Sweet Adeline (1934) User Reviews

Tuneful Jerome Kern classic

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 17 July 2004]

Sweet Adeline was presented on the Broadway stage back in 1929 and was primarily a vehicle for Helen Morgan. Morgan had just made a big hit in Kern's greatest musical, Showboat, in the supporting part of Julie LaVerne. She got such raves for that part that a whole show was built around her. I tend to think that she was deep into alcoholism at the time this was done and was not asked to do the film version. Sweet Adeline unfortunately during its run, ran headlong into the Great Depression and had to close.

Irene Dunne carries the film version here and does a remarkable job. She was one of the great Hollywood talents of her time with an exquisite soprano voice for films like these and a good sense of comedy for some of the non-musical parts she did. She performs the standards that Morgan introduced on Broadway as good as Morgan did. Sweet Adeline had two big hit numbers Why Was I Born and Don't Ever Leave Me which are two of the best Jerome Kern ever wrote. Otto Harbach wrote the lyrics.

Unfortunately and I think that this was because Sweet Adeline was a star vehicle for Helen Morgan when originally done, Ms. Dunne was not given a strong leading man. Donald Woods was a competent actor, with all the charisma of dishwater. His best known part in films was in A Tale of Two Cities where he played Charles Darnay where essentially all he had to do was look handsome and earnest. More was required here and Irene could have used Allan Jones who she did Showboat with or if you wanted a non-singer, Cary Grant, Melvyn Douglas, or Spencer Tracy all of whom she did some classic films with.

The rest of the cast was good. Louis Calhern played the villain in the best Snidely Whiplash tradition. His proposition to Irene that he was not interested in marriage to her, just in living together was generations ahead of its time. Ned Sparks and Hugh Herbert perform their usual parts in Warner Brothers musicals and there were some nice turns by Nydia Westman and Joseph Cawthorn as Dunne's sister and father respectively.

Mervyn LeRoy did succeed nicely in capturing the old fashioned flavor of life at the turn of the last century. If you're an Irene Dunne fan this is a must.

"Give it some heart"

[Steffi_P · 6/10 · 26 February 2012]

It seems that great creative teams, while occasionally able to produce something which is perfect on every level, are just as capable of producing something which is an overall mediocrity. Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein had their greatest hit with Showboat, a set of beautiful songs for a stirring adaptation of Edna Ferber's novel, which in 1936 would be turned into a sublime (but sadly neglected) movie. They followed it up with Sweet Adeline, based around a hackneyed love story and featuring no such memorable numbers. However it would be among the first of their collaborations to be brought to the screen.

Like so many classic musicals, Sweet Adeline is a nostalgic period piece set at the turn of the century. This wasn't really the sort of thing that Warner Brothers did, their game being more the world of pumping jazz and bare-legged chorus girls. It has to be said that even their lavish period sets have a slightly seedy look to them, like the rooms of some decadent aristocracy about to be carted off by the mob. Oddly enough though, Sweet Adeline is a "backstager", a show about putting on a show, which is what almost all the Warners musicals were. We even have Ned Sparks as a hatchet-faced impresario.

In the director's chair we have Warner Brothers stalwart Mervyn Leroy. You can see why producers liked him. No-one had much cash to spare in these dark days of the depression, film studios included, but Leroy was a master at making a picture look fuller and more elaborate than it really was. In those opening scenes at the beer garden, he creates quite a lot of shots where there's someone in the foreground, a handful of extras milling about at the back, and Irene Dunne somewhere in the middle. It makes the place look crowded when actually we've only seen a dozen or so people. And while Leroy doesn't have much rhythm in his style he does know how to capture the emotions of a song, giving us some lengthy close-ups of Irene as she sings, or scanning over the faces of a rapt audience.

