The Broadway Melody
Encyclopedia
The Broadway Melody is a 1929 American musical film and the first sound film
to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It was one of the first musicals to feature a Technicolor
sequence, which sparked the trend of color being used in a flurry of musicals that would hit the screens in 1929-1930. Today the Technicolor sequence is presumed lost
and only a black and white copy survives in the complete film. The film was the first musical released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
and was Hollywood's first all-talking musical.
The film was written by Norman Houston and James Gleason
from a story by Edmund Goulding
, and directed by Harry Beaumont
. Original music was written by Arthur Freed
and Nacio Herb Brown
, including the popular hit "You Were Meant For Me
". The George M. Cohan
classic "Give My Regards To Broadway
" is used under the opening establishing shots of New York City, its film debut. Bessie Love was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress
for her performance.
and Bessie Love
play a vaudeville sister act who have come to New York for their big break on Broadway
. Charles King
plays the song-and-dance man whose affection for one sister (Harriet alias Hank) is supplanted by his growing love for the younger, more beautiful sister (Queenie). Queenie tries to protect her sister and derail the love triangle by dating a wealthy but unscrupulous "stage door Johnny."
The movie opens with Eddie Kearns debuting “The Broadway Melody.” He tells some chorus girls he’s brought the Mahoney Sisters to New York to perform it with him in Francis Zanfield’s latest revue. Hank and Queenie Mahoney are awaiting Eddie’s arrival at their apartment. Hank, the older sister, prides herself on her business sense and talent while Queenie is lauded for her beauty. Hank is confident they will make it big while Queenie is less eager to put everything on the line to be stars. Their Uncle Jed arrives to tell them he’s gotten them a job with a 30-week traveling show. Hank tells him they’re not interested but he says he’ll give them time to think it over.
Eddie, who is engaged to Hank, arrives and sees Queenie for the first time since she was a girl and is instantly taken with her. He tells them to come to rehearsal for Zanfield’s revue to present their act. Zanfield isn’t interested in it but says he might have a use for Queenie, who begs him to give Hank a part as well. She also convinces him to pretend Hank’s business skills won him over. Eddie witnesses this exchange and becomes even more enamored of Queenie for her devotion to her sister.
During dress rehearsal for the revue Zanfield says the pacing is too slow for “The Broadway Melody” and cuts Hank and Queenie from the number. Meanwhile, another girl is injured after falling off a prop and Queenie is selected to replace her. Nearly everyone is captivated by Queenie, particularly notorious playboy Jacques “Jock” Warriner. While Jock begins to woo Queenie, Hank is upset that Queenie is building her success on her looks rather than her talent.
Over the next couple weeks Queenie spends a lot time with Jock, of which Hank and Eddie fervently disapprove. They forbid her from seeing him, which results in Queenie pushing them away and deterioration of the relationship between the sisters. Queenie is only with Jock to fight growing feelings for Eddie but Hank thinks she’s setting herself up to be hurt. Eventually, Eddie and Queenie confess their love for each other but Queenie, unwilling to break her sister’s heart, runs off to Jock once again.
Hank, after witnessing Queenie’s fierce outburst toward Eddie and his devastated reaction to it, finally realizes they are in love. She berates Eddie for letting Queenie run away and tells him to go after her. She claims to never have loved him and that she’d only been using him to advance her career. After he leaves she breaks down and alternates between sobs and hysterical laughter. She composes herself enough to call Uncle Jed to accept the job with the 30-week show.
There’s a raucous party at the apartment Jock had recently purchased for Queenie but he insists they spend time alone. When she resists his advances he says it’s the least she could do after all he’s done for her. He begins to get physical but Eddie bursts in and attempts to fight Jock, who knocks him through the door with one punch. Queenie runs to Eddie and leaves Jock and the party behind.
Sometime later, Hank and Uncle Jed await the arrival of Queenie and Eddie from their honeymoon. The relationship between the sisters is on the mend but there is obvious discomfort between Hank and Eddie. Queenie announces she’s through with show business and will settle down in their new house on Long Island. She insists that Hank lives with them when her job is over. After Hank leaves with her new partner and Uncle Jed, Queenie laments the fact that her sister hasn’t found the happiness she deserves. The final scene is of a distraught Hank on her way to the train station.
version was also released, for there were still many motion picture theaters without sound equipment at the time. The film featured a musical sequence for "The Wedding of the Painted Doll" that was presented in early two-color Technicolor
(red and green). Color would quickly come to be associated with the musical genre, and numerous features were released in 1929 and 1930 that either featured color sequences or were filmed entirely in color, movies like On With the Show (1929), Gold Diggers of Broadway
(1929), Sally
(1929), The Life of the Party
(1930), and others. No known color prints of the sequence survive, only black-and-white.
