Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer made every effort to impress with its 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).

For thoughts on The Broadway Melody, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/-AF7quHixtY?t=2500]

Video Quality

Warner Archive presents The Broadway Melody for the first time on Blu-Ray with 1080p transfer sourced from a 4K scan of the best preservation elements. Cinephiles are truly in for a treat as they offer up this Oscar-winner with a flawless transfer. This disc has absolutely no signs of digital anomalies such as sharpening or compression artifacts, always running at a high bit rate. Print damage has been eliminated from this sterling picture. This black and white feature has the perfect amount of natural film grain throughout that provides a robust amount of detail to the image. The picture has an amazing amount of depth to it including in the darker portions of the theatre where there is no evidence of any black crush. Warner Archive went all out for this lavish piece of cinematic history.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that captures this early talkie admirably. This track has been derived from unplayed Vitaphone discs that have been meticulously restored. Music is the star of the film from a narrative standpoint, and this track delivers these numbers to your living room with fetching fidelity. Dialogue can sound a bit crispy due to how it was originally captured, but it comes through in an amiable manner. There are moments of hustle and bustle when you might expect sounds to swirl all together, but this track keeps each element distinct. Warner Archive has provided a top notch audio presentation that does not exhibit any unexpected signs of age-related wear-and-tear. The disc also comes with optional English (SDH) subtitles.

Special Features

Metro Movietone Review Shorts: A series of vaudeville acts are provided here featuring singing and dancing including Short #1 (13:45), Short #2 (16:37), Short #3 (13:47), Short #4 (19:05) and Short #7 (8:27).

Van and Schenck Metro Movietone Act: A five-minute reprise of performances from a duo featured in one of the previous Metro Movietone Review Shorts.

The Dogway Melody: An 17-minute short film from 1930 is provided here which features some pups recreating scenes from The Broadway Melody and other classic musicals.

Final Thoughts

The Broadway Melody is unfairly placed near the bottom of Best Picture winners list, but those who actually take time to watch are treated to an occasionally dazzling musical romp that admittedly leaves something to be desired in the story elements. It is far from perfect, but it delivers spectacle and some catchy tunes. Hopefully this new presentation will make some of the harsher critics soften on it a bit. Warner Archive has released a Blu-Ray featuring a fantastic A/V presentation and a fun array of supplemental features. Recommended

The Broadway Melody can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or through various other online retailers.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Warner Archive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.