Editing The Broadway Melody (section)

===Contemporary===
[[File:Broadway Melody Ad.jpg|thumb|Ad for the film as seen in most magazine publications of the time.]]
''The Broadway Melody'' was a substantial success and made a profit of $1.6 million for MGM.<ref name="Mannix" /> It was the top grossing picture of 1929 and won the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Wierzbicki|first=James|title=Film Music: A History|year=2008|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-203-88447-8|page=116}}</ref>

Contemporary reviews from critics were generally positive. ''Variety'' wrote that it "has everything a silent picture should have outside of its dialog. A basic story with some sense to it, action, excellent direction, laughs, a tear, a couple of great performances and plenty of sex."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Silverman |first=Sid |date=February 13, 1929 |title=Broadway Melody |url=https://variety.com/1929/film/reviews/broadway-melody-1200410242/ |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |location=New York |publisher=Variety, Inc. |page=13 |access-date=December 10, 2014 }}</ref> "Has everything", agreed ''[[Film Daily]]''. "Sure-fire moneymaker that will drag 'em in everywhere."<ref>{{cite magazine |date=February 17, 1929 |title=Broadway Melody |magazine=[[Film Daily]] |location=New York |page=10 }}</ref>

"This picture is great. It will revolutionize the talkies", wrote Edwin Schallert for ''[[Motion Picture News]]''. "The direction is an amazing indication of what can be done in the new medium."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Schallert |first=Edwin |date=February 9, 1929 |title=First Report on 'Broadway Melody' |magazine=[[Motion Picture News]] |page=433 }}</ref>

[[Mordaunt Hall]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote a mixed review, calling it "rather cleverly directed" but "somewhat obvious", with sentiment "served out too generously in most of the sequences." Hall called King's performance "vigorous", but of Page, he wrote, "Her acting, especially her voice, does not enhance her personality. Notwithstanding, it must be admitted that there are girls who talk as they are made to for the screen. Miss Page, however, fails to give one an impression of spontaneity, for she recites rather than speaks her lines."<ref name=NYT>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/movies/bestpictures/melody-re.html |title=Review: "The Broadway Melody" |last=Hall |first=Mordaunt |author-link=Mordaunt Hall |date=February 9, 1929 |website=[[The New York Times]] }}</ref>

[[John Mosher (writer)|John Mosher]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' wrote, "The stage background allows opportunity for one or two musical interpolations, and no one is more glad than we that the talkies charmingly succeed in a very pleasant ballet. Because of that, we shall try to forget the dialogue of the play, and that James Gleason ever wanted to take any credit for it."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Mosher |first=John |author-link=John Mosher (writer) |date=February 16, 1929 |title=The Current Cinema |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |page=83}}</ref>
[[File:The-Broadway-Melody-Technicolor-Frame.png|thumb|Extant color frame of the lost color sequence 'Wedding of the Painted Doll']]