Broadway

A 1929 American musical crime film directed by Paul Fejos from the 1926 play of the same name by George Abbott and Philip Dunning. Universal's first talking picture with Technicolor sequences, Broadway follows the backstage drama of a Paradise Nightclub choreographer Roy (Glenn Tryon) and his dancer girlfriend Billie Moore (Merna Kennedy), who try to avoid the criminal element running the club. Evelyn Brent plays Pearl, a woman tied to the nightclub's gangster owner. Director Fejos developed a special crane capable of moving the extremely cumbersome camera at 600 feet per minute, giving the film inventive camera work that contrasts sharply with the mostly static musicals of the 1928-30 period. The film was produced by Carl Laemmle Jr. and distributed by Universal Studios. The film is in the public domain.