The Broadway Melody (1929)

Director:

Harry Beaumont

Writers:

Edmund Goulding (story)
Sarah Y. Mason (continuity)
(more)

Release Date:

6 June 1929 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Romance

Tagline:

The pulsating drama of Broadway's bared heart speaks and sings with a voice to stir your soul!

Plot:

Harriet and Queenie Mahoney, a vaudeville act, come to Broadway, where their friend Eddie Kerns needs...

Plot Keywords:

Sibling Rivalry | Flapper | Audition | New York City | Sister Act

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Charles King	...	Eddie Kearns
Anita Page	...	Queenie Mahoney
Bessie Love	...	Hank Mahoney
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
The Angeles Twins	...	Chorus Girls (uncredited)
J. Emmett Beck	...	Babe Hatrick (uncredited)
Nacio Herb Brown	...	Pianist (uncredited)
James Burrows	...	Singer (uncredited)
Eddie Bush	...	Guitarist and Singer (uncredited)
Ray Cooke	...	Bellhop (uncredited)
Drew Demorest	...	Turpe - Costumer (uncredited)
Edward Dillon	...	Stage Manager (uncredited)
Mary Doran	...	Flo (uncredited)
Arthur Freed	...	Bystander in Rehearsal Room (uncredited)
Paul Gibbons	...	Guitarist and Singer (uncredited)
James Gleason	...	Music Publisher (uncredited)
Eddie Kane	...	Francis Zanfield (uncredited)
Ches Kirkpatrick	...	Guitarist and Singer (uncredited)
Carla Laemmle	...	Oyster Shell (uncredited)
Eddie Lang	...	Guitar Player in Band (uncredited)
Joyce Murray	...	Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
Blanche Payson	...	Wardrobe Lady (uncredited)
Alice Pitman	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Jed Prouty	...	Uncle Jed (uncredited)
Marshall Ruth	...	Stew - Mr. Zanfield's Assistant (uncredited)
Bill Seckler	...	Guitarist and Singer (uncredited)
Kenneth Thomson	...	Jock Warriner (uncredited)
Diana Verne	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Alice Weaver	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Dorothy Coonan Wellman	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)

Directed by
Harry Beaumont

Writing credits
Edmund Goulding		(story)
Sarah Y. Mason		(continuity)
Norman Houston		(dialogue by) and
James Gleason		(dialogue by)
Earl Baldwin		(titles: silent version) uncredited

Produced by
Harry Rapf	....	producer (uncredited)
Irving Thalberg	....	producer (uncredited)
Lawrence Weingarten	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
John Arnold		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Sam Zimbalist		(film editor) (as Sam S. Zimbalist)
William LeVanway		(silent version) (uncredited)

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Costume Design by
David Cox		(wardrobe by)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording engineer
G.A. Burns	....	sound technician (uncredited)
O.O. Ceccarini	....	sound technician (uncredited)
Louis Kolb	....	sound technician (uncredited)
Wesley C. Miller	....	sound technician (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Louis Kolb	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Music Department
Nacio Herb Brown	....	music by
Arthur Freed	....	lyrics by

Other crew
George Cunningham	....	choreographer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presents) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1929) (USA) (theatrical) (as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1929) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1929) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1929) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Epoca (????) (Argentina) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Nothing's New Video (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"The Broadway Melody of 1929" - USA (alternative title)

Runtime:

100 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System) | Silent

Certification:

Australia:G | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:Atp | Netherlands:18 (original rating) (1929) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The first film to win Best Picture without winning any other Academy Awards.

Quotes:

Hank Mahoney:[after a cat-fight with a chorus girl] Next time I'll give you a facial instead of a scalp treatment!
Chorus Girl:I'll fix you, ya little peanut!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Irving Thalberg: Prince of Hollywood (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Give My Regards to Broadway

"No Skies Of Gray On The Great White Way"

Even though the occasional subtitle appears like training wheels on a bicycle with The Broadway Melody sound had finally arrived to tell the story of a movie. Though the movies had learned to talk, the players hadn't quite gotten down acting with a microphone instead of exaggerated gestures to make a point.

Everybody was overacting that year, you ought to see Mary Pickford's Best Actress performance in this same year. In fact she beat out Bessie Love who did a very good job as one of the aspiring Mahoney sisters for stardom on the Great White Way.

Bessie Love and Anita Page play the Mahoney Sisters who come to Broadway after being sent for by an old friend Charles King. King's had his eye on Love, but now little sister Page is all grown up. And she's also attracting Broadway wolf, Kenneth Thomson.

Charles King was a popular Broadway leading man of the day, his career going back to 1908 there. Such people as George M. Cohan, Irving Berlin, and Vincent Youmans had songs introduced by him. King had a nice singing and dancing act. He never really took to the big screen, but introducing Broadway Melody and You Were Meant For Me should qualify him for some screen immortality.

The plot is your usual backstage story, but the greatness of Broadway Melody was the singing and dancing. The possibilities of the screen musical hadn't been fully explored, it would take Busby Berkeley to do that in a few years. In its numbers Broadway Melody is a photographed stage musical.

But not a bad one at that. And our second Best Picture Oscar.