The Broadway Melody (1929)

Directed by

Harry Beaumont

Genre

musical film, romance film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 50m

Rated

NR

Rating

5.1 of 10 from 170 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Two sisters work as a song-and-dance act on Broadway. One falls for a charming performer, leading to romantic complications and professional rivalry.

livelyglamorousold-fashionedromanticbittersweetsentimental

What happens

The Broadway Melody, also known as The Broadway Melody of 1929, is a 1929 American pre-Code musical film and the first sound film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It was one of the early 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. The Broadway Melody 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. Today, the Technicolor sequence survives only in black and white. The film was the first musical released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was Hollywood's first all-talking musical. Having been published in 1929, it entered the public domain on January 1, 2025. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• Broadway Scandals (1929)
• Pointed Heels (1929)
• Words and Music (1929)
• The Saturday Night Kid (1929)
• Song of Love (1929)
• Close Harmony (1929)
• Footlights and Fools (1929)
• Sunny Side Up (1929)