At first glance, The Broadway Melody seems to change gears completely from the war-time tragedy of Wings. This second Best Picture winner presents a story of two sisters, Hank and Queenie, pursuing glitz and glamour in a vibrant young Broadway culture. Apparently set at the same time as its filming, the late 1920s, The Broadway Melody stands at the pinnacle of one of Broadway’s most successful decades and looks down into the chasm of the unavoidable Great Depression of the 1930s, a time period that would see the closures of many Broadway theaters and the exodus of major Broadway talent, such as the Marx Brothers and Irving Berlin, to the up-and-coming Hollywood scene.

What we could focus on in this post is how Hank and Queenie, in one sense, represent the archetypal show-biz dream of how hard work combined with some fortunate connections and rare opportunities can lead to commercial success and the fulfillment of one’s dreams. Another critique of the film could emphasize its treatment of women, their exploitation and objectification at the hands of the men who make money off female exhibitionism in a type of twisted voyeurism. Notable instances in the movie of the value of women as money-making objects occur when a female dancer (in very, very short shorts) is dismissed because her “headache” is hindering her performance, as well as when another actress falls off a lofty column and is carried from the stage unconscious to be simply replaced by Queenie—with no concern that she will follow the doom of her predecessor. Furthermore, the predatory nature of the rich and powerful Jacques Warriner introduces yet a further threat to women’s independence, along with their dignity and self-respect.

Yet over and above the historical and feminist critiques that we could use in evaluating the meaning and significance of The Broadway Melody, in my opinion, the real worth of the film is found in the relationship between the two sisters. Obviously close, from the beginning Hank and Queenie seem more than siblings. Already business partners from their successful Mahoney Sisters act from somewhere out West, they chat like college roommates in their new lodgings in New York; but there is an undeniable mother/daughter-like dynamic between them as well. Hank repeatedly boasts first to Uncle Jed, their manager, and then to Eddie, her boyfriend, how much Queenie has grown and developed in recent years to become the most beautiful creature Hank can imagine. This mothering pride is not unaccompanied by constant concern for Queenie’s well-being, as well as the burden of responsibility for the sister act’s continued success (as well as the sisters’ financial stability) in the more competitive Broadway environment. For Queenie’s sake, Hank is determined that the Mahoney Sisters will be a Broadway smash.

The main struggle the movie presents, though, is not whether or not the Mahoney Sisters will become famous in New York. Instead, the conflict begins when Eddie, a song-writer/performer whose long-term relationship with Hank is supposedly headed to the altar (if Hank finally consents to become a wife), first lays eyes on the now-grown Queenie. Queenie is taller, blonder, and more demure than her sister; and Eddie is clearly love-struck in an instant. Hank, preoccupied with her drive to make her sister a success, initially fails to notice the connection between Eddie and Queenie, but Queenie feels something for Eddie as well, and later in the film both express their love for each other. Shockingly, rather than confess this love to Hank, Queenie’s solution to this sibling love triangle dilemma is to welcome the advances of Jacques Warriner, an influential Broadway tycoon whose aim is to make Queenie his mistress. Although Queenie initially displays distrust and dislike for Mr. Warriner, she permits him to woo her with flowers and jewelry and get her drunk at an elaborate birthday bash in her honor. It is only when Mr. Warriner buys Queenie an apartment and refuses to let her rejoin her house-warming party guests that Queenie must finally resist his blatant sexual advances (conspicuously and menacingly, the apartment’s large bed looms in the background of this struggle).

During Queenie’s fling with Warriner, Hank constantly urges her to reconsider her actions, always concerned with Queenie’s safety and virtue. To Hank, fame is not worth losing one’s values, nor is it necessary to compromise oneself in order to experience success in show business. Though Hank misinterprets Queenie’s actions as selfish and unreasonable, she never ceases to love her sister or to encourage her to do what is right. Like a typical mother, Hank believes that she both knows what is best for Queenie and can provide everything that Queenie wants and desires. But this is not true. What Queenie really desires is Eddie—a desire she refuses to act upon for love of her sister. In fact, both sisters’ longings deprive the other of her dreams; but for the sake of their love for each other, Hank and Queenie deny what they really want—in effect, still preventing themselves from truly finding their places in their new life.

When at last Hank realizes that her sister and her boyfriend are in love with each other, Hank, true to her character, takes action. Like Queenie’s exploits with Warriner, Hank’s actions are both dishonest and misleading—but stem from love. She loudly and viciously confronts Eddie in the sisters’ backstage dressing room, screaming at him that he is a coward because he loves Queenie and yet doesn’t dare to protect her from Warriner’s designs. Prior to this point in the film, this accusation could be true. Is Eddie afraid of Warriner, a morally deficient man who most certainly can influence the success or failure of Eddie’s career? Or, is Eddie’s fear of Hank and her reaction to his transference of his love to Queenie greater than his professed love for Queenie?

When Hank also vehemently declares that she doesn’t really love Eddie, the viewer knows for certain that everything Hank has said in this scene can be doubted. Her tears upon Eddie’s hasty exit and her holding the photos of Eddie and Queenie as she sobs reinforce the fact that her words and actions are self-sacrificing, as we know Queenie’s are as well. Hank does love Eddie—and Queenie. Queenie loves Eddie—and Hank. And, as the following scene shows, Eddie is brave enough to save Queenie from Warriner, though he gets pretty roughed up in the process.

In the end (spoiler alert!), everyone loves everyone; and apparently everyone finds his/her purpose. The viewer is led to believe that Eddie and Queenie’s marriage will be a success (although it is doubtful if Queenie will have her own career now that she is a wife) and that Hank is happy playing mother to her new show biz partner with whom she embarks on another performance stint out west.

For Me Then…

The paramount idea here is self-sacrifice, loving someone enough to deny oneself one’s own dreams and desires. In this way, The Broadway Melody shares something with Wings in which the character of David frequently denies his own feelings and wants to promote those of his friend Jack. While one couple in both movies finally finds romantic love, self-denying love is seen as more important, especially in the relationship of the sisters in The Broadway Melody. Perhaps Eddie and Queenie will be happy together, but I doubt whether their relationship will contain as much depth as the connection between Queenie and her sister shown at the movie’s beginning. It is also possible that Hank will find peace and success in the West with her new blond partner, but this novice companion is not the sister that Hank has raised and of whom she is so proud. Did Hank intend to raise her sister to marry her own boyfriend? Nope. She brought up Queenie for a partnership of equals, sisters whose act was not an act if one was missing. In this light, again, the viewer’s feelings at the close of the film are similar to those evoked by the end of Wings: unease and discontent. There is romantic love at the end of The Broadway Melody, but the impending separation of the Mahoney sisters (as siblings, not as an act) reemphasizes just how much more powerful is a love of selflessness.