Miss Dunne is one of the best things about Sweet Adeline. Not only a wonderful voice, but someone who could bring out the soul of a song. Donald Woods on the other hand is decidedly lacklustre, filling the role that normally would have gone to chirpy Dick Powell. Comedy supporting players like Ned Sparks and Hugh Herbert were normally there to add a bit of flavour to proceedings, but here it's more like they're filling the gaps in a rather empty movie. Sweet Adeline does have its moments. The final major dance routine is a passable take on both Ziegfeld and Busby Berkely (even though Warners had the real Busby Berkely at their disposal). It has far more troughs than peaks however, and too little variation. It's the kind of disappointing fare that even the strongest of teams give out from time to time.

Soaring songs, sputtering story

[rfkeser · 7/10 · 21 August 2000]

Chock full of sweet melodies by Jerome Kern, this lavish period musical takes Irene Dunne from Hoboken to Broadway, but in a tin-lizzie of a plot. Set in 1898, in a world of beer gardens and theatres, the film works up plenty of nostalgia -- with horseless carriages, Edison's new "pho-no-graph", and even an audition by "that Jolson kid" ["He'll never get anywhere"]--but self-consciously drops these references in like lead weights. Meanwhile, the screenwriter tries out a tiresome conflict of stage career vs. disapproving papa, then a wholly disposable spy subplot, and finally settles on a dull love triangle.

Irene Dunne supplies much-needed star authority to hold it together, but seems baffled that she has no plausible leading man - where is Cary Grant? -- and no plausible scenes to play. Still, she is a professional, and delivers a surprisingly affecting "Why Was I Born?" In return, she enjoys a knockout wardrobe in white organza and feathers from Orry-Kelly

But what pallid consorts she gets! The erstwhile leading man is Donald Woods, an estimable actor [memorable as Bette Davis' brother in WATCH ON THE RHINE], but here positively evaporating off the screen whenever a stronger personality shares the scene. His songwriter character, when allowed a frame to himself, comes off as callow and egotistical. In the third corner of this love triangle, Louis Calhern-moustachios a-twirl-- plays a military recruiter for Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders, but also fades into the scenery.

Luckily, the music keeps coming, one verging-on-operetta tune after another, staged with a clear Busby Berkeley influence. An amusing Sultan's palace number has a basso trying to sing through the chaos of rehearsal. There's a beer garden singalong of "Polka Dots"; a parade of hansom cabs for "Twas Not So Long Ago"; and hordes of dancers in chiffon enact "Lonely Feet". Appealing Irish tenor Phil Regan [why didn't HE play the lead?] joins Irene Dunne in a country bower filled with flowers, swans, twinkling stars and girls on daisy-swings in "We Were So Young". Finally, and imaginatively, a torn-up score is used for a charming ending with "Don't Ever Leave Me". [Yes, the title tune --not by Kern---is briefly sung.] Throughout, Sol Polito's camera tracks from pretty pastorals to hard-edged dance numbers, but always bathes Irene Dunne in flatteringly soft light for big juicy movie-star closeups.

The heroes behind the scene are the editors at Warners, chopaholics in the 1930's, who made every frame of film fight to stay in the picture. This produced razor-fast comedies [like FIVE STAR FINAL] and gangster operas [like BULLETS OR BALLOTS], while protecting the product from harried and unimaginative directors. [Indeed, when director Mervyn LeRoy moved to MGM, his films slowed to a lumbering pace]. Here, the editors relax for the leisurely musical numbers, but seize their scissors again every time the plot surfaces, winning our applause for speeding us through the creaky parts.

Wanted To Like It, But Couldn't; Too Dated

[ccthemovieman-1 · 4/10 · 28 May 2007]

I really wanted to like this film. It had personal sentiment for me as my mother's day was "Adeline" and I had high regard for Irene Dunne ever since I saw her star in "I Remember Maman."

Yet, despite that positive attitude going in, this wasn't something I'd watch again. It wasn't bad; just too dated and I didn't care for Irene's soprano voice. Yikes, that women hit high notes that rattled my fillings! At least she looked good: the most attractive I've seen her in her younger years. The film, though, as a whole, had a very dated appearance.

