La principessa innamorata

A princess and an army officer both hide they true identities from one another as they embark on a relationship. A lightweight romantic musical set in the kind of fairytale kingdom that marks the film out as escapism for the depression era. Janet Gaynor is cute, and Herbert Mundin's comic turn as a spy for crusty old C. Aubrey Smith is amusing, but Franch actor Henri Garat struggles as the romantic lead. Not many songs for a musical - and none of them are particularly memorable.

In this early sound musical, Janet Gaynor plays a princess in an Austria-like fairytale kingdom who longs to live the life of an ordinary girl. Watch it with a sense of humor--this is in no way an important musical along the lines of "Gigi", but it doesn't try to be. The script is humorous and a bit self-mocking, and the actors have a lot of fun inventing business for themselves--scenes between C. Aubrey Smith and Herbert Mundin appear to have been staged for their personal amusement, which luckily works for the audience, too. Director Dieterle adds some wonderful flights of fancy, which I won't give away, because the surprise is a good part of the fun. The music, sets, and costumes all contribute to the delightful feeling of fantasy.

Janet Gaynor's voice is almost shockingly girlish, which I think must have been partly due to the sound technology used, but her performance suits the title. In addition, her character is spirited and mischievous. Henri Garat, a French actor playing Gaynor's love interest, doesn't fare quite as well as she does: he's a bit hard to understand, with his heavy accent; isn't 100% photogenic; and his character comes off as a little caddish. But he does bring his fine singing voice, sounding sincere even when the lyrics are a trifle silly: "You're so completely adorable...is the way to your heart explorable?"

Recommended for old-movie fans looking for a diverting film that's sweet but surprising.

I normally like Janet Gaynor films. Despite being a very petite lady, she was a fine actress and excelled in such films as "Sunrise" and "A Star is Born"...but here I found her and the script very difficult to take. Most of the problem is that the film accentuated her cuteness to such a level that diabetics in the audience often found themselves descending into comas due to the syrupy sweet style of the film. Some might like it, but I found it all to be cloying and unwelcome.

Gaynor plays a princess in a fictional central European country. She's been sneaking around incognito and has fallen inexplicably in love with an officer who seems to have little of interest to offer. Henri Garat isn't a particular good actor here and his singing is barely tolerable. None of this makes much sense and the film was very, very slow going as a result. I blame the script, the acting and especially the director for simply making this a sickeningly sweet fairy tale instead of an engaging film.