''Lord Byron of Broadway'' (1930), also known as ''What Price Melody?'', is an American

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

musical drama film, directed by

Harry Beaumont Harry Beaumont (10 February 1888 – 22 December 1966) was an American film director, actor, and screenwriter. He worked for a variety of production companies including 20th Century Fox, Fox, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, Goldwyn, Metro Picture ...

and

William Nigh William Nigh (October 12, 1881 – November 27, 1955) was an American film director, writer, and actor. His film work sometimes lists him as either "Will Nigh" or "William Nye". Biography Nigh was born Emil Kreuske''Silent Film Necrology'', ...

. It was based on a best selling book by Nell Martin, which "was widely praised by critics as an extremely true and amusing romance of stage life." It was filmed in

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

with two-color

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

sequences.

Plot

Starting and ending relationships gives a composer (Charles Kaley) ideas for songs, until he meets and marries a woman

Marion Shilling Marion Helen Schilling (December 3, 1910 – November 6, 2004) was an American stage and film actress. She was one of the most famous " B" leading ladies of the 1930s. Biography Marion Helen Schilling was born in Denver, Colorado in 1910. He ...

Cast

*Charles Kaley as Roy Erskine *

Ethelind Terry Ethelind Terry (14 August 1899 – 17 March 1984) was an American stage and film actress. Career Terry starred in one of the most famous Broadway shows of the 1920s, the musical '' Rio Rita'' produced by Florenz Ziegfeld. She also starre ...

as Ardis Trevelyn *

as Nancy Clover *

Cliff Edwards Clifton Avon "Cliff" Edwards (June 14, 1895 – July 17, 1971), nicknamed "Ukulele Ike", was an American singer, musician and actor. He enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standar ...

as Joe Lundeen *

Gwen Lee Gwen Lee (born Gwendolyn Lepinski; November 12, 1904 – August 20, 1961) was an American stage and film actress. Lee began her career as a model before being discovered and signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She was typically cast in supporting ...

as Bessie ("Bess") *

Benny Rubin Benny Rubin (February 2, 1899 – July 15, 1986) was an American comedian and film actor. Born in Boston, Rubin made more than 200 radio, film and television appearances over a span of 50 years. Career In 1929, Rubin went to Hollywood, where he ...

as Phil *

Jack Byron Vice Admiral (Royal Navy), Vice-Admiral John Byron (8 November 1723 – 1 April 1786) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer. He earned the nickname "Foul-Weather Jack" in the press because of his frequent encounters with bad weather at s ...

as Mr. Millaire (as John Byron) *

Gino Corrado Gino Corrado (born Gino Liserani; 9 February 1893 – 23 December 1982) was an Italian-born film actor."Obituaries." ''Variety'' (Archive: 1905-2000); Los Angeles. Vol. 309, Iss. 10, (Jan 5, 1983): 78-79. Via Proquest. He appeared in more ...

as Riccardi *

Iris Adrian Iris Adrian Hostetter (May 29, 1912 – September 17, 1994) was an American stage, film actress and dancer. Life and career Adrian was an only child, born in Los Angeles, California, to Florence (née Van Every) and Adrian Earl Hostetter, who ...

(uncredited) *

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...

(uncredited) *

Ann Dvorak Ann Dvorak (born Anna McKim; August 2, 1911 – December 10, 1979) was an American stage and film actress. Asked how to pronounce her adopted surname, she told ''The Literary Digest'' in 1936: "My fake name is properly pronounced ''vor'shack ...

(uncredited)

Soundtrack

Charles Kaley recorded two of the songs for

Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History From 1916 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing produ ...

(Record Number 4718). These songs were "Should I" and "A Bundle of Love Letters". Both of these songs proved to be major song hits in late 1929 and early 1930 and were recorded by numerous artists. For example,

James Melton James Melton (January 2, 1904 – April 21, 1961), a popular singer in the 1920s and early 1930s, later began a career as an operatic singer when tenor voices went out of style in popular music around 1932–35. His singing talent was similar to ...

and Lewis James recorded vocal versions of "A Bundle of Love Letters" while Frank Munn recorded "Should I". * "A Bundle of Love Letters" ::(1930) ::Music by Nacio Herb Brown ::Lyrics Arthur Freed ::Played on piano by Marion Shilling and sung by Charles Kaley ::Played on piano by Marion Shilling and sung by Cliff Edwards and Charles Kaley in a vaudeville show * "

The Japanese Sandman "The Japanese Sandman" is a song from 1920, composed by Richard A. Whiting and with lyrics by Raymond B. Egan. The song was first popularized in vaudeville by Nora Bayes, and then sold millions of copies as the B-side for Paul Whiteman's song ...

