I was extremely hesitant to watching this movie. Not because it was a musical, but because it was 1928. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the it quality. Don't get me wrong the black and white footage, was graining and the sound not as crisp as today's standards, but the story was interesting and acting was believable.
The story centered around the Mahoney sisters , Hank (Bessie Love) and Queenie (Anita Page) trying to make their break on Broadway. This made me wonder if Maurine Dallas Watkins was influenced at all by this movie when she wrote the original play version of Chicago.
Hank, the older sister is engaged to a broadway star, who happens to be in love with Queenie, the prettier younger sister. I know what you are thinking; seems like a classic Hollywood story line. Only it is not a cliche here, because this is an old Hollywood movie.
The settings and stage sequences were exceptional, very large and impressive. My one complaint would be regarding to the big musical number, "The Wedding of the Painted Doll". This was originally filmed in technicolor, but was replaced in black and white for the movie. I would have been really interested in seeing some color thrown into the movie. Some would argue, that "throwing" in one scene of color would be distracting, and I understand this areguement.
If you are like classic movies, and have not seen this one, I highly recommend it.
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