The Broken Melody

Disappointing to see this film receive so many poor reviews. Don't forget it was made not long after talkies became a reality, so technically its not really going to excite you with innovations or receive any accolades. However the acting and the emotional drama sparkles through. Admittedly, the Devil's Island section is wholly morose and casts a shadow on the movie's brisk pace, but generally it excels in cliff hanging surprises (for that Hollywood period anyway). The songs are nostalgic and typical of the period, so you'll enjoy them if you are familiar with the music of the period. Merle Oberon is a stunning beauty as usual and makes this film well worth watching if for no other reason.

Although she's only third billed here Merle Oberon is the main reason to see The Broken Melody. She plays the faithful girl friend of composer John Garrick who gets himself in quite a jackpot.

Garrick lives at the boardinghouse run by Oberon's father and both work singing and serving at a cheap Paris cafe. One night musical star Margot Grahame drops in and sees Garrick as her latest boy toy. Before you know it they're wed and she's given birth to their son.

She tires of him quickly after a musical he wrote flops and shows him the way out. He responds by killing her paramour which wins him a trip to Devil's Island.

The whole melodrama is told in flashback by Austin Trevor who thinks he recognizes Garrick on stage while Trevor is at the theater. What happens is for you to watch the movie for.

Garrick sings well, I assume Oberon and Grahame are dubbed. But he truly is stiff. Tyrone Power would have been great in the role.

The ending? Watch the John Garfield classic They Made Me A Criminal for a hint.

When I was about twelve years old, I saw "The Broken Melody" on TV and I thought it was absolutely wonderful. It was very romantic and had some really lovely music. From that day onwards I looked forward to seeing it again.

For years I looked in the TV listings but it never came up. And then, the other day, it occurred to me that there might be a DVD available. So I looked on Amazon . . . and there was! I was so thrilled. I sent off for it and it arrived quite quickly. I sat down to watch it . . . and quite quickly realised why it had never been shown again on TV. It must be one of the worst movies ever made!!! It's not so much romantic as melodramatic. The music is nothing special. The acting is criminal - it's set in France so there's one character with an accent so thick you could cut it with a knife, one or two with slight accents and the hero and heroine have 'cut glass' 'fratefully frateful' accents.

The story is ludicrous and the ending so sentimental that I could hardly bring myself to watch. But it's left me wondering how a relatively bright twelve year old (ie me!) could have thought it such a wonderful movie!

John Garrick looks far too beefy to be a poor struggling young composer starving in a garret turned inmate of Devil's Island, and Merle Oberon far too chic as wifey pining while he dallies with high maintenance blonde diva Margot Grahame (at one point almost spilling out of a low-cut slip at one point which doubtless accounts for the eight minutes cut on reissue) in this incredible melodrama which starts as 'Waltzes from Vienna' then turns into 'Papillon'; made when Dreyfus was still alive.

With Julius Hagen's production values in the adroit hands of director Bernard Vorhaus it remains very watchable for it's brief running time in which an awful lot happens; further padded out by being unnecessarily narrated in flashback.

Paul (John Garrick) and Germaine (Merle Oberon) are young friends, working to make ends meet. Germaine works in a cafe while Paul struggles to make it as a composer. Germaine encourages Paul to write popular music instead, assuring him that it will make him more money than serious classical compositions. In her heart she wants him to succeed because she is in love with him, but he's too engrossed in his music to notice.

Germaine's advice proves fruitful when Paul plays his music at the cafe, and is noticed by Simone St. Clair, a famous stage actress (Margot Grahame) who is dining there. Margot takes him under wing and they quickly develop a relationship, much to Germaine's disappointment. After many ups and downs, Paul begins to question whether his life has really unfolded in the way he wanted it. Revisiting his old stomping ground brings Germaine back into his life. The emotional last few scenes bring the story to its bittersweet end.

This is a fine film, with interesting characters and high quality acting. It's not one of Oberon's strongest performances, but enjoyable nonetheless and a must-see for Oberon fans. Neither John Garrick or Margot Grahame went on to very impressive things, but it was just the tip of the iceberg for Merle Oberon, who went on to many fantastic projects such as "Wuthering Heights", " These Three" and "The Divorce of Lady X".