" ::(1920) ::Music Richard A. Whiting ::Lyrics by Ray Egan ::Sung by Cliff Edwards in his vaudeville show * "The Doll Dance" ::Music by Nacio Herb Brown ::Lyrics Arthur Freed ::Danced to by Rita Flynn and Hazel Craven in a vaudeville show * "Blue Daughter of Heaven" ::(1930) ::Music by Dimitri Tiomkin ::Lyrics by Ray Egan ::Sung offscreen by James Burroughs and danced to by Albertina Rasch Ballet\ * "Should I?" ::(1930) ::Music by Nacio Herb Brown ::Lyrics Arthur Freed ::Sung by Charles Kaley at a nightclub ::Reprised by Ethelind Terry at a recording studio ::Played at the end * "The Woman in the Shoe" ::(1930) ::Music by Nacio Herb Brown ::Lyrics Arthur Freed ::Sung by Ethelind Terry, an offscreen male singer and the chorus in a show ::Danced to by the chorus ::Reprised by male trio * "Old Pal, Why Did You Leave Me?" ::(1930) ::Music by Nacio Herb Brown ::Lyrics Arthur Freed ::Played on piano and sung by Charles Kaley and Benny Rubin * "Only Love Is Real" ::(1930) ::Music by Nacio Herb Brown ::Lyrics Arthur Freed ::Played on piano by Marion Shilling on radio and sung by an unidentified male singer ::Reprised by Ethelind Terry on radio * "You're the Bride and I'm the Groom" ::(1930) ::Music by Nacio Herb Brown ::Lyrics Arthur Freed ::Played on piano and sung by Charles Kaley * "Love Ain't Nothin' But the Blues" ::(1930) ::(From "Chasing Rainbows (1930)") ::Music by Louis Alter ::Lyrics by Joe Goodwin ::Played instrumentally

Production

In 1928, MGM announced it was going to turn the novel ''Lord Byron of Broadway'' by Nell Martin into a musical starring stars

William Haines Charles William Haines (January 2, 1900 – December 26, 1973) was an American actor and interior designer. Haines was discovered by a talent scout and signed with Goldwyn Pictures in 1922. His career gained momentum when he received favo ...

and

Bessie Love Bessie Love (born Juanita Horton; September 10, 1898April 26, 1986) was an American-British actress who achieved prominence playing innocent, young girls and wholesome leading ladies in silent and early sound films. Her acting career spanned ei ...

. However, as they both had mediocre singing voices, they were replaced by Charles Kaley, star of ''

Earl Carroll's Vanities ''The Earl Carroll Vanities'' was a Broadway revue that Earl Carroll presented in the 1920s and early 1930s. Carroll and his show were sometimes controversial. Distinguishing qualities In 1923, the ''Vanities'' joined the ranks of New York� ...

'' and

, star of

Florenz Ziegfeld Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. (; March 21, 1867 – July 22, 1932) was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1907–1931), inspired by the ''Folies Bergère'' of Paris. He also p ...

's '' Rio Rita''. At that time, Kaley and Terry were well-known stage stars. MGM used the "Woman in the Shoe" musical segment in two short films, ''

Nertsery Rhymes ''Nertsery Rhymes'' is a 1933 American Pre-Code musical comedy short film starring Ted Healy and His Stooges, released on July 6, 1933 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is the first of five short films the comedy team made for the studio. Plot The Sto ...

'' (1933) and ''

Roast Beef and Movies ''Roast-Beef and Movies'' is a short subject starring George Givot, Curly Howard (billed as "Jerry Howard"), Bobby Callahan, and the Albertina Rasch Dancers, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) on February 10, 1934. The music is by Dimitri T ...

'' (1934).

Critical response

The expensive film received mixed reviews, mainly due to the lackluster direction of William Nigh and Harry Beaumont. Its Technicolor sequences and musical score, however, were universally praised. "The story's strong enough to be festooned with Technicolored girls, ballets, songs and effects without breaking down," said ''

Photoplay ''Photoplay'' was one of the first American film (another name for ''photoplay'') fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded '' Motion Picture Story,'' a magazine also directed at fans. For mo ...

'' "You'll like this."Kreuger, Miles ed. The Movie Musical from Vitaphone to 42nd Street as Reported in a Great Fan Magazine (New York: Dover Publications) pg. 162; Sheet music sales and sales of phonograph records with songs from the film were brisk. "Should I" and "A Bundle of Old Love Letters" proved to be among the most popular song hits of the year 1930.

References

;Notes

External links

* *
Lord Byron of Broadway
' at Allmovie *
Lord Byron of Broadway
' at TCM *
Lord Byron of Broadway
' review by

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

*
Lord Byron of Broadway
' at Answers.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Lord Byron Of Broadway 1930 films 1930s musical drama films 1930 romantic drama films 1930s color films American musical drama films American romantic drama films American romantic musical films Films based on American novels Films based on romance novels Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films directed by Harry Beaumont Films directed by William Nigh 1930s romantic musical films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films