- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,428
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
With any discussion of musicals, Harry Beaumont is probably not a name that comes immediately to mind.
And yet...
He was selected to direct M-G-M's first "All Talking, All Singing, All Dancing" musical in 1928, and it was a Huge success.
Akin to Mr. Beaumont, many cinephiles not familiar with early cinema may be unfamiliar with the names of the leads in this 1929 film - Charles King, Anita Page, and Bessie Love,
Let's give them their due.
Mr. Beaumont, who was Kansas born, and worked until 1948, began his career as an actor and writer in 1911 in Australia. In 1912 he joined a studio called The Edison Company - probably a small east coast firm.
For Mr. King, The Broadway Melody was only his second film. While he appeared in a number of films between 1928 and 1943 (A Guy Named Joe), he never became a star.
Anita Page began her career in a Paramount silent in 1928, A Kiss for Cinderella, and had a role in Our Dancing Daughters (1928 / Warner Archive), before appearing in The Broadway Melody. She worked in nine different decades, with her final appearance being in Frankenstein Rising (2010).
Bessie Love is undoubtedly the most famous of the group. Her career began in 1915, spent time in Griffith's Fine Arts Company, with occasional stops at Triangle (The Mystery of the Leaping Fish) 1916), and Intolerance (Fine Arts), before joining The Vitagraph Company. She was a WAMPUS star of 1922, and appeared in dozens of films in the 1930s into the '80s, including No Highway in the Sky, The Barefoot Contessa, Isadora, Ragtime, Reds and The Hunger.
Arthur Freed created the lyrics.
Going technical a moment, the film was released in both silent as well as sound versions - with sound versions being both sound on film, as well as sound on disc. The silent version was six reels while the sound (I'm guessing because of musical numbers) ran 10.
There was a 2-Color Technicolor sequence which only survives as a fragment.
As to the history of the elements, while it survived the fire, a last attempt for asset protection occurred about twenty years ago, when several reels were found to have major decomp problems, and were unusable.
The source for the restoration was a preservation fine grain struck in 1965, from the OCN prior to decomp, as well as a dupe neg struck from that safety fine grain, which had also suffered damage.
There is a squeezing of some early stock footage shots, and I've not been able to determine the cause. It is noted that there was about 25 seconds missing from 35mm elements, that had to be derived from a 16 dupe neg created in the '40s.
The resultant imagery is gorgeous, with the exception of a few shots.
This is where it gets very interesting.
The best source for audio proved NOT to be from a safety track derived from the nitrate OSTN.
For audio, Warners returned to a set of mint Vitaphone discs, with the new capture just recently completed. So listening to the audio for The Broadway Melody, you're actually hearing the original discs.
As a film, it remains as wonderful today as it was upon release in 1929. And taking into consideration the changes that have occurred since its creation, I feel that it beautifully stands the test of time.
As an aside, for those who collect Academy Award-winning films, the film received nominations for Harry Beaumont as Best Director, Bessie Love for Best Actress in a Leading Role...
And Best Picture.
Awards continue with the other early film being released via Warner Achieve, the 1931 (filmed in 1930) Cimarron from RKO Radio, and directed by Wesley Ruggles.
The first of its kind, The Broadway Melody spawned a brace of kinsmen, and should be an essential addition to any serious collection.
Image – 4.5
Audio – 5
Pass / Fail – Pass
Plays nicely with projectors - Yes
Worth your attention - 10
Upgrade from DVD - Without a doubt!
Slipcover rating - n/a
Very Highly Recommended
RAH
Thank you for supporting HTF when you preorder using the link below. As an Amazon Associate, HTF earns from qualifying purchases. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.
And yet...
He was selected to direct M-G-M's first "All Talking, All Singing, All Dancing" musical in 1928, and it was a Huge success.
Akin to Mr. Beaumont, many cinephiles not familiar with early cinema may be unfamiliar with the names of the leads in this 1929 film - Charles King, Anita Page, and Bessie Love,
Let's give them their due.
Mr. Beaumont, who was Kansas born, and worked until 1948, began his career as an actor and writer in 1911 in Australia. In 1912 he joined a studio called The Edison Company - probably a small east coast firm.
For Mr. King, The Broadway Melody was only his second film. While he appeared in a number of films between 1928 and 1943 (A Guy Named Joe), he never became a star.
Anita Page began her career in a Paramount silent in 1928, A Kiss for Cinderella, and had a role in Our Dancing Daughters (1928 / Warner Archive), before appearing in The Broadway Melody. She worked in nine different decades, with her final appearance being in Frankenstein Rising (2010).
Bessie Love is undoubtedly the most famous of the group. Her career began in 1915, spent time in Griffith's Fine Arts Company, with occasional stops at Triangle (The Mystery of the Leaping Fish) 1916), and Intolerance (Fine Arts), before joining The Vitagraph Company. She was a WAMPUS star of 1922, and appeared in dozens of films in the 1930s into the '80s, including No Highway in the Sky, The Barefoot Contessa, Isadora, Ragtime, Reds and The Hunger.
Arthur Freed created the lyrics.
Going technical a moment, the film was released in both silent as well as sound versions - with sound versions being both sound on film, as well as sound on disc. The silent version was six reels while the sound (I'm guessing because of musical numbers) ran 10.
There was a 2-Color Technicolor sequence which only survives as a fragment.
As to the history of the elements, while it survived the fire, a last attempt for asset protection occurred about twenty years ago, when several reels were found to have major decomp problems, and were unusable.
The source for the restoration was a preservation fine grain struck in 1965, from the OCN prior to decomp, as well as a dupe neg struck from that safety fine grain, which had also suffered damage.
There is a squeezing of some early stock footage shots, and I've not been able to determine the cause. It is noted that there was about 25 seconds missing from 35mm elements, that had to be derived from a 16 dupe neg created in the '40s.
The resultant imagery is gorgeous, with the exception of a few shots.
This is where it gets very interesting.
The best source for audio proved NOT to be from a safety track derived from the nitrate OSTN.
For audio, Warners returned to a set of mint Vitaphone discs, with the new capture just recently completed. So listening to the audio for The Broadway Melody, you're actually hearing the original discs.
As a film, it remains as wonderful today as it was upon release in 1929. And taking into consideration the changes that have occurred since its creation, I feel that it beautifully stands the test of time.
As an aside, for those who collect Academy Award-winning films, the film received nominations for Harry Beaumont as Best Director, Bessie Love for Best Actress in a Leading Role...
And Best Picture.
Awards continue with the other early film being released via Warner Achieve, the 1931 (filmed in 1930) Cimarron from RKO Radio, and directed by Wesley Ruggles.
The first of its kind, The Broadway Melody spawned a brace of kinsmen, and should be an essential addition to any serious collection.
Image – 4.5
Audio – 5
Pass / Fail – Pass
Plays nicely with projectors - Yes
Worth your attention - 10
Upgrade from DVD - Without a doubt!
Slipcover rating - n/a
Very Highly Recommended
RAH
Thank you for supporting HTF when you preorder using the link below. As an Amazon Associate, HTF earns from qualifying purchases. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.
Last edited by a moderator:
