The Broadway Melody (1929) (Warner Archive Collection)

Read more

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer made every effort to impress with it's first talking motion picture, setting a new standard for big-budget films and establishing an archetype for decades of movie musicals to follow in The Broadway Melody. The Great White Way truly becomes the Street of Broken Dreams when sisters Queenie and Hank Mahoney (Anita Page and Bessie Love) follow Hank's boyfriend, Eddie Kearns (Charles King), to Manhattan with visions of stardom. In New York, Eddie and Queenie are attracted to each other, but unwilling to betray her sister, Queenie dates a feckless cad. Now, Hank must sort out the tangle of aspirations and emotions that form this tragic love triangle. Filled with a memorable score of unforgettable songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, this was the first sound film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture (1929-30).