, lyrics by Arthur Freed
except as noted
Sources
. Historically, it is often considered the first complete example of the Hollywood musical. However, the film has since come to be seen as weak, cliché-ridden, and overly melodramatic. Even in 1929, the creaky stereotypes of backstage show biz were something less than fresh. Most believe that the primary reason for its success in the Academy Awards
was due to the films with which it competed
being equally unimpressive. Filmsite.org
describes the 1929 Oscars as follows: "The films nominated for this year's awards were some of the weakest films in the history of American cinema, reflecting the chaos of the transition from silents to sound films."
, Broadway Melody of 1938
and Broadway Melody of 1940
, were released by MGM. Although not direct sequels in the traditional sense, they all had the same basic premise of a group of people putting on a show (the films also had recurring cast members playing different roles, most notably dancer Eleanor Powell
who appeared in all three).
The original movie was also remade in 1940 as Two Girls on Broadway
. Another Broadway Melody film was planned for 1942 (starring Gene Kelly
and Eleanor Powell
) but production was cancelled at the last minute. Broadway Rhythm
, a 1944 musical by MGM, was originally to have been titled Broadway Melody of 1944.
Nominations
No nominations were announced prior to the 1930 ceremonies. Love and Beaumont are presumed to have been under consideration, and are listed as such by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
.
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It was one of the first musicals to feature a Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
sequence, which sparked the trend of color being used in a flurry of musicals that would hit the screens in 1929-1930. Today the Technicolor sequence is presumed lost
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
and only a black and white copy survives in the complete film. The film was the first musical released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
and was Hollywood's first all-talking musical.
The film was written by Norman Houston and James Gleason
James Gleason
James Austin Gleason was an American actor born in New York City. He was also a playwright and screenwriter.-Career:...
from a story by Edmund Goulding
Edmund Goulding
Edmund Goulding was a British film writer and director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 British made Paramount silent Three Live Ghosts alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwick. Also in the early 20s he wrote several screenplays for star Mae Murray and...
, and directed by Harry Beaumont
Harry Beaumont
Harry Beaumont was an American film director, actor, and screenwriter. He worked for a variety of production companies including Fox, Goldwyn, Metro, Warner Brothers and MGM....
. Original music was written by Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was a Jewish American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer.- Biography :Freed began his career as a song-plugger and pianist in Chicago...
and Nacio Herb Brown
Nacio Herb Brown
Nacio Herb Brown was an American writer of popular songs, movie scores, and Broadway theatre music in the 1920s through the early 1950s.-Biography:...
, including the popular hit "You Were Meant For Me
You Were Meant for Me (1929 song)
"You Were Meant for Me" is a popular song with music by Nacio Herb Brown and lyrics by Arthur Freed, published in 1929.It was introduced by Charles King in the 1929 musical film The Broadway Melody. It was also sung by King dubbing for Conrad Nagel in the feature film The Hollywood Revue of 1929...
". The George M. Cohan
George M. Cohan
George Michael Cohan , known professionally as George M. Cohan, was a major American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer, and producer....
classic "Give My Regards To Broadway
Give My Regards to Broadway
"Give My Regards to Broadway" is a song written by George M. Cohan for his musical play Little Johnny Jones ....
" is used under the opening establishing shots of New York City, its film debut. Bessie Love was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for her performance.
Plot
The plot involves the romances of musical comedy stars, set against the backstage hubbub of a Broadway revue. Anita PageAnita Page
Anita Evelyn Pomares , better known as Anita Page, was a Salvadoran-American film actress who reached stardom in the last years of the silent film era. She became a highly popular young star, reportedly at one point receiving the most fan mail of anyone on the MGM lot...
and Bessie Love
Bessie Love
Bessie Love was an American motion picture actress who achieved prominence mainly in the silent films and early talkies. With a small frame and delicate features, she played innocent young girls, flappers, and wholesome leading ladies. Her role in The Broadway Melody earned her a nomination for...
play a vaudeville sister act who have come to New York for their big break on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. Charles King
Charles King (vaudevillian)
Charles King was a vaudeville and Broadway actor who also starred in several movies. He starred as the leading actor in the hit MGM movie, The Broadway Melody , the first all-talking film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.-Early Life:Charles J...
plays the song-and-dance man whose affection for one sister (Harriet alias Hank) is supplanted by his growing love for the younger, more beautiful sister (Queenie). Queenie tries to protect her sister and derail the love triangle by dating a wealthy but unscrupulous "stage door Johnny."
The movie opens with Eddie Kearns debuting “The Broadway Melody.” He tells some chorus girls he’s brought the Mahoney Sisters to New York to perform it with him in Francis Zanfield’s latest revue. Hank and Queenie Mahoney are awaiting Eddie’s arrival at their apartment. Hank, the older sister, prides herself on her business sense and talent while Queenie is lauded for her beauty. Hank is confident they will make it big while Queenie is less eager to put everything on the line to be stars. Their Uncle Jed arrives to tell them he’s gotten them a job with a 30-week traveling show. Hank tells him they’re not interested but he says he’ll give them time to think it over.
