Starring Rise Stevens, Eddie Albert, Akim Tarmiroff, and Earl Wrightson
Directed by Max Liebman
Music by Oscar Strauss; Lyrics by Stansilaus Stange and Carolyn Leigh
We're going to stay in the 50's this week, but move into a completely different medium and genre. Operetta, the most fanciful and rarefied of musical genres, made a comeback in the 50's, both on the big and small screens. Musicals were getting grander, wider, louder, and suddenly, operettas, with their lavish stories and huge voices singing of passionate romance, didn't look quite as out of place. Several operas and operettas were adapted for television in the 50's as the new medium sought classier material that would elevate the masses. The Chocolate Solder had originally been a big MGM musical with Stevens in 1941, but that version wasn't able to use the original plot. How does this operetta look when it comes closer to the original source material, George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man? Let's begin in "the public square, in any middle-sized country, in the middle of Europe" and find out...
The Story: Nadina (Stevens), the daughter of Mayor Ludvick (Tamrioff), is engaged to Alexis (Wrightson), a handsome soldier in the army. She dreams of his return, but gets quite a shock when a man claiming to be an enemy soldier (Albert) climbs in her window. He's really Bumeril, a Swiss mercenary who would rather be eating chocolate than fighting. She has to hide him from Alexis and her father when they come upstairs, then leads him into the wine cellar. He does manage to evade the drunk soldiers who come looking for him and escape.
Shortly after, Mayor Ludvick holds a ball to announce Nadina and Alexis' wedding. Nadina is dismayed to discover Alexis is boastful and obnoxious, hardly the valiant solider she imagined. Meanwhile, Bumeril has returned in a more lavish uniform, impersonating a general whom Ludvick is trying to impress. After he's caught and accused of spying, Nadina comes to his defense at a trial. It looks like all may be lost, until the country really goes to war, and Bumeril's blundering inadvertently turns him into the hero of Nadina's dreams.
The Song and Dance: This ended up being really adorable, especially for an operetta. Albert in particular is having a blast as the mercenary who'd rather make cocoa, not war. His strutting around during the ball with that enormous plumed helmet is hilarious. Tamirkoff has almost as much fun playing Nadina's blustering father, and Stevens is a funny and knowing Nadina. We have a relatively lavish production for TV too, with gorgeous bustled gowns and pretty European peasant dresses for the ladies and uniforms dripping with braid and brass for the men.
The Numbers: We open with the soldiers' arrival and the peasants in the square announcing "Here We Come." The soldiers give us our first of two large-scale chorus numbers as they show off their abilities for the ladies. Nadina sings of "Our Happy Wedding Day" and "My Hero" as she imagines her marriage to Alexis. Bumeril laments that Nadina refuses to give him any "Sympathy" after he turns up in her room. Alexis and the soldiers "Seek the Spy," but end up getting drunk while looking for him.
The second half opens with the dancers in the ballroom, waltzing to a glittering instrumental number. Nadina sings "Melodrama" as she admits she's not quite so fond of Alexis as she had been. Wrightson, Tamirkoff, and the chorus boast about "Alexis the Hero" back at the ball. Bumeril sings about "A Quiet Voice" as he waltzes with Nadina, even as she tries to get him to leave. Her response is to remind him that he's little more than a coward and not her fiancee in the title song. This is directly followed by a ballet with Bambi Lynn as Nadina and Rod Alexander as Bumeril, replaying the first act as they dance Bumreril's escape from the soldiers.
Alexis sings his own praises, to Nadina's amusement, as he claims "Never Was There Such a Lover." She performs "The Letter Song" as she composes a letter to Bumeril, turning him away. It and "My Hero" are heard again in the court room, when Nadina finally confesses her feelings about her not-so-valiant "Chocolate Soldier." Most of the country just declares "Thank the Lord the War Is Over." It ends with everyone reprising "My Hero" after Bumeril's blundering is revealed to have won the war.
What I Don't Like: This is very much TV in 1955. First of all, the original musical has been considerably simplified. There was a originally a subplot involving Bumeril taking the Mayor's coat filled with pictures from all the ladies of the town, including Nadina's, that isn't included here. Second, although the dancing is lovely, the waltz at the ball and the Lynn/Alexander ballet sequence are completely extraneous. Neither really move the plot along and are more there to show off the dancing and costumes and Lynn and Alexander than the story. There's also the dark, grainy copy on the VAI DVD, but as with other TV musicals of this vintage, we're lucky to have this at all. Most of these musical specials were filmed live, and many remain lost.
The Big Finale: This is a charming, frothy chocolate treat if you're a fan of Albert, Stevens, or vintage operetta and can get past the limitations of early television.
Home Media: It's on DVD, but like all of the VAI titles, it can be expensive. You're better off looking for this one used or on YouTube.
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