Hank and Queenie Mahoney, a vaudeville sister act trying to make a name for themselves, come to the aid of Hank's lover, Eddie, when he needs them to be a part of a Broadway act. As the sisters prepare to make the transition from small time shows to primetime, matters of the heart begin to get in the way as Eddie suddenly falls for Queenie instead of Hank. In order to remedy this and not complicate things, Queenie starts seeing a member of high society named Jock Warriner.
While technically The Jazz Singer is the first musical, The Broadway Melody is considered the grandaddy of all musicals due to how the format is used to create what audiences know today as the genre of musicals from that point forward. Released in 1929, just two years after the first 'talkie' The Jazz Singer, it's obvious that the studio (Warner Bros.) was still skeptical of the concept of 'talkies', and as such was not sure on how to transition from silent films to 'talkies'. There are a couple of times where, instead of what audiences would today consider normal transitions, silent film-style title cards are still used to show the change from one location to another. The acting throughout the musical is at times cringe-inducing (by today's standards at least).
Despite all that, I still have to give The Broadway Melody props for managing to be entertaining overall. The music throughout the film, though I'm more of a rock kind of guy myself, is really quite catchy and fun to listen to. It is also interesting knowing the historical significance of The Broadway Musical. I can forgive the limitations of the time period in which The Broadway Musical was released, because all in all it was a pretty decent movie. It's probably not something I would seek out again unless I was with other people who wanted to see it, but it was still an interesting thing to see.
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