Eddie, who is engaged to Hank, arrives and sees Queenie for the first time since she was a girl and is instantly taken with her. He tells them to come to rehearsal for Zanfield’s revue to present their act. Zanfield isn’t interested in it but says he might have a use for Queenie, who begs him to give Hank a part as well. She also convinces him to pretend Hank’s business skills won him over. Eddie witnesses this exchange and becomes even more enamored of Queenie for her devotion to her sister.
During dress rehearsal for the revue Zanfield says the pacing is too slow for “The Broadway Melody” and cuts Hank and Queenie from the number. Meanwhile, another girl is injured after falling off a prop and Queenie is selected to replace her. Nearly everyone is captivated by Queenie, particularly notorious playboy Jacques “Jock” Warriner. While Jock begins to woo Queenie, Hank is upset that Queenie is building her success on her looks rather than her talent.
Over the next couple weeks Queenie spends a lot time with Jock, of which Hank and Eddie fervently disapprove. They forbid her from seeing him, which results in Queenie pushing them away and deterioration of the relationship between the sisters. Queenie is only with Jock to fight growing feelings for Eddie but Hank thinks she’s setting herself up to be hurt. Eventually, Eddie and Queenie confess their love for each other but Queenie, unwilling to break her sister’s heart, runs off to Jock once again.
Hank, after witnessing Queenie’s fierce outburst toward Eddie and his devastated reaction to it, finally realizes they are in love. She berates Eddie for letting Queenie run away and tells him to go after her. She claims to never have loved him and that she’d only been using him to advance her career. After he leaves she breaks down and alternates between sobs and hysterical laughter. She composes herself enough to call Uncle Jed to accept the job with the 30-week show.
There’s a raucous party at the apartment Jock had recently purchased for Queenie but he insists they spend time alone. When she resists his advances he says it’s the least she could do after all he’s done for her. He begins to get physical but Eddie bursts in and attempts to fight Jock, who knocks him through the door with one punch. Queenie runs to Eddie and leaves Jock and the party behind.
Sometime later, Hank and Uncle Jed await the arrival of Queenie and Eddie from their honeymoon. The relationship between the sisters is on the mend but there is obvious discomfort between Hank and Eddie. Queenie announces she’s through with show business and will settle down in their new house on Long Island. She insists that Hank lives with them when her job is over. After Hank leaves with her new partner and Uncle Jed, Queenie laments the fact that her sister hasn’t found the happiness she deserves. The final scene is of a distraught Hank on her way to the train station.
Production
A silentSilent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
version was also released, for there were still many motion picture theaters without sound equipment at the time. The film featured a musical sequence for "The Wedding of the Painted Doll" that was presented in early two-color Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
(red and green). Color would quickly come to be associated with the musical genre, and numerous features were released in 1929 and 1930 that either featured color sequences or were filmed entirely in color, movies like On With the Show (1929), Gold Diggers of Broadway
Gold Diggers of Broadway (film)
Gold Diggers of Broadway is a 1929 Warner Bros. comedy/musical film which is historically important as the second two-strip Technicolor all-talking feature length movie . Gold Diggers of Broadway was also the third movie released by Warner Bros...
(1929), Sally
Sally (film)
Sally is the third all talking-all color movie ever made . The color process of Sally was Technicolor...
(1929), The Life of the Party
The Life of the Party (1930 film)
The Life of the Party is a 1930 American musical comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor. The musical numbers of this film were cut out before general release in the United States because the public had grown tired of musicals by late 1930. Only one song was left in the picture...
(1930), and others. No known color prints of the sequence survive, only black-and-white.
Musical numbers
Music by Nacio Herb BrownNacio Herb Brown
Nacio Herb Brown was an American writer of popular songs, movie scores, and Broadway theatre music in the 1920s through the early 1950s.-Biography:...
, lyrics by Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was a Jewish American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer.- Biography :Freed began his career as a song-plugger and pianist in Chicago...
except as noted
- "Broadway Melody"
- "Love Boat"
- "You Were Meant For MeYou Were Meant for Me (1929 song)"You Were Meant for Me" is a popular song with music by Nacio Herb Brown and lyrics by Arthur Freed, published in 1929.It was introduced by Charles King in the 1929 musical film The Broadway Melody. It was also sung by King dubbing for Conrad Nagel in the feature film The Hollywood Revue of 1929...
