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.

Plot

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

Cast

Soundtrack

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".

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 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).

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 "You'll like this." 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.