The Broadway Melody

"All talking. All singing. All dancing."

1929 1h 41m EN

😐

5.1

MID

🥫

42%

ROTTEN

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

5.5

IMDB

★5.1TMDB · 180🥫42%Rotten Tomatoes●66Metacritic★5.5IMDB · 9,200

MusicRomanceDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The vaudeville act of Harriet and Queenie Mahoney comes to Broadway, where their friend Eddie Kerns needs them for his number in one of Francis Zanfield's shows. When Eddie meets Queenie, he soon falls in love with her—but she is already being courted by Jock Warriner, a member of New York high society. Queenie eventually recognizes that, to Jock, she is nothing more than a toy, and that Eddie is in love with her.

“All talking. All singing. All dancing.”

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Cast

Charles King
Eddie Kearns
Anita Page
Queenie Mahoney
Bessie Love
Harriet 'Hank' Mahoney
Betty Arthur
Chorus Dancer (uncredited)
J. Emmett Beck
Babe Hatrick (uncredited)
Nacio Herb Brown
Pianist (uncredited)
James Burrows
Singer (uncredited)
Eddie Bush
Quartet Guitarist and Singer (uncredited)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Harry Beaumont
Writers: Edmund Goulding
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $4M — a 11.5× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

97 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Broadway Melody Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Directed by Harry Beaumont, shot by John Arnold. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Sam Zimbalist shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Charles King and Anita Page and Bessie Love carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "All talking. All singing. All dancing.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Harry Beaumont directs. John Arnold behind the camera. Sam Zimbalist cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $4M — a 11.5× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
397 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Part of the "The Broadway Melody Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Harry Beaumont, shot by John Arnold. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Editor Sam Zimbalist shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Charles King and Anita Page and Bessie Love carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "All talking. All singing. All dancing.".
9IMDB entry: tt0019729 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 24 themes, including "new york city", "dancing", "love triangle", "show business".

The technical file

Cinematography: John Arnold
Editing: Sam Zimbalist
Runtime: 101 min · 1h 41m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $379,000
Box office: $4,358,000
Return: 1150% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Broadway Melody (1929)
Rotten Tomatoes: 42% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 66/100
IMDB rating: 5.5/10 · 9,200 votes
MPAA: Passed

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 5 wins & 2 nominations total

Academy Award for Best Picture

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

The Broadway Melody Collection

Also by

Harry Beaumont

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Selected frames

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-07-27
★ 6/10
“Eddie” (Charles King) invites his girlfriend “Hank” (Bessie Love) and her sister “Queenie” (Anita Page) to join a show being staged by legendary producer “Zanfeld” (Eddie Kane) on Broadway. That’s about as simple as the plot gets because quite swiftly he switches his allegiance to the other sister but she’s a decent sort of gal and tries to return the attentions of socialite “Jock” (Kenneth Thomson). Those attentions are really only skin deep, though, and as we watch we all too readily realise where the real love story lies. Whilst all of this melodrama is playing out, director Harry Beaumont makes best use of his theatrical setting to intersperse this game of who is dating who with some quite well choreographed and scored song and dance routines in the best traditions of (sometimes quite risqué vaudeville. It’s an early talkie and it looks it. None of the cast look particularly comfortable with their lines, but they do look much more natural when the gals are on the stage or frenetically lurching from heartbreak to lovestruck - usually very loudly, backstage too! Love is a class act and she certainly steals the show here but that’s maybe it’s problem. It is a film about a show, whereas it might have been better had it just been a show, and cut out the romancing elements that do create their own suds just once too often. It is a lively enterprise, though, and looks as if those behind the camera knew just how to show how manic, haphazard and hectic life behind the curtain could be, and that’s without any love triangles! It hasn’t really stood the test of time, but I do wonder how many films made now will still have any entertainment value in a century?

Production companies