The Broadway Melody (1929) - Harry Beaumont

This landmark MGM backstage musical of the early sound era about broken dreams on the Great White Way features a bevy of standards by the songwriting team of Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown. Freed later became unit producer of the legendary Freed Unit at MGM, which is the reason many of the tunes from Broadway Melody –""You Were Meant For Me"", "Broadway Melody", ""The Wedding of the Painted Doll""– later appeared in Freed's seminal MGM musical Singin' in the Rain. The nominal story concerns midwestern sister act The Mahoney Sisters –Queenie (Anita Page) and Hank (Bessie Love)– who come to New York to try to make it big on Broadway. Hank's song-and-dance man boyfriend Eddie (Charles King) has promised the gals a part in the new Broadway revue in which he is soon to appear. When Hank and Queenie come to see him, Hank is pleasantly surprised at the way Queenie has filled out. Soon enough, Eddie is making advances to Queenie. Queenie is attracted to Eddie too, but she doesn't want to steal her sister's boyfriend. So she Queenie takes up with a lecherous playboy, leaving it to Hank to put all the confused love relationships in perspective. (Paul Brenner @ allrovi.com)

Review:
The Broadway Melody was MGM's first all-talking picture. Studio chief Louis B. Mayer had initially dismissed sound films as a fad, but when a tedious semi-documentary, White Shadows in the South Seas, was turned into a box-office bonanza simply by adding a few post-production sound effects, Mayer became committed to the new format and ordered that no expense be spared. The result was a then-unheard-of $4 million success and a Best Picture Oscar. Much of the credit for The Broadway Melody should be given to Douglas Shearer. When producer Irving Thalberg complained that one of the film's biggest musical numbers was too static, he suggested using pre-recorded music, just one of many sound engineering firsts that would be credited to Shearer, who got his job because he was Thalberg's brother-in-law. As with the first year of the Oscars, a five-member "Central Board of Judges" determined the winners. A scandal erupted when Academy founder and vote supervisor Mayer's pet project was picked for the top prize. The rules were quickly changed, and for the third year of the awards and thereafter, Academy members have selected the winners. The Broadway Melody has retained little popularity with current-day audiences, though fans of Singin' in the Rain will likely enjoy seeing the source for many of the film's reference points. Nonetheless, Bessie Love's performance stands out, as do several of the production numbers, most notably "The Wedding of the Painted Doll." (Richard Gilliam @ allrovi.com)