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Lord Byron of Broadway

Lord Byron of Broadway
Lord Byron of Broadway FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Harry Beaumont
William Nigh
Written by Nell Martin (novel)
Crane Wilbur
Starring Charles Kaley
Ethelind Terry
Marion Shilling
Clifton Edwards
Music by Songs::
Nacio Herb Brown (music)
Arthur Freed (lyrics)
Cinematography Henry Sharp
Edited by Anne Bauchens
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
February 28, 1930 (1930-02-28)
Running time
66 or 77 minutes (sources differ)
Country United States
Language English

Lord Byron of Broadway (1930), also known as What Price Melody?, is an American Pre-Code musical drama film, directed by Harry Beaumont and William Nigh. 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 with two-color Technicolor sequences.

Charles Kaley recorded two of the songs for Brunswick Records (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 and Lewis James recorded vocal versions of "A Bundle of Love Letters" while Frank Munn recorded "Should I".

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 and Bessie Love. However, as they both had mediocre singing voices, they were replaced by Charles Kaley, star of Earl Carroll's Vanities and Ethelind Terry, star of Florenz Ziegfeld'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 (1933) and Roast Beef and Movies (1934).

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 "You'll like this."


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