In the thirties Gaumont British became involved in multi lingual versions of films,often originating from Germany.They could use some of the scenes from the original for the English version.Velvet is lumbered with a leading man who can sing but can't speak English very well.So we get a lot of him singing and to fill in the gaps we are subjected to the over the top antics of Donnie Hale.An actor who needed a strong directors hand,which was not forthcoming here.Difficult to understand how films with opera were ever popular fare.
3 Reviews
Kiepura!
petershelleyau3 November 2001
This British musical directed by Maurice Elvey was made to showcase the Polish tenor Jan Kiepura, but one gathers that Mr Kiepura wasn't too fluent in English - he only utters short phrases - so Elvey has overbalanced the proceedings with comic relief, particularly in giving the singer a male few slapstick secretary (Sonnie Hale). Since the titles credit "additional comedy scenes" to someone else, one gets the impression that Elvey is the one who focused on Kiepura, which may have been a mistake since all the singing scenes, bar one, are static with a worrying tendency for cutaways to a rapturous audience. One could interpret this as a concession to the audience, to spare them either the sight of an immobile Kiepura or prolonged exposure to operatic arias, but why cast a singer and then not let us see him sing? The exception to this is when Kiepura reprises one of his two operetta pieces for comic effect and sings to Hale - My Song for You becomes I'd do the same for you - followed by a little dance between the two of them. The surprise here is that in spite of Hale's overt campiness, there isn't a suggestion of homoeroticism, perhaps because Kiepura's preference is never in question. His apparent agreeable nature, underlined by his willingness to appear bare chested in 2 scenes, would probably not preclude such an idea, but his manner has more to do with the obvious joy he experiences singing, and his playing an Italian. The invisible orchestra is a period given, but Elvey's having Kiepura clamber over a boat or drawing caricatures as he sings pieces that require great breath control is perhaps sillier than the still camera. There are 3 set piece concerts - one where Kiepura literally stops traffic, though this has a narrative payoff; another in an unusual choice of indoor swimming pool, with the singer performing from the high dive; and Kiepura doing a The Graduate interruption to a wedding with Ava Maria, though here nobody seems to object. The film is inexplicably set in Vienna, though everyone speaks english and no-one appears to be dubbed, and has a rather nasty set of contrivances where a romance develops from manipulation. Poor Kiepura is used for his connections by Aileen Marson, to further the career of her boyfriend. Whether intentional or not, Elvey introduces Marson as unlikeable in the way she dismisses the advances of another suitor, even when he is later revealed to be a philanderer. (He is so gay-acting that this is laughable). In a scene where Marson is trapped in the chorus of a rehearsal of AIDA Elvey overplays his hand, and it's hard to believe that Marson's irritability and humiliation is what makes Kiepura fall in love with her. Marson actually resembles Jean Harlow, though not even Jean was so abused by her wardrobe, and she plays a scene of parental deception with Harlow's childlike behaviour. This plot point has a resonant development, when Kiepura finds himself with a sleeping Marson on a date, and we wonder what he will do. The screenplay actually has a pleasing narrative flow, with pieces coming together cleverly, and Hale even gets a dig at the musical format with a comment to Kiepura after a romantic rejection - "Try and sing that off". There are also nice editing cuts from Marson's boyfriend's hands playing the piano to Marson's hands wringing her dress, and Hale being pushed into a pool to Hale deliberately swimming in one.
Forget about all other movies! Put this one at the top of your list!
JohnHowardReid14 February 2018
Warning: Spoilers
No doubt about it, Carmine Gallone is not just a polished all-rounder who can direct comedy with a Lubitsch touch, drama with the force of a Ford and romance with the passion of Borzage, he is simply the greatest director of musical subjects ever! His mastery of crowds, his dizzyingly imaginative camera angles and sweeping compositions are here joined to an engagingly amusing little romantic comedy of an opera company down on its luck in Monte Carlo and an appealing romance between the lead tenor and a charming stowaway. Fluff certainly, but winning entertainment all the way. And when it comes to the musical interludes, Gallone elevates them to prime status by directing with all stops out, each capping the other in expense and artistry.