Billed as a musical romance, I was impressed with how much humor was in this movie. As for leading men, I knew Donald Woods from "A Tale Of Two Cities" but he never struck me as forceful enough to be a leading man. Louis Calhern, however, always was credible at the detestable villain, as he was here once again.

Reviewers here knock the script, but it was the songs that did nothing for me, not the screenplay. Had these songs been more appealing to me, I probably would have kept the VHS, if only for sentimental reasons.

Unremarkable but watchable

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 30 October 2016]

Irene Dunne and the songs by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein were the biggest two reasons for seeing 'Sweet Adeline' in the first place. Have also liked some of Mervyn Leroy's films, especially 'Waterloo Bridge' and 'Random Harvest'.

'Sweet Adeline' is certainly watchable, but at the same time it is unremarkable though with enough big merits. Dunne and the songs as well as being the two selling points are also the best things about the film. Dunne looks luminous with the camera clearly loving her, charms the socks off and sings like a nightingale, definitely a role that suits her to a tee. The songs by Kern and Hammerstein are so good that they are enough to redeem any film, regardless of overall quality, more than one notch, the highlights being "Why Was I Born?", "Don't Ever Leave Me" and "Here Am I".

Production values are very lavish, the production design is very pleasing on the eyes while 'Sweet Adeline' is beautifully shot and slickly edited. Of the rest of the cast, coming off best are a debonair but also sinister Louis Calhern and a zesty Wini Shaw. Ned Sparks is amusing too. The dancing and choreography is lively enough as well, and LeRoy makes the most of the production values and of how Dunne looks on film.

Letting 'Sweet Adeline' down in particular are the story and Donald Woods. The story is dull, thin and creaks badly, while also going well overboard on the winsome and cornball factors. The nostalgia is lovely however. Woods is so lifeless, wooden and charisma-free as the leading man here that he gets completely lost amidst everything else. The script also doesn't feel as funny or as emotionally investable as it ought, also sounding sketchy and awkward often.

The scenes with Sparks and Hugh Herbert also feel like filler that drag the film down. Sparks is amusing and some of his lines are good, but Herbert has always been an acquired taste and does try too hard for laughs that it really grates on the nerves. LeRoy's direction is very good from a stylistic standpoint but from a storytelling point of view it lacks momentum and just feels like his heart wasn't completely in it.

On the whole, very watchable but didn't have me jumping out of my chair with excitement or such. Dunne and the songs are the best things about it. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Should Have Become A Lost Film

[timothymcclenaghan · 1/10 · 26 December 2006]

The print recently shown on TCM was really bad. Of all the films that were lost due to deterioration of the film stock, this film should have been one of them.

With composers Gershwin, Porter and Rodgers & Hart providing Broadway with fresh, original material in the 1920s, the original 1929 stage production must have been hopelessly corny even if successful, and its transition to film doesn't improve the corn factor.

The one surviving song (and rightfully so), "Why Was I Born", is given to Dunne's character, and though she sings sweetly, it's a torch song more suited to later singers like Sarah Vaughn. It seems out of place in this story, since it's not used to advance the plot. The rest of the songs are just too dated and hokey for today's audience.

Warner Brothers rounds up veteran character actors—Ned Sparks, Hugh Herbert, and Joseph Cawthorn—and even they can't help this film. Better if Warners had assigned Busby Berkeley to choreograph and/or direct, because the dance numbers are a very weak imitation of Berkeley's style without the interesting camera angles.

Even hard-core Irene Dunne fans might find it hard to sit through this film.

The Belle of Hoboken

[lugonian · 7/10 · 23 December 2005]

SWEET ADELINE (Warner Brothers, 1934), directed by Mervyn LeRoy, released January 1935, continues the cycle of backstage musicals that began successfully with 42nd STREET (1933). Breaking away from the usual Depression-era backdrop, Warners obtained the rights to an earlier stage play starring Helen Morgan, shifted its story to the turn of the century, and acquired the music and lyrics not by the current team of Harry Warren and Al Dubin, but by the more legendary names of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein. However, in true Hollywood tradition, the screen adaptation strays away from the original adding material of its own.

