The Broadway Melody
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Broadway Melody | |
|---|---|
 original film poster |
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| Directed by | Harry Beaumont |
| Produced by | Irving Thalberg Lawrence Weingarten |
| Written by | Edmund Goulding (story) Norman Houston James Gleason |
| Starring | Charles King Anita Page Bessie Love |
| Music by | Nacio Herb Brown George M. Cohan Willard Robison |
| Cinematography | John Arnold |
| Editing by | Sam S. Zimbalist William LeVanway |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | February 1, 1929 |
| Running time | 110 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $379,000 (estimated) |
| Followed by | Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Broadway Melody is a 1929 musical motion picture and the first sound film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It was released on February 1, 1929.
The film 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 motion picture 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 for the film 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" was also given its talkie debut in the film. Bessie Love was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role.
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[edit] Plot
The plot involves the romances of musical comedy stars, set against the backstage hubbub of a Broadway revue. Anita Page and Bessie Love play a vaudeville sister act who've come to New York for their big break on Broadway. Charles King plays the song-and-dance man whose affection for one sister (Harriet) 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."
[edit] Production
A silent 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 scores of features were released in 1929 and 1930 that either featured color sequences or were filmed entirely in color.
[edit] Public Reaction
The film was a substantial success. It was the top grossing picture of 1929, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. 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 thusly: "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."
Nonetheless, the movie was so popular, that a sequel (Chasing Rainbows) was released in 1930.
[edit] Sequels
Three more movies were later made by MGM with similar titles, Broadway Melody of 1936, 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.
[edit] Awards
[edit] Academy Award Wins (1929)
[edit] Academy Award Nominations (1929)
Note: 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.
[edit] External links
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Wings and Sunrise |
Academy Award for Best Picture 1928-29 |
Succeeded by All Quiet on the Western Front |
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