The Great Lover (1931) User Reviews

Opera stars and their groupies

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 20 December 2016]

Back in those early days of sound all the studios bought up whatever they could in the way of scripts. The Great Lover had been a play produced on Broadway by George M. Cohan and Sam Harris back during World War I years, but as the background is opera you will not hear a note of Cohan's in the story.

As those early sound days also brought a glut of musical films MGM had Irene Dunne playing a young opera ingenue who falls under the spell of womanizing opera star Adolph Menjou. Menjou certainly has his share of opera groupies as we see in the film. But he falls for her and has a hand in bringing her career along just as his is going into decline. A little bit of Maytime is also present here.

More than just a few elements of the many versions of A Star Is Born are found in The Great Lover. Also here is Neil Hamilton a young opera singer also interested in Dunne and the great Olga Baclanova from the Russian Art Theater. Only Dunne needed no dubbing for her part.

An interesting old chestnut, I doubt we'll see a remake though.

A Simple But Classic Story Of Love

[atlasmb · 7/10 · 20 December 2016]

"The Great Lover" has been described by reviewers here as "an opera story" without much story. Although the film takes place in and around opera, I consider it to be about theater. As talkies took the place of silent films, it was natural for filmmakers to look to the stage for great stories. "The Great Lover" may not be a theater classic, but it has a classic story and is written as many of the great plays are--with s simple theme and writing that requires great actors to fill in the spaces between the lines with emotional subtlety. Aldolphe Menjou--as the womanizing opera star Jean Paurel--does a terrific job of conveying each emotional note of his role.

He is aided by Ernest Torrence, who plays Potter, his manservant. Torrence is a delightful actor with great range, whose career would be tragically cut short a few years later. His talents gave him success in both silent films and talkies.

The primary object of Paurel's affections is Diana (Irene Dunne). He woos her like every other woman, then finds she is more to him. Through his passions for her and music, he discovers another side to himself even as he recognizes his true nature.

Though described as a drama, "The Great Lover" feels more like a comedy to me, with elements of many of the basic comedy forms.

While it is not a great film, I thoroughly enjoyed the direction and acting required to make its characters understandable and engaging.

A Movie Truly Built Around Opera

[Handlinghandel · 5/10 · 21 August 2005]

This isn't very good but it's OK. And can anyone imagine a movie for general release, today, centered on the world of opera? With arias included? Adolph Menjou is the title character. He is a notorious ladies' man -- like the character in the opera being performed: "Don Giovanni." He and Irene Dunne meet cute: In his stateroom on a ship, he tosses off the first line of "La ci darem la mano." And she responds.

They misplace each other, they meet up again, she gets him to wrangle an audition for her. His understudy is an old beau of hers but she wants a career and he doesn't want her to work. So -- She gets to play Donna Elvira in her Met debut. Maybe I got this wrong, but it seems that in that role she again sings "La ci darem la mano" -- which is somebody else's duet.

We hear Gounod and Wagner. Olga Baclanova is jealous and tries to sabotage the whole thing -- little knowing what lay a couple years ahead in "Freaks." It creaks but it's intriguing. Oh, and much as I love Irene Dunne: a Mozart soprano she was not.

The Great Lover review

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 8 May 2020]

Adolphe Menjou convinces as neither a great lover nor a great singer (his operatic singing voice is clearly dubbed) in this so-so pre-code romantic comedy. A young Irene Dunne fares only slightly better as a young songstress willing to prostitute herself with him in order to gain a foothold on the ladder to success, much to bland ex-boyfriend Neil Hamilton's great distress. Ernest Torrence is a highlight as Menjou's manservant, who identifies so closely with his boss that he refers to him as 'we'.

Creaky with age...

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 16 May 2011]

This is a very, very dated film--clichéd and not particularly interesting. I know this sounds very harsh, but I have seen thousands of films from Hollywood's classic era and know quality when I see it. Now I am not saying the film is without merit--Irene Dunne is quite good as aside from the silly dubbing of his singing voice, Adolph Menjou is very nice with his thick Italian accent. And, in the tertiary role, Neil Hamilton is lovely in his pre-Batman days. But the script is just dreadful and, if you don't like opera, the film is very tough going.

The film begins with Irene Dunne catching the attention of a world famous opera star (Adolph Menjou). He invites her to try out for him but is shocked when she is extremely good. Dunne assumes that he will help her--if she puts out for him. But, though definitely a playboy, Menjou is a good guy and his motives are pure. And, soon he's fallen in love with her and vows to make her famous. What he doesn't know is that Dunne has hooked up with an old boyfriend (Neil Hamilton) and they are in love. However, when Menjou later pours his heart out to Dunne, she feels such devotion and appreciation for his efforts to make her a star that she agrees to marry Menjou. Naturally, by the end, Menjou learns the truth and takes it like a man.

Lots of opera as well as a formulaic story that is VERY predictable. Even some nice performances aren't enough to make this one worth the considerable effort it took to watch it to the end!

