The Basics
The Broadway Melody (1929) – Director, Harry Beaumont; starring Bessie Love, Anita Page, Charles King; Run time – 100 minutes – Musical, Romance
Prior Knowledge
Koob: This is one of the few Best Picture winners that I have pretty much no prior knowledge of. I’m guessing it’s about the production of a broadway musical and that it was probably one of the first “talkies” since it’s advertising “talking” on the poster.
Kristy: Talking. Singing. Dancing. That’s all I got.
Fun Facts from IMDB
-The first all-talking musical feature. Also the first musical to spawn sequels (The BroadwayMelody films would appear every few years until 1940).
-A silent version was also released as many cinemas hadn’t acquired sound equipment in 1929.
–Eddie Kane starred as a big shot broadway producer named Francis Zanfield, which is an obvious take on broadway legend Florenz Ziegfeld Jr..
Double Gobble 