Broadway Melody

George 2022-01-21 08:02:14

The story describes that Queenie and Hank, both singers, came to New York to enter the world after a successful performance in their hometown. The two of them joined the Broadway song and dance troupe, and the sisters fell in love with the song and dance troupe manager Eddie at the same time, and developed a romantic relationship.
This is the first large-scale musical and dance film produced by MGM and the first audio film to win the Oscar for Best Picture (2nd). The main attraction of the film is its historical value. In addition, the songs are still beautiful, the performances are full of enthusiasm, and the dialogue is childish and interesting, with a kind of childishness of early movies. The film uses sound and picture counterpoint for the first time, bringing a broader creative space for film art. Some of the singing and dancing scenes are shot in black and white, and some are shot in color. It was remade in 1940 as "Two Girls on Broadway" (Two Girls on Broadway). In addition, sequels of "Broadway Melody" were released in 1936, 1938 and 1940.
In terms of music, the performances of Nasio Herbbran and Arthur Fried, who were responsible for composing lyrics and music, were above the standard, and the episode "You Belong to Me" was very popular. The singing and dancing scenes of "The Wedding of Painted Dolls" were shot partially in black and white and partially in color, which is refreshing. Because of the success of this film, Arthur Fried was the producer of many musicals in the future. With the success of this film, Owen Tilberg, the chief producer of MGM, opened the era of the kingdom of MGM's musicals.
For many years, critics have believed that if the best film of the past is scored, then the second best film "Broadway Song and Dance" is the film with the lowest score.
At that time, sound films had just come out, and MGM wanted to give full play to the characteristics of sound in the film, and was actively preparing for the production of a new type of song and dance film with the theme of "stage love history". Producer Owen Talberg asked two lyrics writers to write a song and dance performance of a pair of sisters making love to each other, asking for "100% talking and 100% singing" in the film. So this "Broadway Song and Dance" was born.
The film cost 350,000 U.S. dollars and took 30 days to complete, and it became a sensation after it was released. The film’s story is simple and the plot is old-fashioned, but some of the songs and dances in the film have been widely circulated, such as the theme song "Broadway Melody" and "Boyfriend", "You and I Are Together" and a ballet show have all been selected as Hollywood song and dance. Collection. Judging from the standards of modern musical films, this movie might be considered low-level, but it was already excellent in the popular love triangle dramas at the time. Moreover, the scenes of the film are gorgeous, the song and dance design is novel, and the use of sound is relatively successful. These technical successes have enriched this mediocre film a lot, and even MGM has made several sequels in the future, such as "Broadway Melody in 1936", "Broadway Melody in 1938", etc. .

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Extended Reading
  • Else 2022-04-23 07:04:07

    disgusting story. Maybe it's really love, and it can't be stopped. I really don't want anyone to be a victim of love. The biggest sacrifice in the audience was Hank, who was greened by his two favorite people. They just call it love. In the end, I have to perform with the people I used to hate. The pair of men and women are extremely hypocritical, but they are a perfect match. The rich man who threw money at it was really taking advantage of it. Queenie is better, playing with rich people is to not destroy the love of good sisters. Don't let rich people touch it because she still likes Eddie. She really wants all the benefits. She wants friendship, love, money, and she can get it. In the process, I have to experience the inner entanglement and pain to show her beauty and kindness, but why am I so disgusted.

  • Uriah 2022-04-19 09:02:44

    6/10. Old-fashioned and boring, the structure of the film is straight to the point, and the relationship between the characters is presented in the shortest possible time: the rural sisters who came to New York to escape the service fee of the hotel but have fear and longing for the future. The sisters fell in love with the chorus that supported them. The group manager, but the manager seemed hesitant and reluctant to face his sister's love. The sister chose to quit in order to fulfill the lover and encouraged the manager to rush to the nightclub to grab her sister back from her rival; In the scene, although the singing and dancing clips are dull and dull and lack the sense of layering of the picture, the sound technology achieves the effect of mutual promotion of sound and picture. For example, the opening scene takes the rehearsal room as the background, and the sound is cut off incoherently with the clipping of the scenes inside and outside the soundproof room. Creates a noisy effect of different instruments/songs being played at the same time.

The Broadway Melody 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!

  • Eddie Kearns: Hank, did you see Queenie? What's the matter Hank, aren't ya happy? Wasn't Queenie great? Aren't ya proud of her?

    Hank Mahoney: Oh, of course, Eddie. I'm glad to see her make good. Oh, but, gee, we ain't never had to get by on our legs before.

    Eddie Kearns: Oh, that don't mean nothin', Hank. Those guys are not going to pay ten bucks to look at your face; this is Broadway!

    Hank Mahoney: Yeah, "Broad's way!"