Pretty bad

[richard-1787 · 2/10 · 17 November 2017]

I watched this movie because I'm very interested in opera, and in seeing how opera has been portrayed in film. I also enjoy a lot of Irene Dunne's movies.

I was suspicious, though, when I saw that Adolphe Menjou was the romantic lead. He's fine in supporting roles, and even in non- romantic leads. He was, after all, nominated for a leading-man Oscar that same year for his role in *The Front Page*. But I have never been able to see how any woman could have found him even remotely attractive sexually, even back in 1923 when he starred in Chaplin's *A Woman of Paris*.

In this 1931 feature he was 41 years old, and looked every bit of it. That is not to suggest that men 41 and even much older cannot look sexually attractive. We have lots of examples to prove the contrary.

Nor does the age difference between Menjou and Dunne - only 8 years, though it appears greater - bother me. I had no problems with Audrey Hepburn appearing with male leads considerably older than she at the beginning of her career, such as Cary Grant (25 years older) in *Charade*, Gary Cooper (28 years older) in *Love in the Afternoon*, or even Fred Astaire (30 years older) in *Funny Face*.

But, to me, Menjou as a romantic lead looks slimy. It was impossible for me to believe that he had attractive women chasing after him, which he does in this movie. And if you can't buy that, the movie pretty much falls apart, as you can imagine with the title *The Great Lover*.

Dunne is fine as the not-too-scrupulous American soprano who, just back from two years of study in Italy, is hoping to break into opera in New York City and is willing to play with Menjou's expectations in the hope of landing an audition. We get to hear her sing a little, but not nearly enough to make it worth sitting through this picture. A shame. She had a good voice, and it would have been nice to hear what she could have done with some lyric soprano pieces.

The rest of the cast consists of the standard clichés about (Italian) opera singers, conductors, etc. They are all self-centered divas. Nothing new or interesting there.

We get very little in the way of staged opera. No production numbers such as Jeanette MacDonald or Grace Moore got in some of their pictures.

In sum, there really isn't anything here to justify sitting through even the short 71 minute run-time of this picture.

This movie is based on a play that ran 245 performances on Broadway in 1915-16 and then was revived in 1932. There must have been something more to it than this movie suggests, but I can't guess what.

I'm an opera fan, and this didn't appeal to me

[blanche-2 · 5/10 · 4 August 2015]

One of the posters on this board described this as something for opera fans, and another said it was "built around opera."

"The Great Lover" stars Adolphe Menjou as Jean Paurel,an operatic baritone who loves women. Diana Page (Irene Dunne) idolizes him and wants to study with him, and he takes her on, with the objective of taking advantage of her. Meanwhile, another baritone is in love with her (Neil Hamilton, who became the commissioner on the TV show Batman), and she is resisting him.

Paurel finds himself falling for this young woman and becoming engaged to her. When Paurel loses his voice one night, his understudy is Diane's ex-boyfriend. What will happen? Does Diane truly love Paurel, or is she just bewitched by what he can do for her?

This isn't much of a story, obviously, and as far as opera, if you're going to do it, do it right because the fans of opera aren't going to like it.

Dunne had a very pretty voice, but being trained in the old school, she has a quick vibrato and backs off the high notes. She sings part of La ci darem la mano from Don Giovanni, part of Je veux vivre from Romeo & Juliet, and part of Una Voce Poco Fa from Barbiere di Siviglia. The Je veux vivre was stopped before the showy part as if it was the end of the aria. All the baritone knew was the phrase "La ci darem la mano" - and that's it. To top it off, it is announced that she will be playing Donna Elvira, but when she makes her Metropolitan Opera debut, it is in -- guess - Don Giovanni in the role of Zerlina, which instead of the third female lead, is now the lead, and she bows with Menjou. Forget Donna Anna and Donna Elvira, I guess they were with the chorus somewhere.

With such a slight story and such unsatisfying opera, I didn't care for it.

Simply delightful obscure film

[chank46 · 10/10 · 20 December 2005]

What a delightful movie! For anyone interested in how opera was perceived in the 30's ,this is a must. I heartily urge a DVD release. Adolphe Menjou is superb as the womanizing real life Don GIovanni who finally succumbs to cupids arrow. What a class act. His portrayal is full of ribald humor and sensitivity. Irene Dunne is also superb as the naive young ingénue who will take the opera by storm. There is a host of wonderful supporting players who add to the sparkle of this movie. This is admittedly a very dated film but therein lies the charm. An era of the opera AND cinema is recreated beautifully. This movie will appeal not only to opera fans but also nostalgia buffs. It gives us a sense of operatic and film history. Terrific!

Adolphe Menjou in the title role of this average drama featuring Irene Dunne

[jacobs-greenwood · 5/10 · 4 December 2016]

Directed by Harry Beaumont, this average drama stars Adolphe Menjou in the title role as an Italian opera star and infamous lover who "discovers" an American opera student, played by Irene Dunne, on his return cruise from Italy.

Jean Paurel (Menjou), renowned as much for his womanizing as his Don Giovanni, meets the attractive Diana Page (Dunne), asking him for lunch at the opera house the next day without realizing it was her voice that captivated him as their ship docked. Paurel's dependable manservant is played humorously by Ernest Torrence; it's this relationship, the scenes between these two, which keeps this film from being a washout.

