I give this thumbs up for being a very entertaining movie, in fact a really good one. But it's as close to Broadway history 101 as George Arliss's film versions of the lives of Alexander Hamilton, Disraeli, Voltaire and Cardinal Richelieu. The shell around this film (and those) is somewhat faithful, but when it comes down to it, they are nothing but excuses for Arliss (and in this case Walter Connelly) to interfere in the lives of young lovers. Director Andrew L. Stone strives for old fashioned style operetta like romance and succeeds, but the parallels to "Show Boat" are obvious.
In the case of the lovers (Allan Jones and rising Broadway star Mary Martin), it makes sense for their love story to be surrounded by the music of Victor Herbert. They are indeed babes on Broadway, and for the grand old man of the operetta to be their fairy godfather is a nice touch. However, Connelly is totally supporting, his music (with various lyricist's) the star. Coming off the success of "Show Boat" (music by Herbert's protégé, Jerome Kern) and "The Firefly" (Herbert's "rival", Rudolph Friml the composer on that one), Allan Jones is handsome and romantic, if slightly bland. Mary Martin, on the other hand, a star to be, on stage, but unfortunately not on film. Their marriage strains as her career rises and his declines, an operatic version of "A Star is Born". Connelly is perfectly cast, lovable yet egotistical, and quite a character in his own right according to what I've read about the real Victor Herbert.
The film bookends itself with the attempts of an operetta newcomer (Susanna Foster) to get through an opening night, suddenly breaking down in tears. From there, it flashes back to years before, and shows how Martin sweetly intruded in on Jones' singing of "Ah Sweet Mystery of Life" and then got an introduction to Herbert through husband to be Jones. In this duet, it doesn't appear that it's Martin's voice (as she never sings a solo line in it), but it is obviously her when she breaks into "A Kiss in the Dark". This is as close as the originator of "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" ever got to classical music, as her few films over the next four years were quite different than this. The parallels to both "Show Boat" and "A Star is Born" become obvious as the film advances, with Judith Barrett around as an old flame of Jones's who is furious over his sudden romance with Martin. So while Martin may have only been a flash in the pan during her four years in Hollywood, what was the movie industry's loss was the musical theater's huge gain.
It's the music you will remember (to paraphrase the lyrics of a Sigmund Romberg song), and if you can get through Martin and Jones's duet of "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life" without thinking of "Young Frankenstein", I salute you. However, there's so much more, including "A Kiss in the Dark" and "I'm Falling in Love With Someone", not to mention the still performed "Babes in Toyland". Great photography and costumes complete the nostalgia of this look at the early days of legitimate Broadway, with a future Broadway queen rising up the ranks. It's interesting to note that 30 something years later, Stone remade "The Great Waltz" and filmed the old chestnut, "Song of Norway", and flopped miserably.
In the case of the lovers (Allan Jones and rising Broadway star Mary Martin), it makes sense for their love story to be surrounded by the music of Victor Herbert. They are indeed babes on Broadway, and for the grand old man of the operetta to be their fairy godfather is a nice touch. However, Connelly is totally supporting, his music (with various lyricist's) the star. Coming off the success of "Show Boat" (music by Herbert's protégé, Jerome Kern) and "The Firefly" (Herbert's "rival", Rudolph Friml the composer on that one), Allan Jones is handsome and romantic, if slightly bland. Mary Martin, on the other hand, a star to be, on stage, but unfortunately not on film. Their marriage strains as her career rises and his declines, an operatic version of "A Star is Born". Connelly is perfectly cast, lovable yet egotistical, and quite a character in his own right according to what I've read about the real Victor Herbert.
The film bookends itself with the attempts of an operetta newcomer (Susanna Foster) to get through an opening night, suddenly breaking down in tears. From there, it flashes back to years before, and shows how Martin sweetly intruded in on Jones' singing of "Ah Sweet Mystery of Life" and then got an introduction to Herbert through husband to be Jones. In this duet, it doesn't appear that it's Martin's voice (as she never sings a solo line in it), but it is obviously her when she breaks into "A Kiss in the Dark". This is as close as the originator of "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" ever got to classical music, as her few films over the next four years were quite different than this. The parallels to both "Show Boat" and "A Star is Born" become obvious as the film advances, with Judith Barrett around as an old flame of Jones's who is furious over his sudden romance with Martin. So while Martin may have only been a flash in the pan during her four years in Hollywood, what was the movie industry's loss was the musical theater's huge gain.
It's the music you will remember (to paraphrase the lyrics of a Sigmund Romberg song), and if you can get through Martin and Jones's duet of "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life" without thinking of "Young Frankenstein", I salute you. However, there's so much more, including "A Kiss in the Dark" and "I'm Falling in Love With Someone", not to mention the still performed "Babes in Toyland". Great photography and costumes complete the nostalgia of this look at the early days of legitimate Broadway, with a future Broadway queen rising up the ranks. It's interesting to note that 30 something years later, Stone remade "The Great Waltz" and filmed the old chestnut, "Song of Norway", and flopped miserably.