NEW REGENT

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 747, 21 August 1929, Page 17

NEW REGENT

“THE BROADWAY MELODY” They dance—they sing. At last the lilting dance and song ensembles of the dyed-in-the-wool musical comedy come to the screen—but in a more brilliant and spectacular form than ever the stage was able to produce. “A musical comedy in royal robes’* is the new Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer alltalking, all-singing and all-dancing spectacle, “The Broadway Melody,” at the New Regent Theatre. With song numbers specially composed, dances and ballets specially designed in gorgeous settings, and famous dancers and entertainers from musical comedies and vaudeville doing their turn, such as the noted Biltmore Trio and Alice Weaver, danseuse, the new picture is a vivid potpourri of theatredom -in the greatest city in America. Nacio Herb Brown, composer of “The Doll Dance,” and Arthur Freed wrote the songs—“Broadw’ay Melody,” which everybody in town will be whistling, “The Wedding of the Painted Doll.” an all-colour stage spectacle, “The Love Boat,” “You Were Meant For Me” and other great numbers. Anita Page and Bessie Love appear as a sister act, and Charles King, Broadway musical star, is the hero. Jed Prouty, Kenneth Thomson, Edward Dillon, Mary Doran, Eddie Kane, Drew Demarest and other stage and screen favourites appear. Among the entertaining short talkie features are songs by W’illiam O’Neill, of Broadway fame, songs by “The Revellers,” the well-known gramophone quartet, items by George Lyons, a singing harpist, and humour by “Sunshine Sammy.” Arthur G. Frost plays a number of selections at the Wurlitzer organ.

Baclanova, Paramount’s Russian actress, was selected out of more than 100 entrants for the Moscow Theatre School. She recently completed a siren role in “The Man I Love,” in which Richard Arlep and Mary Brian are costarred.