Once at the opera house, Diana runs into an old friend from back home in Buffalo, Carl Jones (Neil Hamilton) now going by Carlos Jonino as he too is trying to make it in this difficult singing profession. A love triangle ensues, with the much older star competing with the younger Carlos for Diana's affections while one of Paurel's former lovers Savarova (Olga Baclanova), also an opera singer gets the door. Cliff Edwards and Hale Hamilton play the opera house's managers who must deal with the eccentric performers which also includes Herman Bing, playing a German who's upset by his co- star's (Elsa Janssen's character) barking Spitz dog. Roscoe Ates appears briefly as a stuttering photographer on the ship.

Though the film initially begins with Paurel typically "courting" Diana for his bed, an incident at his apartment occurs when Savarova comes to call which scares him, causing him to reject the inexperienced wannabe, and causing her to leave hurriedly. Upon further reflection, while reminded of his age, he falls in love with her innocent desire to learn his craft from him. Meanwhile, Diana has "returned" to Carl, who wants her to give up her dream and be his wife.

However, when they're out on a date, Paurel catches up with them and whisks Diana off her feet to join his party which includes the aforementioned opera house managers and eccentric stars. There, with Paurel's accompaniment on the piano, she performs so splendidly that Paurel insists to the managers that Diana replace Savarova (who had left, after Diana's singing), opposite him in Don Giovanni. When they balk at the idea, he claims "I created Savarova for Romeo & Juliet in just as short a time period". The two get engaged.

Their first performance's 1st act goes well. Between acts, Paurel gives Diana his good luck charm. She returns to her dressing room where she caught kissing Carlos by an overjoyed Savarova, who runs to tell Paurel. Paurel gets upset enough to yell at his former lover, enough to damage his already ailing throat. He cannot continue, so Carlos replaces him and both the youngsters receive rave reviews.

Briefly, Carlos clings to the thought that he and Diana will be together, and will travel to Italy, until, faced with reality and seeing the love Diana has in her eyes for Carlos, he makes a noble sacrifice and allows her to stay and perform in the opera house manager's next production with Carlos.

Would-be racy pre-code opera film chickens out about halfway

[RickeyMooney · 5/10 · 5 August 2021]

Of some interest to opera lovers. Irene Dunne shows off her real-life operatic talents which I'm unqualified to judge. Herman Bing, brother of opera impresario Rudolf Bing, plays a comic Wagnerian tenor and sings a little. Some comic bits about typically temperamental opera stars.

Plot revolves around a romantic triangle with Menjou as an aging opera star in New York, Hamilton as his understudy, and Dunne trying to break into the business. Turns out Dunne and Hamilton had a warm but chaste relationship while studying in Europe.

IMHO this started out to be a bit racier than your average opera flick but the studio got cold feet. Early on, Dunn seeks Menjou's mentorship and possibly more. People keep warning her about his reputation as a womanizer and she keeps saying she doesn't care, she'll do anything to get ahead even though, in the language of the day, she's maintained her "purity." Then this thread disappears and it becomes a tepid battle for her hand in matrimony between the two male leads.

Cliff Edwards has a Lee Tracy type role as a fast-talking PR man that fades away without connecting with the plot too much. Ernest Torrence plays Menjou's manservant as an effeminate sort whose only interest in life seems to be arranging and spying on his employer's love life. Kind of creepy.

Pre-code Irene.

[gkeith_1 · 10/10 · 21 December 2016]

Pre-code Irene in this 1931 potboiler has her offering to stay full time on the casting couch of male opera star Jean Paurel, portrayed by Adolphe Menjou.

More pre-code: Paurel offering to have relationship(s) with married woman, while he was always single.

His costuming and demeanor/bearing reminded me of Enrico Caruso, with the large fur collars and Homburg hats. His other demeanor/profile reminded me of John Barrymore.

Paurel looked great in the opera outfit; so did his understudy in the very same costume.

Irene was an innocent-appearing wannabe opera star, and was determined to have Menjou be her stairway to success, even though he was a creepy old ham. Meanwhile, there was the meddling Russian singer who first despised Irene then later accepted her into Menjou/Paurel's life.

In early pre-code, I was looking for the sleazy and slimy. Menjou had quite a bevy/harem of wannabe Mrs. Paurels. He was old enough to be their father or grandfather.

Like Irene's old boyfriend told her, "I'm young. He's old." Spoiler. Irene picks him over Paurel.

Paurel does next? He goes straight back to the married woman.

In post-code, look at Irene's later work. Innocent young ingénue in 1936 Show Boat, for example, where she plays light and airy. She also excelled in comedies in the later time period.

So Tacky It's Funny

[jbhiller · 8/10 · 21 February 2021]

Every cliche in the book. I even heard a character say, "Come up and see my etchings."

In this early talkie the actors still think they are in the silent era. Adolph Menjou is horribly miscast as a latin lover.

The singing is only passable.