Remember when Avatar came out, and it really cared more about effects than it did storytelling? Well, that’s the case in today’s film, “The Broadway Melody”. The only difference is that the new technology isn’t extreme motion capture and vast computer generated worlds. It’s sound.

The story is about two sisters named Hank and Queenie, who come to Broadway looking for work. Queenie’s fiancee, Eddie, also stops by town. But then Eddie gets the hots for  for Hank, and this leads to some awkward moments between the two. That’s basically the story. As for the sound, it might have sounded good back then, but it doesn’t really today. The sound mixing is a little off, and they really play up the fact that there is sound. Like ‘You can watch this and listen to this at the same time!’

With that said, you probuably think i hate this movie, but i really don’t. The acting is good (especially Bessie Love, who was nominated for her performance), the art direction is good, the director did a good job, and the script was quite good for the time, although it wouldn’t be anything special today.

So, if you’re interested in what the early sound films were like, this is an interesting watch. It doesn’t have much to offer, but for the time, it was a pretty good film. I give it 3 1/2 stars out of 5.