The Broadway Melody [Special Edition] [DVD] [1929]

Back in the days of laserdisc, The Broadway Melody (1929) was released as part of a four-platter box containing a brace of early MGM musicals and related titles, costing close to 100 dollars, and it looked and sounded fair. It comes off rather better on this DVD (which costs about one-fifth as much as the old laser box); the movie looks like it's gotten a new digital transfer and has a very well-handled soundtrack as well, with decent presence and a healthy volume, which is sort of central to its appeal. The full-screen (1.33:1) image of the 1929 movie has gotten to 2005 with some wear and scratches, and signs of some missing frames, but overall is eminently watchable, at least on a purely technical level. The film itself creaks in spots, mostly in the awkward presence of lingering elements from the silents, including the presence of intertitles at the scene changes and moments such as the lingering, static close-up for the first major dialogue sequence involving Anita Page and Bessie Love. It seems as though the latter shot, between the static camera and the lengthy shot, exists that way as a holdover from the days when title cards would have been intercut with dialogue. Otherwise, the movie has been given a very generous 27 chapters, covering the entire plot and every song. The bonus features are a very mixed bag, ranging from the awkward to the sophisticated. The first of them is the too long and not terribly funny "The Dogway Melody," a musical featurette parodying the backstage musical, using dogs in various costumes. That is followed by an array of five Metro Movietone Revues, each a mini-musical revue, the first two hosted by the too fey and annoying Harry Rose, the rest by singer Johnny Marvin, and featuring such acts as Van & Schenck, the Locust Sisters, ukulele player and singer Johnny Marvin, George Dewey Washington, Jack Pepper, the Ponce Sisters, the Reynolds Sisters, Joseph Regan, Tom Waring, Yvette Rogel, and the Happiness Boys. There's also a separate featurette on Gus Van and Joe Schenck, but the real treat in this section are the original trailers from Broadway Melody of 1936 (which is exceptionally well edited), Broadway Melody of 1938 (which is devoid of significant visuals), Broadway Melody of 1940, and Broadway Rhythm (1944). The latter wasn't much of a movie, but at least its trailer is worth seeing, just for a glimpse of Ginny Sims and Tommy Dorsey in color, and a very youthful Lena Horne, plus Hazel Scott. And if the movie itself looks as good as the trailer, it may, indeed, be well worth owning when it shows up on DVD. All of these features are accessible through a multi-layer menu that's very easy to negotiate.