Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Day 7: The Broadway Melody


The Broadway Melody:1929: Winner of the 2nd Academy Award

Starring:






Charles King  as Eddie Kearns
Anita Page as Queenie Mahoney
Bessie Love as Harriet (Hank) Mahoney




Today was the first time I  have seen a movie that old since “Diary of a Lost Girl”, it was pretty good. The plot since I know most people won’t bother to watch , is about two sisters in the era of the two-bit sister act. Hank the older sister is more talented than Queenie but not half as pretty. They are in New York to make it big in the city. Eddie, Hank’s boyfriend, has promised them promising spots, considering he is a sing and dance guy. Zenfield, the head of the department is enchanted by Queenie’s beauty and is happy tp put her in the show despite her lack of talent. Hank has the talent but not the face and is dismissed by Zenfield, however Quenie talks him into hiring them both, so he agrees. Eddie has fallen in love with Queenie and she with him, but they do not dare to carry on with their love because it would hurt Hank. Queenie was raised by Hank and so she knows how disastrous this may seem to her. To dissuade her feelings she starts to go out with a “stage door Johnny” named Jock Wernier. The tension rises because Queenine and Eddie are always fighting about Jock and Hank gets thrown in the middle. After the shows first performance a couple of weeks later Hank realizes that her sister and her fiancĂ© have the hots for each other and decides to step down and let them be happy. A couple of months later, they are seen coming back from their honeymoon and they insist that Hank live with them (as if pfft.) and she politely declines. The last scene is split between Queenie telling Eddie that she is sad that Hank never catches a break and that she took him from her. The other half is Hank in the train car looking dejected but trying to motivate herself.
So this movie was good but fuck that bitch Queenie. I hate her. How dare she steal her sister’s man! How could she, I know the saying goes, “the heart wants what it wants,” but goddamn , Hank has given Queenie everything and Queenie took it away . Her spot in the show, her man  and her chance at happiness. Come on, can Hank please meet a fabulous guy to make up for what Queenie has done! Why is it that its ok for a decent looking girl to lose the love of her life to the prettier girl? I really was burned by that, and I hated Eddie for not being able to look beyond the looks and for falling in love with the “kind and gentle beauty.” *Sigh* It was totally unfair and I have a slight with Queenie, and Hank wasa bigger person for forgiving them and for allowing their love to blossom. I just wish that she had some recompense in return, you know. I liked it well enough the songs are annoyingly catchy,(although not as catchy as a Bollywood song)  and the dance numbers are supreme.  Furthermore it kind of reminds you of a lighter hearted Chicago. Although shit, Vilma Kelly had it right .. do the crime, do the time but get even. 

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