Une nuit d'amour

Even though this shimmering musical from the long ago year of l934 might seem like an antique to some, One Night of Love has a magical quality to it. I watch it regularly, along with the l914 The Cheat and the 1941 nice Girl! with Deanna Durbin. These muscials are all amazingly fresh and exuberent. Grace Moore portrays American Mary who goes to Italy to become a great Opera Star. She falls under the management of arrogant, impossible but charismatic Tulio Carminetti. Great musical excerpts from Carmen, Madame Butterfly, help move this movie into the classics. Filmed at tiny Columbia Studios, this is a masterpiece. The intimate, beautifully decorated and photographed sets enhances the story. Grace Moore is adorable. Earthy, striking, talented. She reportedly played the prima donna during the filming, slamming doors, breaking windows, stalking off the sets when things did not go her way. Audiences back then actually stood and cheered and screamed "Bravo!" after the big operatic numbers. And what do we have today? "Big Mama's House" and "Tom Cats."

Unlike MGM's favorite soprano, JEANETTE MacDONALD, other singers from the Met tried screen careers at various times in the '30s, but none emerged winning enough as screen personalities to rival Jeanette. Columbia tried hard with GRACE MOORE and this is undoubtedly one of her better efforts at attaining screen stardom. TULLIO CARMINATI is amusingly persistent as her demanding voice coach who discovers her singing "Ciribiribin" in a cellar cafe before offering to become her tutor. LYLE TALBOT is her boyfriend with marriage on his mind. But the silly script has Miss Moore acting like a spoiled prima donna, cavorting with boyfriend Talbot while supposedly training for her big moment as "Carmen". A series of misunderstandings involving another woman, MONA BARRIE (strongly resembling Kay Francis), makes up much of the backstage part of the story and only weakens the overall film. Moore is fine whenever she's singing but the lip synch is way off during the final "Un Bel Di" and it's hard to see where her performance earned her an Oscar nomination for the acting part of her role. Summing up: A disappointment for me, regardless of glowing tributes from the other commentators on this particular film.

'One Night of Love' is not Grace Moore's first film. It's actually her third, but it is here where she properly emerged as a movie star, having made acclaimed appearances on the musical theatre and operatic stages from a decade previously.

Whereas in 'Jenny Lind' (or 'A Lady's Morals') and 'New Moon' she had bigger name stars like Wallace Beery and Lawrence Tibbett (much more of a fan of the latter though, can take or leave Beery as an actor whereas Tibbett was, and still is, an operatic giant as well as a remarkably vivid actor) alongside her, and more leading lady status than the "star". Here however, she is the star in the first of five films she made with Columbia (her previous two films being with MGM), and it is one of her better, a contender for the best even, collaborations with the studio.

There is not much to complain about here, at least to me. Then again it is highly dependent on whether it is your sort of film. The start of the film is not as clever or as exuberant as the rest, setting the tone for a very typical, clichéd want-of-stardom/back-stage drama film. There are also parts where lip-synching is sloppy, particularly in "Un Bel Di Vedremo". However, there is so much to recommend about 'One Night of Love'. The story easily could have been contrived, paper thin and overly-typical with the numerous misunderstandings in danger of over-complicating the drama, but while there is not much originality it is executed with such light-footed aplomb and exuberance and the misunderstandings so wittily written that what could have been a huge problem was not problem.

Not only that, but as a singer myself it was easy to relate to Moore's character Mary's goals and trials and there is so much truth to what is shown in the film (the wants to make something out of what you love and the trials involved as well as the rewards), which also has a very autobiographical and personal feel. The opera world is not glamorised or trivialised like it could have been, it is shown as rewarding and glitzy but it is also shown that what seems so idyllic on stage and on record is not so idealistically glamorous, it's hugely competitive and often stressful.