Set during the Spanish-American war, circa 1898, the story, revolves around Adeline (Irene Dunne) a Hoboken barmaid and daughter of Oscar Schmidt (Joseph Cawthorn), a beer garden owner, who wants her to marry Major James Day (Louis Calhern), a man of title and wealth. However, Adeline loves Sid Barnett (Donald Woods), a struggling young composer who hopes to get his music published for an upcoming show for the Love Song Company. Barnett wants Adeline as his leading lady, but because her name isn't relatively known to attract an audience, he is forced to star Elysia (Winifred Shaw), a bad singer who happens to be a espionage spy. After the story shifts from Hoboken to New York City, Elysia, who loses the lead to Adeline, becomes resentful, coming between her and Sid, later making an attempt in having her meets with an "accident" during a performance.

The Music and Lyrics by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein include: "The Polka Dot" (sung by Dorothy Dare); "There'll Be a High Time in the Old Town Tonight" (sung by chorus in background); "Here Am I," "We Were So Young." "Why Was I Born?" (all sung by Irene Dunne); "Oriental Moon" (sung by the unbilled Noah Beery as the Sultan); "Molly O'Donahue" (Sung by Phil Regan); "Lonely Feet" (sung by Irene Dunne); "T'Was So Long Ago" (sung by Joseph Cawthorn, Irene Dunne, Phil Regan, Hugh Herbert and Nydia Westman); "Pretty Little Kitty Lee" (sung by trio); "Lonely Feet" (sung by Dunne/chorus); "We Were So Young" (sung by Regan and Dunne); "Down Where the Wurtzburger Flows" (sung by chorus); "Don't Ever Leave Me" and "Don't Ever Leave Me" (reprize, both sung by Dunne). Of the handful of tunes, only "Lonely Feet" and "We Were So Young" are given the production number treatment as choreographed by Bobby Connolly.

A backstage story with limited details of dress rehearsals, it's not precisely an exciting production, but does score points when it comes to nostalgia. Starring the sophisticated Irene Dunne, on loan from RKO Radio, it marked the beginning of her brief career in musical films. The others that followed: ROBERTA (RKO, 1935), benefited from the support of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers; while SHOW BOAT (Universal, 1936), succeeds as being the best due to its reputation. A gifted soprano as she was in dramatics and later comedy, Dunne adds dignity to a story much needed of a better script. Donald Woods, who is best as a secondary performer than a leading man, does what is necessary to bring life to his character; Winifred Shaw as the femme fatal, sports an unconvincing accent that's supposed to be Spanish, but sounds more like the French actress Fifi D'Orsay; Louis Calhern as the debonair major who comes between Sid and Adeline, who in turn uses him to make Sid jealous, becomes the show's backer in order to win her over; Nydia Westman supports as best Adeline's friend who's love interest happens to be the befuddled Rupert (Hugh Herbert); the cute and pert Dorothy Dare as a singing female bandleader who appears in the film's opening and closing, having no connection with the story, while Irish tenor Phil Regan vocalizes during the dress rehearsals.

SWEET ADELINE amounts itself with some doses of amusement, including some inside humor, ranging from a little boy auditioning who turns out to be that Jolson kid, Al that is, along with reliable character actors Hugh Herbert and Ned Sparks (as the show's director) in their funny moments with their one-liners: Sparks: "See that step. It's a very hard step to do." Herbert: "Why do they do it?" (Sparks' reaction to that answer is priceless. Watch for it). And then there's Herbert's attempt to fool people with his disguises, now that he is Operator 66 for the Department of Justice, and being recognized anyway, does provoke some good laughs as well.

