. The acting is terrible, as is the cliche riddled writing. The cinematography is average - at best- and the editing is pretty poor. I fell asleep while watching the movie & had to start over. 

You'd think a musical would have memorable music, but I can't remember a single tune. At the time The Broadway Melody should have won Best Picture, but it's a relic that feels older than movies made in the 1910's!