jamericanbeauty Review of The Romance of Robert Burns

The Romance of Robert Burns (1937)

For all that. And all that. For all that and all that and all that.

[5/10 · 17 June 2022]

Technically perfect. Bad Script. Or was the execution the problem? I don't know. What I do know is The Romance of Robert Burns made me fall in, then out of love in under 20 minutes. It looks and sounds great. It's hard to believe this was produced in 1937. The production was impressive. I got lost in the small cottage-looking village in 18th Century Scotland and then in the medieval-looking castle town of Edinburgh. From what I remember about my studies in school, Robert Burns' poetry was blunt. And his poetry is creatively translated to romance his hometown love interest in one scene, while delivering sharp, witty, biting burns to put a room full of pompous, aristocratic Edinburgh natives in their place in another scene. For a film with romance in its title, there is none. Robert leaves his hometown love interest Jeanie to visit Edinburgh for a publishing opportunity. While in Edinburgh, he falls for a high-society hottie. It all falls apart because of his verbal and physical clash with her fancy family and friends. Robert is rejected, returns home dejected, suddenly gets energetic enough to break up Jeanie's wedding to some random dude we barely got to know. In a flash, Jeanie and Robert are set to wed. I'm serious. That's how it ends. Rushed, clumsy and anticlimactic. Why did Robert deserve pretty Jeanie? He left her for greener pastures, loved up a socialite babe and only returned and settled for Jeanie after he was thrown out of Edinburgh like a dog. I hope that's not how Robert and Jeanie's real-life love story played out!