Visually, 'One Night of Love' is a lavish-looking film, beautifully shot and designed with sheer elegance and class. The music, done during a period where opera was used extensively in film to make it more accessible to a wider audience, is magnificent, not just the timeless operatic standards such as "Habanera" from 'Carmen', "Sempre Libera" for 'La Traviata', the sextet from 'Lucia Di Lammermoor' and "Un Bel Di Vedremo" from 'Madama Butterfly' but also the title song and "Ciriciribin". The writing sparkles from bubbles on top of a champagne glass, and Schertzinger's direction is a marvel. Narratively, highlights are the scene with the musical instruments playing and Mary starts to sing as a result and the triumphant and moving finale (a character overcoming the odds is not new territory but still it's very well done here).

Moore dazzles as Mary and it is easy to see how she was made a movie star (sadly though a short-lived one on film, and in real life), her singing is wonderful -if a little over-parted in "Sempre Libera", which didn't strike me as the sort of aria that seemed completely right for her voice- and she is an expertly comedienne too. Tullio Carminatti is also ideally cast, bringing wry humour and charm, while Jessie Ralph is particularly excellent in support.

All in all, notable for making a movie star out of Grace Moore in her third film (though first time as star rather than leading lady) but also a vastly entertaining and well-made film in its own right. 8/10 Bethany Cox

After losing a radio contest, operatic singer Grace Moore (as Mary Barrett) decides to go to Italy and perfect her craft. Already quite impressive, she uses her vocal skills to win friends and influence the rent-collecting landlady. Working at a café, Ms. Moore meets singing maestro Tullio Carminati (as Giulio Monteverdi) and agrees to become his pupil. They move in together but agree not to have sex. "Business and love do not mix," asserts Mr. Carminati, who relinquished himself of attractive Mona Barrie (as Lally) when she wanted to make love...

The rejected woman re-enters the picture and handsome Lyle Talbot (as Bill Houston) is also around. He would like to marry Moore. All of this fluff is meant to showcase Moore, who acquits herself well after some less than blockbuster films for MGM. Moore received an "Oscar" nomination for her starring role. The "Academy" and "New York Times" also lauded co-star Carminati and director Victor Schertzinger. Moore's closing number is a highlight.

***** One Night of Love (9/5/34) Victor Schertzinger ~ Grace Moore, Tullio Carminati, Lyle Talbot, Mona Barrie

More dated than Columbia's other big hit of 1934, IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, this influential musical still seems light and bright because it never takes itself too seriously. Its success revealed the public's unsuspected hunger for opera, or more accurately, pretty snippets from operas. This certainly gave MGM ideas about how to showcase Jeanette MacDonald, and started a stampede to corral star sopranos [Lily Pons], budding divas [Deanna Durbin], and operatic guest stars [even Kirsten Flagstad sings in BIG BROADCAST OF 1938].

At the time, Grace Moore got all the attention, as much for her shapely figure and for stepping down from her Metropolitan Opera pedestal as for her actual performance. Playing a soprano who spends her savings to study with a famous maestro in Italy, the 33 year-old Moore seems a bit of a late starter, but bounces around with lots of vivacity. Singing the title song and the inevitable "Ciri-Biri-Bin", she mostly avoids the pearls-before-swine tone of opera singers when they stoop to popular song, although she still sashays [especially as Carmen] and waves her arms too much for modern tastes.

Many decades later, it is clear that much of the charm was supplied by Tullio Carminati, an appealing comic actor with a wry quality, something like an Italian Walter Matthau. As Moore's mentor/romantic interest, he has a kind of offhand sophistication and the expert timing to support Moore's occasionally shaky line readings [of course, she's the one who got the Oscar nomination].

Director Victor Schertzinger soft-pedals the high culture, and manages several Lubitsch/Mamoulian moments: one amusing conceit has a building full of musicians all practicing different instruments in discord, until Moore unites the tunes with her impromptu rendition of "Sempre Libre" from LA TRAVIATA. Another enjoyable sequence presents singing a quartet from LUCIA as a strategy to avoid paying the rent. When the plot enters the tiresome misunderstandings phase, Schertzinger keeps the pace going until the finale, a staging of a scene from MADAME BUTTERFLY.

Throughout, Joseph Walker, Columbia's maestro of camerawork, softly lights Moore to utmost advantage, and even gets in a couple of zoom shots [in 1934!]