Starring Jeanette MacDonald, Allan Jones, Warren William, and Douglass Dumbrille
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard
Music and Lyrics by various
Our other movie diva of the 30's wouldn't star in live opera until late in her career...but her screen vehicles were vastly more entertaining. By the time MacDonald made her first solo vehicle at MGM in 1937 apart from Nelson Eddy, she was one of the top stars in the world. Hoping for a change of pace, she convinced studio head Louis B. Mayer to cast her in this action-oriented operetta and star Allan Jones, who had been a success in two Marx Brothers movies, opposite her. Was she right about that, or should this be left in a dungeon? Let's begin in Madrid, as the people of Spain eagerly welcome their king Ferdinand VII (Tom Rutherford) and his officers discuss the trouble they're having in the Peninsular War with France and England and find out...
The Story: Singer Nina Maria Azara (MacDonald) is really a spy for Ferdinand who gets information from the French soldiers who court her. She flirts with soldier Don Diego (Jones)...who is actually the French spy Captain Andre. He follows her to Vitoria, where he charms her with music and a pretend trip to Venice. For all his romantic notions, she still insists he wait for her in Madrid. Her real destination is Bayonne, where she awaits carrier pigeons carrying information on the meeting there between Ferdinand and Napoleon of France. Though she's able to avoid being caught spying, she's also devastated when the French Chief of Espionage (George Zucco) reveals Andre's real identity.
After Napoleon annexes the throne from Ferdinand, his assistant Rouchemont (William) finds her dancing among gypsies and entertaining French soldiers. She claims she was turned away by the Spanish, but Rouchemont finds papers in her jacket revealing a map for the French lines and a code. Not only does Nina still have one or two more tricks up her sleeve, but Andre hasn't forgotten her. Not even the Battle of Vitoria that finally broke the French military line can separate these lovers, and Nina will find her way back to Andre no matter what.
The Song and Dance: Now I wish MacDonald did more action movies. She does very well as the spy who is willing to seduce any man for her country, until she falls for Andre and has second thoughts. Her voice mostly sounds gorgeous in her numbers, especially when entertaining the troops, and her dancing is incredible - check out that last high kick during the gypsy number! As complicated as the story is, at least it's also pretty original. You're not going to run into too many other musicals revolving around spies falling for each other during the Napoleonic Wars. MGM's unstinting production includes hundreds of extras in the fight scenes and impressive empire-waisted sequined gowns and ruffled bonnets for MacDonald.
The Numbers: Our first numbers are "Danse Jeanette" and "Love Is Like a Firefly," which Nina performs for the French troops in a cafe. Don Diego is more interested in "A Woman's Kiss." "The Donkey Serenade" wound up being the hit of the film, and it gets the movie's best number, too. The driver and his son on Nina's stagecoach play the number, and Andre rides alongside, singing along. Nina tries not to show her interest, but she's genuinely amused. He sings "Giannina Mia" to Nina as they imagine what it would be like to stroll the canals in Venice. The saucy ballad "He Who Loves and Runs Away" is another number for Nina to sing before the French troops, this time including Rouchemont.
She admits to sharing "Sympathy" with Andre when she explains how her parents were killed by the Spanish. "When a Maid Comes a Knocking at Your Heart" is her song at Rochemont's chateau for his guests. We then get an "English March" performed by the chorus as the Spanish are forced to accept Napoleon as their king. Actual Spanish folk song "Capriccio Espagnol" provides the instrumental background for Nina's big dance routine with the gypsies, including that high kick. She admits "I Love You Don Diego" as he leaves for battle; "Para la Salud" covers the actual fighting. The movie ends with the lovers riding off into the dusty Spanish plains as they reprise "Giannina Mia" and "The Donkey Serenade."
Trivia: The Firefly debuted on Broadway in 1912 as a vehicle for Emma Trentini, a popular Italian opera singer of the time. It was the first operetta for composer Rudolf Friml, who would continue writing romantic operettas into the 1930's. The original version still occasionally turns up on opera and light opera stages, usually adding "The Donkey Serenade."
"The Donkey Serenade" was written by Bob Wright, Chet Forest, and Herbert Stothart, but it was based on the instrumental Friml composition "Chanson."
What I Don't Like: First of all, while I give credit to MGM for originality, the overlong and ridiculously complicated plot they came up with has nothing to do with the 1912 Firefly. The Broadway show revolved around an Italian street singer who passed herself off as a boy in order to follow the young man she has a crush on to Bermuda and eventually became an opera singer. The movie runs way too long at over two hours. The sequences with Nina at Rochemont's home especially drag and probably could have been trimmed.
Second, Allan Jones may have done well chasing the Marx Brothers around opera stages and the races, but he's at sea and out of his depth in an epic operetta. Other than "The Donkey Serenade" sequence, he lacks MacDonald's sparkle and looks completely out of place. Neither he nor MacDonald are terribly believable as Spanish and French spies during the early 1800's, either.
The Big Finale: Mainly for fans of MacDonald, Jones, or the lavish film operettas of the 1930's.
Home Media: Easily available on a remastered Warner Archives DVD and on streaming.
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