The Broadway Melody

Thoroughly mediocre. The two leading ladies are cute and it's all mildly enjoyable, but between the rough early sound production values, the terribly cliche story and the bad comedy it just becomes a chore.

The jokes fall flat and the music numbers are bad but through the large amounts of ineptitude you get glimpses at a story worth telling, however cliché it has become today. Nevertheless, this must surely be one of the worst films to win Best Picture.

This is weak, underwritten, and actors awfully observed. Two wonderful wonderful songs, some care for production design and choreography in the theater. Worst Bes Picture Oscar winner I've seen, by far.

This early musical revolves mostly around a love triangle between two sisters, Queenie and Hank (who names their daughter Hank?), and the latter's fiance, who immediately falls in love with the former for no good reason (besides looks). He proceeds to act like a scumbag for the rest of the movie while Queenie does her best to avoid him so as not to hurt her sister. The musical numbers are okay, but they have nothing to do with the plot -- they're all acts performed on stage by the characters.

MGM bought in big when it came to musicals as a lynch-pin of the dawning all-talkie era, and it did pay off for them. This one rushed to the head of the line and earned like mad, and it's... OK. It *drags* through a dumb, disappointing backstage plot about a dope in love with the sister he's not dating, and the numbers are a bit warbly and unspectacular. But the ladies have charm enough to be up to it. I do wish it could maintain the verve of the opening, though.

Poorly executed with a nonsensical script, it is difficult to appreciate the birth of the musical when it comes as such a lousy movie.

Very much like footlight, gold diggers and 42nd street, but without Busby Berkeley's choreography, so there is really not much to look for here.

One of the worst Best Picture winners of all time, from back when Hollywood was still trying to find itself. It was probably a jaw-dropping spectacle back in the day, but now it's as dated as dated can be.

Better than its reputation suggests, there are some good scenes, some innovative sound editing and some great performances by the women. Which doesn't make it great - the thrill of sound is dulled after 90 years of it, and the big dance number is a dud - but it does make its Oscar win make sense.

The only components in this that was not harsh here, was the drunken guy and the blond girl's looks. Do no think that all weaknesses can be explained by the lack of soundfilm experience throughout crew and actors, Lubitsch, Lang and probably so many others did just fine.

Easily one of the worst Best Picture winners. I can appreciate that the sound technology was new & it's the first all-talking musical, but that doesn't make it an enjoyable watch. Even just on the basis of the musical content: the main song is repeated too often during the first half of the movie (not even that great of a song), the characters aren't super interesting, & the story is tired. Its Oscar win was surely the industry congratulating itself, not based on the quality of the film.

Horrible, all the way! Though it's the one of the first sound movies of its kind, it's still flawed beyond repair - in part due to the relentless of using the same formula, which makes the American silent films so engrossing.

I really enjoyed it. A great score and an extra fantastic performance by Bessie Love. The love "rectangle" got incredibly confusing and strange during the last 20 minutes though. A proud launch to what is now a very popular genre of film.

Not the worst thing in the world or anything, but there's a good reason this has a reputation as one of the worst movies to win Best Picture. It's just thoroughly unremarkable in every way. It feels very much like a pre-alpha build of the much better musicals that would come just a few years later. The musical stuff is no Busby Berkeley and the story is predictable. It's of mild historical note and it's obvious they're still navigating the switch from silent to sound.

I didn't really think this film was that bad, considering it was the first year of the musical genre - although it is a little surprising out of the 60 made in 1929, this one was "the best." After thinking, I do concede there was hardly any noteworthy choreography despite some good tap dancing; and the love story drama and crying went on far too long.

There's stuff to enjoy here, especially Bessie Love's performance and some of the dialogue. But Jesus, that plot, somehow working overtime to make the worst character in the world the hero of the piece.

Thank you god for sending us Bubsy Berkeley.