This was not planned as MGM's initial foray into talking pictures. That distinction was earmarked for a film version of the popular stage musical "The Five O'Clock Girl," which was co-produced by MGM and William Randolph Hearst as a vehicle for Marion Davies. But Davies had never spoken on film, let alone sung and danced, and the sound-on-disc technology was not yet perfected. The resulting footage led to a fatal clash of wills between the studio and Hearst, who shelved the film in 1928, thus leading MGM to put its weight behind The Broadway Melody (1929). Ironically, Charles King was brought to MGM from New York expressly to partner Davies in The Five O'Clock Girl (1928), and he was immediately transferred over to The Broadway Melody (1929) once the Davies vehicle was aborted.