Cheap The Broadway Melody of 1929 (Special Edition) (DVD) (Anita Page, Bessie Love) (Harry Beaumont) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Broadway Melody of 1929 (Special Edition)

The Sounds of Broadway!
Claimed by some as "The worst film to ever win best picture" I couldn't disagree more. "The Broadway Melody" carried a lot of importance with it in the world of cinema. It was the first complete "talkie". Flooded with music and dance.
"The Broadway Melody" tells the story of the Mahoney sisters, Queenis (Anita Page) and Hank (Bessie Love) who go to New York with the idea in their head they'll make it on Broadway with the help of Hank's boyfriend, Eddie Kearns (Charles King). But, as the film goes on we find outt hat both sisters are in love in Eddie, and Eddie feels the same way towards them, and everybody better get their feelings straight before and after the curtain closes on broadway!
I have to admit, even though slammed by many people as dull, too old-fashion, too cliche, and just plain boring, I enjoyed the film and for more reasons then it's techinical achievements. The film has a charm to it that has been forever lost in today's Hollywood. I would only recommend that serious movie lovers watch this film, other people will have no appreciation for it. This not the worst film to ever win the best picture award. And even if it didn't win the award I would still enjoy this film.
The only reason I'm giving this film 4 stars instead of 5 is that the dance numbers seem flat. There is no pizazz to it. Watch other musicals of the 30's like "Whoopee" made in 1930. Watch "42nd Street" or the Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers musicals. They all seem to have more "glitz and glamour" to them. "The Braodway Melody" number is awfully flat. But, they make up for it with "The Wedding of the Painted Doll" number. But even in this piece, the dancing is not amazing. The songs in the film however are, which happened to be written by the team of Freed & Brown, if you're having trouble placing them, they wrote "Temptation" along with, "The Broadway Melody" & "You Were Meant For Me" are enjoyable to listen to.
The story to the film is by Edmund Goulding, who directed "Grand Hotel" with Greta Garbo, which won best picture in 1932.
Bottom-line:Although it was the first musical to ever win the best picture award and was the first complete "talkie", the film has more to enjoy then this. It is a charming film that works more as a drama than a musical.

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Enjoyable Film
Bessie Love and Anita Page are both wonderful in this film of two sisters trying to make it big on Broadway. It's a little dated, but the two ladies make it worth your time to see it. The girls' stuttering manager-uncle is a hoot! I highly suggest you view this movie if you haven't seen it.

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Hasn't Stood the Test of Time
Neither awful nor wonderful. Tremendously popular in its time but little more than an artifact of entertainment industry history. Certainly not a bad movie by any means and definately worth a rental if you can find a copy.