The Great Victor Herbert

An enjoyable film, but it is not really (in fact, not at all) a biography of Victor Herbert, as the title suggests. The music, however, is a delight, and although Herbert's music would now no doubt be considered 'dated' by many people, he did have a sure melodic gift. Many of his songs have a wide vocal range and are by no means easy to sing; one of his trademarks is the use of wide and unusual intervals (e.g. a major ninth in 'I'm falling in love with someone'; an octave plus a semitone, a major seventh and a tenth in 'Kiss me again'). This, combined with the sometimes flowery lyrics and his penchant for the slow waltz, give his music an old-world charm that is well served in this film by the performances, the set and the costumes.

Allan Jones and Mary Martin are both worth seeing - and hearing. Allan Jones had a fine tenor voice, which he uses here to good effect. It is always interesting to see Mary Martin on screen - although she comes over as perfectly fine - indeed good - there is perhaps little to suggest that she would go on to become one of the very greatest musical stars of Broadway (and, indeed, also of the West End in London) of the middle years of the twentieth century. (Those who doubt that this film allows us to hear her real singing voice of these years should seek out a recording of her in Noel Coward's Pacific 1860 (London, 1946), in which she plays an opera diva, or of Peter Pan, in which her coloratura pyrotechnics can be heard.)

All in all, an enjoyable film for those who like the music of Victor Herbert (and people who enjoy operetta music or musicals generally are likely to find Herbert's music worth exploring) and also for those who are fans of the stars.

Hollywood did a string of musical biopics of Great American song composers during and just after World War II. The most famous, of course, is Warner Brothers' *Yankee Doodle Dandy* (1942), in which James Cagney dances away with a well-deserved Best Actor Oscar. There is also the same studio's underappreciated *Rhapsody in Blue* (1945), which does a decent job of presenting Gershwin as the very voice of the American spirit. There was also MGM's *Till the Clouds Roll By* (1946), which tries to cram as many Jerome Kern numbers into two hours as possible. I also seem to recall that there was a fluff piece about Sigmund Romberg, but I can't track it down.

Despite its very misleading title, *The Great Victor Herbert* bears no resemblance to any of these. It is not, and does not pretend to be, a biography, fictional or otherwise, of the great American operetta composer.

Rather, it is yet another variation on the story best known from *A Star is Born* of a husband-wife theater team in which the husband is initially the big star, but later is supplanted by his up and coming wife. Trouble ensues.

Allan Jones had already played this part just three years before in the 1936 *Show Boat*, and it's rather strange to see him put in the same situations just three years later.

The problems with this movie, for me, are more than the deceptive title, however. There is, still, a lot of Herbert music in this movie. That would be fine if it concentrated on his memorable music, of which there was much. But it doesn't. We hear one piece after the next, some in fairly lavish production numbers, always leaving me with the same reaction: why bother? Rather than focusing on some of Herbert's big successes, like *Naughty Marietta*, *The Red Mill*, *Babes in Toyland*, and *Mlle Modiste*, it dredges up one forgettable number after the next from his other, long-forgotten shows. That makes this 90 minute movie seem longer than it is.

I enjoyed seeing Mary Martin on the screen. She's very young here, and Herbert's music is not the sort of thing with which she would have success after success on Broadway in the years to follow - it's a long way from Nelly Forbush or Maria in Sound of Music - but she's still enjoyable to watch.

Allan Jones has been better in other pictures.

Susanna Foster sounds like a poor man's Meliza Korjus. She has a thin voice with freakish high notes that are best not heard. Unfortunately, we get to hear the highest of them not once but twice, at the beginning and then the end of the picture.

In short, unless you want to see Mary Martin in one of her too rare silver screen appearances, there really is nothing to recommend this movie.

I cannot argue with other comments that the story line focuses more on the romance between the Mary Martin and Allan Jones characters, much in the manner of "Showboat", than on the life of Victor Herbert. But in the 1930's, would that have been a box office draw? Instead of the Life of VH, perhaps it should have been the Music of VH. There is an abundance of this.

For me, the thrill of the movie came near the end of the movie when Susanna Foster sings "Land of Romance". It has been over a decade since I caught this movie for a second time at a local 'old movies' theater. At first the audience was stunned; then it burst into spontaneous applause. I remember the shivers running up and down my spine. My trivia memory recalled the information provided to an inquiring public by a local journalist when the movie first came out back in the late 1930's. 'That note hit by Miss Foster was a far F above high C.'

She may not have had four octaves a la Yma Sumac but the then teen-ager certainly had a range!

This movie is one of my mothers favorites, a story not of the life of Victor Herbert but a fictionalized account of his impact on those who sang his works. Mary Martin shines and gives only a glimpse of the beautiful voice soon to be featured on Broadway. For those who doubt her range and depth of talent, her early work on Decca Records confirms the talent she possessed-how unfortunate for Hollywood that "The Great Victor Herbert" is one of the few times she was showcased in her proper element! The love story is a tearjerker with the old time happy ending engendered by the radiant Susanna Foster. I hope someday this movie is out on video so that future generations can see the talent only tapped in this movie!

Andrew L. Stone indulges his taste for musicals based on mildly outdated composers with this one. Walter Connolly plays the composer as half warm-hearted artist, half daring businessman. The story, though, is show biz all the way, as aspiring singer Mary Martin -- in her first speaking role in the movies -- marries matinee idol Allan Jones, despite the insistence of his manager, Jerome Cowan, that lady theater-goers won't yearn for a married man. He turns out to be right, and Jones' career goes into the tank as Miss Martin's explodes.... and then she quits the theater so he won't feel bad. It doesn't work.

Miss Martin is rather repressed for anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing her on the stage, and Jones was a good singer who looked good, and little more. It's carried by Connolly, who is around mostly to introduce songs and kickstart the plot; as usual, whatever he's given to do, he does it entertainingly. He wouldn't be around to do it much longer. Five months after this movie was released, he had a fatal stroke and died at the age of 53.