Actually, dazzling as the climax is, with its vast evening-dressed crowds milling around truly enormous sets and its inspired cross-cutting between the two performances of Tosca, the sequence I prefer is the staggering Monte Carlo Casino episode in which the camera glides through packed salons as our tenor, keeping attendants at bay with a pair of stage pistols, magnificently launches into Puccini. Truly, one of the all-time great moments in cinema history!
Under Gallone's inspired direction, just about every member of the cast gives a joyous performance. It's hard to resist Sonnie Hale, comically exaggerated though his portrait certainly is, as he continuously plunges from heights of happiness to depths of despair, but always bouncing back. We admire his resilience, his gusto. As for our little heroine, she's a real charmer, and was never more appealingly photographed. M. Kiepura is an obvious egotist, but with a voice like his, who will blame him for an excess of energy?
Two delightfully contrasted portraits are offered by Hugh Wakefield as an absentminded Don Juan and Ernest Thesiger as his undertaker-like secretary. We enjoyed Johnny Singer's opinionated page boy too, and Marie Lohr in her brief bit as a knowing modiste.
In addition to his talented players, Gallone also has the support of a raft of creative technicians. The film editing is especially innovative with its climactic cross-cutting, its ingeniously clever shipboard wipes, its flash cuts (worthy of Hitchcock) in the razor episode, and its seamless insertion of footage from the other versions. The photography also so skilfully disguises the use of foreign shots, they are absolutely impossible to detect. Original audiences must have been absolutely floored by the seeming limitless expense of this exceptionally lavish production.
OTHER VIEWS: Jan Kiepura, the distinguished Polish tenor, helps the new British musical film at the Roxy to become a melodious delight. A light comedy of considerable charm and humor in its own right, My Heart Is Calling generously allows M. Kiepura to punctuate the entertainment at frequent intervals with classic arias out of Italian opera and captivating modern love songs. By reason of excellent mechanical reproduction the richness, power and beauty of his voice pour from the screen in a brilliant flood of song. - Andre Sennwald in "The New York Times".
Under Gallone's inspired direction, just about every member of the cast gives a joyous performance. It's hard to resist Sonnie Hale, comically exaggerated though his portrait certainly is, as he continuously plunges from heights of happiness to depths of despair, but always bouncing back. We admire his resilience, his gusto. As for our little heroine, she's a real charmer, and was never more appealingly photographed. M. Kiepura is an obvious egotist, but with a voice like his, who will blame him for an excess of energy?
Two delightfully contrasted portraits are offered by Hugh Wakefield as an absentminded Don Juan and Ernest Thesiger as his undertaker-like secretary. We enjoyed Johnny Singer's opinionated page boy too, and Marie Lohr in her brief bit as a knowing modiste.
In addition to his talented players, Gallone also has the support of a raft of creative technicians. The film editing is especially innovative with its climactic cross-cutting, its ingeniously clever shipboard wipes, its flash cuts (worthy of Hitchcock) in the razor episode, and its seamless insertion of footage from the other versions. The photography also so skilfully disguises the use of foreign shots, they are absolutely impossible to detect. Original audiences must have been absolutely floored by the seeming limitless expense of this exceptionally lavish production.
OTHER VIEWS: Jan Kiepura, the distinguished Polish tenor, helps the new British musical film at the Roxy to become a melodious delight. A light comedy of considerable charm and humor in its own right, My Heart Is Calling generously allows M. Kiepura to punctuate the entertainment at frequent intervals with classic arias out of Italian opera and captivating modern love songs. By reason of excellent mechanical reproduction the richness, power and beauty of his voice pour from the screen in a brilliant flood of song. - Andre Sennwald in "The New York Times".
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