SWEET ADELINE, distributed on video cassette around 1992, and currently out of print, formerly shown on Turner Network Television during its early days of broadcasting that began in 1988, can be seen on Turner Classic Movies, especially on December 20th, as a tribute to Irene Dunne's birthday. The movie may not be perfect, but being more like a nostalgic trip down melody lane makes this 87 minute operetta palatable. (***)

Antiquated Warner musical is short on charm...creaky is the word...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 8 October 2007]

Despite a competent cast of players and the Vitaphone Orchestra doing their best to give the music a turn-of-the-century beer garden sound, SWEET ADELINE does nothing to indicate that musicals would find favor with the public in a big way. The old-fashioned Broadway play has been fashioned into an old-fashioned early '30s musical with absolutely no distinction, either in the musical numbers themselves or the lackluster storyline. It's all strictly cornball and very, very hokey.

I'll leave a description of the story (which takes place in 1898) to others who have already given a detailed synopsis. Suffice it to say that only the most ardent fans of IRENE DUNNE would be willing to sit through this one patiently enough. She does get a chance to lift her voice in song a few times but the result is, to put it charitably, very modest, nor are the songs anything to cherish.

DONALD WOODS, a handsome actor usually confined to supporting roles, is the lead and relies on earnest glances at Dunne to carry his role. It's not enough. Some below par humor is supplied by Hugh Herbert and Ned Sparks.

Summing up: Stands alone as one of the least entertaining musicals of the '30s--bad script, dated material and forgettable songs.

Traveling back to the gay 90's.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 8 March 2013]

It's hard to determine if this is a good example of film operetta because they are usually much different than their stage productions, less stagy and melodramatic than their Broadway versions. This movie has several different element in its narrative, which sometimes makes it seem like its moving all over the place and sometimes out of place with the fast-moving Warner Brothers films of the mid 1930's. This is the story of a Newark barmaid who is cast in the lead of an early Broadway operetta, her romantic issues with the film's composer, and the vindictive (and massively untalented) singer who sabotages her opening night. In a sense, this seems to be a full-length version of the musical shorts that Warner Brothers was making at the time, some of them streamlined versions of their early talkie musicals. Irene Dunne is a charming actress, her singing voice perfect for the few movie musicals she did, coincidently all based upon Jerome Kern Broadway hits. She is definitely perfect for singing the show's best known sing, "Why Was I Born?", originated on Broadway by her movie "Show Boat" co-star Helen Morgan.

Torn between two men (Donald Woods and Louis Calhern), Dunne has no idea of the danger following her in the form of Winifred Shaw, unfortunately cast as one of the most vile spider women in film history. For this singer to sound so shrill (considering her participation in other Warner Brothers musicals of the mid 1930's), and be so sinister, she's like the character out of a silent movie. In smaller supporting parts, Ned Sparks, Hugh Herbert and Joseph Cawthorne are amusing, but underused. A hundred dancers got together for the movie's two big production numbers, choreographed by Bobby Connelly in the manner of Busby Berkley. At one point, the chorus girls seem to be floating in mid air. A minor subplot involving a spy ring is briefly brought into the story and seems out of place, as if some footage concerning this ended up on the cutting room floor.

This will never surpass the magnitude of "Roberta" or "Show Boat" for its composer and star, or the originality and influence of Warners' other musicals of this period, but in spite of its extremely dated material, it remains an interesting curio in the career of its leading lady with those opulent production numbers and that horrifying bit of needless revenge, a true curtain faller.

not so sweet adeline

[mossgrymk · 3/10 · 8 November 2022]

Since Irene Dunne is my favorite American screen actress of the first half of the twentieth century I have always told people that I would watch her in anything. Well, apparently I will also watch Ms. Dunne in nothing since that is the perfect description of this oh so lame musical, set during our nation's silliest war...a whole lotta nothing. Unless, of course, you count anonymously un melodious Kern/Hammerstein tunes sung way too operatically by Ms. Dunne and the surrounding of this most sublime of performers with a veritable assortment of dead wood (Louis Calhern, as always, excepted) called Woods (no pun intended), Shaw, Sparks, Cawthorn and Dare as something. Give it a D plus.

