So This Is Love

This seems to be fairly accurate as a biopic. certainly, the sequence where Grace Moore's vocal trauma was dealt with appeared to follow the events and treatment described in You're Only Human Once, Moore's autobiography.

1953 was a year in which two American singers starred in filmed tributes to stars of earlier times: Patrice Munsel played the title role in the British production of Melba, and Kathryn Grayson made a convincing and entertaining Grace Moore for Warners.

So This Is Love is a film that many people may find enjoyable, and seems to have been a worthy attempt by both the star and the studio to pay their sincere respects to Grace Moore, herself an outstanding figure in stage and film work. Hopefully it may soon be available on DVD or whatever the new formats may be.

Before I began watching "So This is Love", I read through the IMDB reviews. One struck me when it essentially said that the way they portrayed Grace Moore made her difficult to like. Well, I did some reading and after realizing much of the film is rather fictional (no surprise given when it was made), Ms. Moore as played by Kathryn Grayson is actually reasonably close to the real thing when it comes to behaving like a diva. She was, apparently, rather difficult to like and was abrasive and was known for her foul language. So, at least in this sense, I think the movie actually makes Moore seem pretty good.

So am I saying it's a good biopic about the opera star, Grace Moore? Not especially. I saw two big problems. First, the film only goes up to Moore's successful performance at the Met in the early 1920s. She didn't die until well over two decades later and we learn nothing about this part of her life . Second, the film sure seemed like a showcase for Grayson than a biopic. It was chocked full of musical numbers and a few dance numbers...when instead the film should have concentrated more on letting us know who Moore was.

Overall, this is a slick looking film chock full of Grayson production numbers. On this level, it works if you like that sort of thing. But its shallow treatment of Moore makes you wish a really good biopic could be made about her and her up and down career.

I saw this film many years ago and would love to see it again. I also wish it were available in DVD. It is the true story of Grace Moore, who was born in Tennessee in 1898. She was a singer of Broadway musicals, an opera star, and a lovely lady Florenz Ziegfeld described as "the most beautiful woman in the world." Tragically, Miss Moore was killed in a plane crash in Copenhagen, Denmark, in January 1947. Also on board was a member of the Danish royal family. In the nearly six decades after her death, Miss Moore's talent lives on in the recordings of her music.

I hope this film will be appreciated by today's young people and that they will learn valuable lessons from it.

SO THIS IS LOVE is said to be based on a biography of singer Grace Moore, but it only touches on her early life and determination to become an opera singer, up until her New York City debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in "La Boheme." Before it reaches that point, it gives KATHRYN GRAYSON a chance to sing a variety of songs in coloratura style, but since the story does not cover Miss Moore's Hollywood career at all, many of her most well-known songs had to be omitted. Instead, we get a sprinkling of a few opera numbers and many other pop standards, all of them suitable for Grayson's voice. She's in fine form vocally and delivers all of the songs with her customary charm and grace.

MERV GRIFFIN, before his celebrity and TV fame, makes his second appearance in a movie as one of Miss Moore's admirers and gets to warble "I Kiss Your Hand Madame" while doing a nice job on the vocals. WALTER ABEL and ANN DORAN play Grayson's parents, not at all thrilled that she wants to leave her small town life for a fling at stardom in the big city.

Grayson has a role that is tailor-made for her own background as a singer. DOUGLAS DICK is rather colorless as another disappointed suitor who can't compete with her operatic ambitions, but FORTUNIO BONANOVA is excellent as a sympathetic voice coach who makes sure that she takes proper care of her throat condition before returning to him for his coaching.

The story simply ends with her first appearance at the Met as Mimi in "La Boheme." Opera fans should enjoy this tribute to Miss Moore, and fans of Miss Grayson should appreciate the care taken to photograph her in beautiful close-ups while she takes aim at arias by Gounod and Puccini.

Before watching this biopic starring Kathryn Grayson, I'd never heard of the opera star Grace Moore. If you've never heard of her either, do an online search and learn about a woman who contributed her talents to films, Broadway, and opera. She was beautiful and had a beautiful voice, so it's no wonder Hollywood chose Kathryn Grayson to portray her!

The main problem with the film is, unfortunately, how John Monks Jr. wrote Grace's character. From her childhood through the end of the movie, she's portrayed as a snotty brat! As she pushes and pouts her way to the top, I found myself only halfway rooting for her. Kathryn is a very likable actress, so that helped me get through it. Still, Grace Moore wasn't painted out in a very favorable light. She's written to be selfish, arrogant, too big for her britches, disrespectful, and unwilling to pay her dues. I wonder why the script wasn't changed-or perhaps it had been, and Miss Moore was even more unlikable in real life!

Still, Kathryn gets to show off her beautiful voice and her distracting figure. She's joined by Walter Abel, Rosemary DeCamp, Merv Griffin, Joan Weldon, and Douglas Dick, but besides Walter-who plays her frustrated father-no one else is really given anything to do. As biopics go, this one's really only watchable because Kathryn Grayson is so cute and has such a beautiful voice. If you're looking for one that stands on its own merit, watch Love Me or Leave Me.