" - "Wedding of the Painted Doll"
- "Boy Friend"
- "Truthful Deacon Brown", music and lyrics by Willard Robison
- "Lovely Lady"
Sources
Reception
The Broadway Melody was a substantial success. It was the top grossing picture of 1929, and won the Academy Award for Best PictureAcademy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
. Historically, it is often considered the first complete example of the Hollywood musical. However, the film has since come to be seen as weak, cliché-ridden, and overly melodramatic. Even in 1929, the creaky stereotypes of backstage show biz were something less than fresh. Most believe that the primary reason for its success in the Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
was due to the films with which it competed
2nd Academy Awards
The 2nd Academy Awards were presented on April 3, 1930 at an awards banquet in the Cocoanut Grove of The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, and broadcast live on the radio...
being equally unimpressive. Filmsite.org
Filmsite.org
FilmSite.org is a website operated by Tim Dirks since 1996, and owned by AMC since 2008. It contains over 300 reviews of what Dirks judges to be the "greatest films" of all time. In some cases, the review is scene-by-scene. It also contains many other pages offering an introduction to cinema...
describes the 1929 Oscars as follows: "The films nominated for this year's awards were some of the weakest films in the history of American cinema, reflecting the chaos of the transition from silents to sound films."
Sequels
Three more movies were later made by MGM with similar titles, Broadway Melody of 1936Broadway Melody of 1936
Broadway Melody of 1936 is a musical released by MGM in 1935. It was a follow up of sorts to the successful The Broadway Melody, which had been released in 1929, although, beyond the title and some music, there is no story connection with the earlier film.The film was written by Harry W. Conn, Moss...
, Broadway Melody of 1938
Broadway Melody of 1938
Broadway Melody of 1938 is a 1937 musical film, produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film is essentially a backstage musical revue, featuring high-budget sets and cinematography in the MGM musical tradition...
and Broadway Melody of 1940
Broadway Melody of 1940
Broadway Melody of 1940 is a 1940 MGM movie musical starring Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell and George Murphy. It was directed by Norman Taurog and features music by Cole Porter, including "Begin the Beguine"....
, were released by MGM. Although not direct sequels in the traditional sense, they all had the same basic premise of a group of people putting on a show (the films also had recurring cast members playing different roles, most notably dancer Eleanor Powell
Eleanor Powell
Eleanor Torrey Powell was an American film actress and dancer of the 1930s and 1940s, known for her exuberant solo tap dancing.-Early life:...
who appeared in all three).
The original movie was also remade in 1940 as Two Girls on Broadway
Two Girls on Broadway
Two Girls on Broadway is a 1940 musical film directed by S. Sylvan Simon, and starring Lana Turner and Joan Blondell. The film is a remake of The Broadway Melody .-Plot:...
. Another Broadway Melody film was planned for 1942 (starring Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
and Eleanor Powell
Eleanor Powell
Eleanor Torrey Powell was an American film actress and dancer of the 1930s and 1940s, known for her exuberant solo tap dancing.-Early life:...
) but production was cancelled at the last minute. Broadway Rhythm
Broadway Rhythm
Broadway Rhythm is an MGM Technicolor musical film. It was produced by Jack Cummings and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film was originally announced as Broadway Melody of 1944 to follow MGM's Broadway Melody films of 1929, 1936, 1938, and 1940. The movie was originally slated to star Eleanor...
, a 1944 musical by MGM, was originally to have been titled Broadway Melody of 1944.
Academy Awards
Wins- Best Picture
Nominations
- Best ActressAcademy Award for Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
- Bessie LoveBessie LoveBessie Love was an American motion picture actress who achieved prominence mainly in the silent films and early talkies. With a small frame and delicate features, she played innocent young girls, flappers, and wholesome leading ladies. Her role in The Broadway Melody earned her a nomination for...
(lost to Mary PickfordMary PickfordMary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
for CoquetteCoquette (film)-Plot:Norma Besant, daughter of a Southern doctor, is an incorrigible flirt and has many suitors. Her father Dr. Besant favors Stanley , who is taken with Norma. However Norma has met a simple man named Michael Jeffrey who she has fallen madly in love with. Dr. Besant disapproves of Michael...
) - Best Director - Harry BeaumontHarry BeaumontHarry Beaumont was an American film director, actor, and screenwriter. He worked for a variety of production companies including Fox, Goldwyn, Metro, Warner Brothers and MGM....
(lost to Frank LloydFrank LloydFrank Lloyd was a film director, scriptwriter and producer...
for The Divine LadyThe Divine LadyThe Divine Lady is a 1929 Vitaphone sound film with a synchronized musical score and sound effects. The film, however, featured no spoken dialogue. The film tells the story of the love affair between Horatio Nelson and Emma Hamilton. It stars Corinne Griffith, Victor Varconi, H.B. Warner, Ian...
)
No nominations were announced prior to the 1930 ceremonies. Love and Beaumont are presumed to have been under consideration, and are listed as such by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
.