Sweet Adeline is Sweet Time with Ms .Irene!

[JLRMovieReviews · 8/10 · 6 April 2017]

Irene Dunne is "Sweet Adeline," who sings in a beer garden and has aspirations as a professional singer. Her father is opposed to Donald Woods, who write songs, as a suitor. Hugh Herbert plays an eccentric yet likable character (when did he not), who is trying to catch a spy, who is a famous singer. All this sounds admittedly simple-minded, undemanding and corny, but that's why I found it to be refreshing. Hugh Herbert's scenes with Nydia Westman, as Irene's sister, were very natural and were genuinely amusing/funny. Perhaps the highlights of the film are the outstanding songs written by Kern/Hammerstein, sung to perfection by Ms. Dunne. Despite the old feel of this film, I would watch this again, not expecting much except a good, easy-going time with Irene Dunne and company.

Irene Dunne and the music save it...

[moviejoe79 · 6/10 · 22 January 2014]

If not for her great voice and her usual charming performance, and of course Kern and Hammerstein's great music, this movie is total drivel. It's like Warner Bros. was trying to do 42nd Street or one of the Gold Diggers movies in an 1890's setting. And then they add stock players like Ned Sparks and Hugh Hubert who are both annoying as anything, playing the same dumb characters they do in every movie. Wini Shaw was good as usual, but it's annoying to see her singing and talking with a phony French accent. And Donald Woods was no great actor, he really couldn't hold his own next to Dunne. No wonder why he never made it big. The studio went all out on the sets and costumes though, which make the movie a little more enjoyable... It's just a shame that with such great music and production values and Irene Dunne as the star, that this movie didn't turn out better...

A rather strange musical....not bad...just strange.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 11 October 2022]

Adeline (Irene Dunne) is a bear garden singer when the story begins. Her boyfriend, Sid (Donald Woods), is an up and coming composer and thinks Adeline is destined for better things and he wants her to star in the show he's trying to sell. When she tries out, a rich guy (Louis Calhern) agrees to back the show...and everything seems grand. However, there are some troubles brewing. First, Adeline is spending a lot of time with this rich guy and Sid is unusually snappy towards her. Second, the woman who wanted the lead in the play ends up being a Spanish spy and extremely jealous!!! Huh?! How does all this work out? Just see the film...or not.

Irene Dunne's style of singing was very popular in the 1930s and into the 40s. Today, however, I think most folks would hate this style....and I must admit it's tough on the ears. Now this is NOT to say she wasn't an amazing actress....it's just her singing style isn't exactly popular any more. This combined with a few weird plot elements (the spy??), make it a film that might not appeal to a ton of viewers though it is a quality film and isn't bad if you like the singing.

By the way, in a tiny scene the rich guy shows Adeline the newest invention...the phonograph. Well, the writers weren't doing their homework as the machine had actually been invented over 20 years earlier.

Fascinating History Lesson in Cinematography and Production of an infrequently seen Irene Dunne Movie!

[movieed1 · 8/10 · 18 August 2019]

Oh my! Irene Dunne sings! We see a pre-code musical, beautiful set and costume design and a Burlesque Show based on the then "recent" 1890's within a movie! It is complete time travel! Can only imagine it in COLOR!! The musical gives you a real feel for how life in the "calm" lane may have been at those times. Sure it is saccharine and over the top. The story light and forgettable, but this time in the History of Cinema... an excellent early musical production. Visual effects are fun and stunning when one considers this production is in 1935! the HOURS the huge cast and production crew must have put in! The movie storyline may be simplistic by today's standards... but fantastic to think of how many persons creative ideas went into this production... and Irene... and supporting cast... don't disappoint.