The Broadway Melody (1929)

This show, a good little musical, probably would not win the Academy Award even a year later than it did. The novelty of producing a movie musical—two words not yet put together very often—must have enhanced its limited value.You *know* "Broadway Melody" is a sound picture in the first few minutes. Singing women and several musical bands all practicing in the opening sequence must have been a thrill for the cinematic audiences still infatuated with the "novelty" of sound.I should admit that I don't care for musicals, even movie musicals, but this one isn't bad. It's a cross between two later pictures—"A Chorus Line" and "A League of Their Own". It especially resembles A League of Their Own, with the taller sister doing well while barely trying and the struggling but more enthusiastic shorter sister.

Putting out the obvious Caveat...This one, to be Fair, must be seen Alongside the other Movies of 1929. After doing so, one can Appreciate its Value as the Film is Accomplished and the Cringe Inducements are Minimal.It's Sleek and Deco Decorated, contains a great Number of Ziegfeld type Beauties in Various Forms of Undress, Dressed Up in Outlandish Glittering Costumes. There are other Pre-Code Eye-Poppers at the Apartments and Backstage.The Dialog is Snappy and the Drama Restrains from reaching Melodrama. The Two Lead Actresses/Singers/Dancers (Anita Page and Bessie Love) are Charming and Peppy and show some Unexpected Acting Chops. The Men in this Musical/Drama/Comedy don't fare as well and the Clicks of the Clock have Not Been Kind to Their Kind.Overall, a Winner at the Box Office and at the Academy. The First Sound Best Picture and, Oh Yea, all of those MGM Musicals, This was #1. a First Edition, and First Editions are always Valuable even if they don't have any Other Qualities Other than Being First.This one does have other Qualities, Including Good Leading Ladies, some Catchy and Classic Songs, and an overall Presentation of a New Art Form done in a more than Acceptable Production Combination that is Old and New at the Same Time.Worth a Watch for Film Historians, Fans of Movie Musicals, and as a Time Capsule that was Straddling the Line between the Silents and Sound, and the Roaring Twenties and the Devastating Financial Collapse that Resulted in the Depression. All in that Volatile Year of 1929.

Keeping in mind that the film is 80 years old and was made just when sound was new its interesting to see considering that it won best picture the year it came out. You can still feel the studios adjusting to the new medium since at several scene breaks they still use title cards, the sound is often uneven, the acting techniques antiquated and the plot older than the hills. With all that taken under advisement the picture is still worth viewing to see for the archetypes that it established and of course being a pre-code it has a racier content than would have been allowed even five years later. Famed songwriter Nacio Herb Brown, Singin in the Rain, Good Morning etc., is featured in the cast next to his future wife, albeit briefly, Anita Page. More of an fascinating artifact than a truly great film it's still worth watching at least once.

This is yet another Best Picture winner that would come to define Oscar as being style-over-substance, except the Musical Genre's no longer as popular as it once was (okay, Chicago did win, but that's for another review). This, however, is an interesting piece.For starters, during the eligibility period of the 2nd Academy Awards (late 1928-mid 1929) was a period in time where Hollywood was transitioning from silent to talkies. Thanks to some advancements in technology, we got the speakers, the recorders, and sound stages, many of which due to Broadway. And speaking of Broadway, what better way to show off the talkie trend than to give us a Broadway-like musical? Only Broadway Melody went a step further and even introduced Technicolor for the very first time in cinematic history (though only in a limited number of musical sequences, many of which didn't survive).So where does this film fall? Well, for the time, it certainly had a lot more to brag about for its accomplishments than most talkies did. But like a ton of other films from that time period that made the technological leap, it suffers from several of the faults that Hollywood was just not accustomed to at the time. The acting became uncomfortably awkward, the Technicolor looked really grainy and hideous-looking, the sound quality was very poor, and it simply became a lavish luxury.The story and the characters are completely forgettable as well. I just saw this movie on NetFlix, and I can't remember a thing about anybody or anything that went on. This is a primary example of giving us a half-baked story with cardboard cutouts as a means to showing off its technological advancements.So yeah, while its history is interesting, the movie itself is just an embarrassing bore. A lot of people may defend this film by saying that it simply didn't age well, and to "try viewing it from when it first came out," but this excuse simply isn't going to fly. Maybe if the story and characters were engaging, even with the embarrassing performances and dated technology, I may cut the film some slack. But the intent of the Oscars that year speaks for itself; Best Picture was the only Oscar it won that year, and it won for the spectacle alone. Even if that was because there were only 7 categories, the Oscar ceremony in subsequent years (with only 2 exceptions) will prove that there's no excuse for its lack of quality.It may not be the worst film to win Best Picture, but again, I can only recommend this film to those that are interested in learning of the Academy's humble roots. If you don't care about Oscar, then I'd seriously skip it. I will give it a generous--yet deserving, 4 out of 10.