Stingaree, O Bandoleiro do Amor

I've just seen "Stingaree" the first time on TCM and enjoyed every bit of it as it takes me back to the excitement of the early movies I saw as a kid paying 25 cents for an all-day stay at the theatre on Saturday. To start was an hour of cartoons, the newsreel, then two feature films and we could stay to see it all over again if we wanted to. Those were the days! It does seem that the subject of Nellie Melba could've had a strong influence on this story, an unknown Australian singer who becomes famous worldwide. Irene Dunne is the servant girl Hilda who has dreams of a career and is given the chance to sing for the impresario Sir Julian. I had visions of Jeannette MacDonald in this role, it's her style, but Irene Dunne gives a more integrated performance and her singing is finer as it has somewhat more volume to project, in my opinion.

There ought to be a special medal created for Mary Boland, she's quite something in all her films, over the top, hilarious, showy, a grand flurry of mannerisms, delightful and absurd. She certainly adds wit to her films. Her amusing reference to protecting "British womanhood's virginity" brought back the quip, "Oh no, my dear, you mean chastity. Britain wouldn't have survived on women's virginity," was quite a funny hint.

Richard Dix has the role of Stingaree, the thief who is being hunted but he does have a good heart and is determined to help Hilda get her chance to be heard by Sir Julian which succeeds and she's off to make her career although Stingaree unfortunately gets captured in the process and must put in his time in jail during her venture into the world.

I'm always charmed by Una O'Connor who plays Annie the maid. She has such a distinctive presence in all her roles, one can only wonder what it'd have been without her in so many great movies such as Robin Hood (Errol Flynn) and Witness For The Prosecution (Ty Power).

Henry Stephenson performs as the man of the house, Mr Clarkson, married to the Mrs., Mary Boland, his is not a very large role but well done.

Andy Devine is quite young in this film and he plays the 'sidekick' of Stingaree for their robbery excursions.

One ought to be fair in judging the old movies, after all, the acting that was done in silent films is not what they did when talkies came along. So too, we should consider the time period and settle into that when viewing the oldies. Each decade brought along its own styles and fashions, and that needs to be taken into account when making a comment.

All in all I enjoyed a first viewing of this adventure/ romance/ comedy film and I believe it's available to buy so that's good news too. Add it to your collection if you are a dedicated collector. Well worth it!

Based on a story by "Raffles" creator E. W. Hornung (brother-in-law of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle), directed by William A. Wellman and promoted as reuniting Irene Dunne (billed first this time) and Richard Dix from the cast of RKO's blockbuster "Cimarron," "Stingaree" is a ridiculous film but also an enjoyable one if you don't take it too seriously. True, it doesn't play to Wellman's strengths as a director (as the awesome, woefully underrated "Safe in Hell" had done a year earlier) or to Irene Dunne's talents as a comedienne, but her singing (her own voice; she was a fully trained operatic mezzo-soprano and had auditioned for the Met before signing with RKO) is gorgeous. Plot-wise this seems like a beta version of a Jeanette MacDonald-Nelson Eddy film — all it needed was a male star who could sing (or a voice double for Richard Dix) — and though the promise of the first reel that it was going to be "Cimarron" in Australia was not fulfilled, it was still a lot of fun. Incidentally, I wondered if any of it was inspired by the life of real-life diva Nellie Melba, the first international opera star to come from Australia. (There's been at least one other since: Joan Sutherland.)

Somewhat lackluster period musical/adventure tale set in Australia, 1874 telling the story of a young lady named Hilda (played by Irene Dunne) who works as a servant for the wealthy Clarksons, sheep farmers, and dreams of being a great singer. An upcoming visit by Sir Julian, a famous composer arriving from London, drives jealous Mrs. Clarkson (an interfering biddy who fancies she can sing - but can't) to send away Hilda, so he doesn't hear Hilda has a good voice. Meanwhile, an infamous outlaw named Stingaree (Richard Dix) has just arrived in town and kidnaps Sir Julian, then poses as him at the Clarksons, where he meets Hilda a few hours before she is to leave. Hilda, thinking he's Sir Julian, sings for him - and Stingaree decides to help her with her career. She soon finds out he's an impostor, he ends up kidnapping her - um, and she likes it (and this is all in one night!). They are instantly in love - the fact that he is a bandit that the police are after means nothing to her. They are soon separated though - after Stingaree is arrested and Sir Julian takes Hilda to Europe to make her into a famous opera singer.

This is a somewhat mediocre film - though I did like Irene Dunne in this, Richard Dix gives a pretty hammy performance here (rolling eyes and all). It's not all bad, but I thought the story was just a bit hard to swallow - Hilda and the memory she just can't seem to forget: being carried off on horseback by a bandit/outlaw - I just don't know about this woman's choices. Some of the character actors in this do add a few bright moments here and there - especially Andy Devine, as Stingaree's sidekick "valet", who got me laughing in the few brief scenes he is in. The music in this is not too memorable either - all in all, so-so.

"Stingaree" is a comedy romance with drama, mystery, crime and even music. Much of it takes place in the wilds of Australia, so one might consider it also a Western. Then there's a fairy tale aspect of the mean step mother and the oppressed girl. It struck me also as a sort of Robin Hood of the bush. One can see bits of all sorts of genres in this film. It's a sort of swashbuckler romance with an outlaw and a fair maiden with a beautiful singing voice.

So, what's not to like about a film that gives an early look at a very talented Irene Dunne with a talented leading male actor from the silent screen age, Richard Dix? The filming location in Sherwood Forest of California represents the pastoral setting of Australia. The scenes of Hilda Bouverie's (Dunne) theater performances were filmed at Universal studios.

Dix and Dunne give good performances, as do all of a fine supporting cast. They include a young Andy Devine, old hands Mary Boland and Henry Stephenson, and Conway Tearle, Una O'Connor and Reginald Owen. As others note, this is one of several early films in which Dunne gets to use her beautiful voice for a number of songs.

This is an entertaining film that most movie buffs should enjoy - including the fairy tale ending. To some it may be preposterous, but to those of us who are still young of heart, it's a nice fairy tale for adults.

Or perhaps "The Phantom of the Opera, Down Under" with a dash of Cinderella thrown in for good measure.

This is one of six RKO films that were buried in rights problems that Turner Classic Movies managed to resurrect and show back in 2007, with the rights having been resolved by their legal department. Only this one is less than excellent.

Of course, Irene Dunne has a great singing voice. She was the songbird of the RKO lot in the 1930s, but this was just a terrible vehicle for her talents.

There are some good individual performances. The looks on Henry Stephenson's face were priceless. Also, how was little RKO able to get Reginald Owen for what was basically an uncredited cameo? This film falls into several categories - adventure, romance, comedy, musical. If RKO had left out the music and concentrated on one or a couple of the other genres it might have worked.