It's a classic story: fresh faces in the big city, struggling to find success but making friends and learning a lot about the world along the way. Details vary from one iteration to the next, but the essence remains the same. 'Broken hearts of Broadway' isn't necessarily anything special, and anyone who isn't already enamored of the silent era won't find anything here to change their mind. Still, it's well made, and worth recalling both on its own merits and as a slice of early cinema.
The production design is solid, with swell set design and decoration, fetching costume design, and good hair and makeup work. The cast do an excellent job of realizing their characters with suitable range, personality, and physicality, and emphatic body language and facial expression as the silent era broadly demanded. Irving Cummings illustrates capable direction in guiding the cast, arranging shots and scenes, and overseeing the production generally. More fundamentally important is the writing. The characters, scene writing, and intertitles are all recognizable from similar titles, but are well considered such as they are. The narrative is filled with sufficient drama to keep one engaged, especially at the climax - which, as was sometimes true of older films, takes a turn that's a little bit too extraordinary. We also get familiar themes of hard work, honesty, persistence, integrity, and love - as contrasted with taking advantage, corruption, and unethical practices.
Eighty minutes pass by with the ease of a stroll through a garden, and without really making any major impression (save perhaps for the wholly unnecessary use of a tawdry racial slur). Light drama, mild levity - 'Broken hearts of Broadway' isn't bad, not in the least. I had a good time watching. It's just that 99 years on, there's no particular reason for it to stand out, and except for those who are strong fans of silent pictures, I can't imagine it would make a splash with modern general audiences. Still, even minding a couple antiquated indelicacies, and the commonness of the material, this is a duly entertaining feature. Don't go out of your way to see it, but if you have the opportunity, it's quite fine.
