Starring Grace Moore, Tulio Carminati, Lyle Talbot, and Mona Barrie
Directed by Victor Schertzinger
Music and Lyrics by various
This week, we dive into the rarefied world of opera and operetta and get to know two silver-screen divas in our weekday entries. Metropolitan opera and Broadway star Grace Moore originally entered films in 1930, but the two operettas she made for MGM were not successes. She went back to the Met, waiting for MGM to come up with the right vehicle for her. She was considered for the first sound version of The Merry Widow before the lead role went to Jeanette MacDonald. Columbia was just starting to push itself beyond B-films at this point and was shopping around for a big star to headline its musicals. How well does Moore's first Columbia movie come off today? Let's begin in New York City as Mary Barrett (Moore) sings for her family and find out...
The Story: Mary goes to Milan to study voice over her family's objections after she loses a radio contest. She gets a job at the Cafe Roma, where she first encounters voice coach Guilio Monteverdi (Carminati). He's so impressed, he takes her on as a student right there...provided she has no problems with him having total control over her life. Mary has no objections to this at first, especially after he helps her get over a nasty bout with stage fright at her first shows.
As the years pass and she becomes more popular, she grows tired of his constant need to dominate everything about her. After Lally (Barrie), one of Guilio's former students, flirts with him, Mary gets jealous, accepts a marriage proposal from her friend Bill Houston (Talbot), and refuses to sing that night. Giulio first threatens to replace her with Lally, then proposes to her. That gets her onstage, but she gets fed up again when he advises her against taking a role at New York's Metropolitan Opera. He claims she's not ready, but she's dreamed of playing the Met for years...and then Lally says she's still involved with Guilio...
The Song and Dance: Moore is the main reason to see this today. She has a remarkable naturalness about her for an opera diva, a kind of girl-next-door down-home persona under the diva's temperament. It makes you understand why her movies were so popular in the mid-30's, and why Columbia was willing to take a chance on her. They surround her with a decent production, including the big Carmen and Madama Butterfly segments and some decent gowns. Lyle Talbot is the only actor who comes close to her as the wisecracking millionaire who thinks Mary is just swell and wants to marry her.
The Numbers: We open with Moore trilling the title number for the radio contest she fails to win. She's joined by the folks from Cafe Roma for "The Sextet" from Lucia di Lammermoor. "Ciribiribin" is the vivacious solo at the cafe that convinces Guilio to take her on as his student. She's having so much fun, the cafe patrons eventually join in. We get two numbers from La Traviata at the show where she gets stage fright, "Sempre Libera" and "Ah! fors e lui." She and Guilio rehearse the old folk song "The Last Rose of Summer." The "Habernera" aria from Carmen is what finally gets her into the Met. She has less luck with the famous (and famously difficult) "Un Bel Di" solo from Madama Butterfly in the finale.
Trivia: First movie to win an Oscar for Best Score. Moore would also be nominated for Best Actress.
What I Don't Like: Pretty much everything else. The story is silly and boring. The rest of the cast doesn't get anywhere near Moore or Talbot, and Talbot doesn't really have that much to play. Carminati is so dull and plain that you can't understand why his two female pupils are fighting over him, and Barrie is more shrill than threatening. Other than that huge recreation of the Met that apparently took up most of the Columbia soundstage, the sets are even more boring, without a drop of Italian flavor other than some real Italian character actors.
The Big Finale: At press time, this is Grace Moore's only vehicle that can be easily found online, making it pretty much your only option if you're a fan of her or opera in general.
Home Media: As I said, this is currently Moore's only vehicle that can be found easily online. In fact, streaming is your best bet. None of her films are legitimately on DVD or Blu-Ray at press time.
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