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Two sisters (Anita Page and Bessie Love) are vaudeville performers trying to break into Broadway -- and when they get their chance, love gets in the way. Soon enough a love quadrangle has formed, as class struggles and a variety of misunderstandings rear their heads.
The staid plot and threadbare song and dance routines are bouyed by two outstanding performances by Page and Love. A number of supporting performances in the film are also worthwhile. The film -- one of the first musicals ever -- was a massive hit in its day, and Warner Brothers would make three sequels of the film over the next 11 years, each following a nearly identical plot line. (Out of ideas, they're all called The Broadway Melody of 19XX, whatever year it happened to be.)
Today it's mainly a curiosity for film buffs who want to see how musicals erupted in the early days of the talkie.
