Sevilha dos Meus Amores

In a Spanish convent, girlish-acting Dorothy Jordan (as Maria Consuelo Vargas) is thinking about taking her final vows when she hears handsome Ramon Novarro (as Juan de Dios) singing in a nearby cantina. She sneaks away from the nunnery to watch Mr. Novarro sing. The seemingly aroused Ms. Jordan looks like she may never become a nun. Novarro playfully turns down some after-hours bedtime with attractive dancing partner Renee Adoree (as Lola) – proving "Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets" is not correct, this time. Next, Novarro sups with operatic mentor Ernest Torrence (as Esteban), steals a few things at the market, and then meets Jordan. The two become mutually attracted...

Hoping to advance his career, Novarro moves to Madrid with Mr. Torrence going along as singing coach. They take love-struck Jordan along to serve as cook. Back at the convent, Ms. Adoree jealously informs Jordan's brother Russell Hopton (as Enrique Vargas) about her association with Novarro. The nuns say Jordan never took her final vows, but Mr. Hopton expects his sister to remain holy – he is understandably upset about her running away with a young man. We're supposed to think there is some danger in this, but there is none...

"Call of the Flesh" is a silly piece of fluff. Jordan was capable of much more – here, she's stuck impersonating a giggling novice. Adoree does better with her role. Sadly, this was the last film for Adoree, who often appeared supporting bigger stars – like Novarro, John Gilbert and Lon Chaney. She became ill during production and succumbed to tuberculosis in 1933. His female co-stars have a fine rapport with Novarro. Greater as a villain, Torrence is out of sorts as Novarro's loving mentor. The cameras adore Novarro. There are clearly times when director Charles Brabin is unable to reign him in, but Novarro is charming in spite of it all. Most important to his new generation of fans, he looks terrific.

***** Call of the Flesh (8/16/30) Charles Brabin ~ Ramon Novarro, Dorothy Jordan, Ernest Torrence, Renee Adoree

Convent-reared Dorothy Jordan falls in love with Ramon Novarro, who sings and dances at the cantina next door. She runs away with him to Seville, where he studies opera singing with Ernest Torrence. But ex-girlfriend Renee Adoree tries to break things up.

Given the title, you expect something more profligately pre-code than what shows up on screen; the title, however, was shifted from THE SINGER OF SINGER after musicals became a drug on the market. Novarro dances well enough, and sings opera well, if a bit reedily -- or perhaps that's due to the sound recording. It's a movie which depends on your tastes in stories. If you enjoy the occasional sugar-coated plot with dewy-eyed Dorothy at her sweetest, then you'll enjoy this one.

I watched The Call of the Flesh and enjoyed it despite the dueling accents. Ramon Novarro plays a saucy singer who teams with Renee Adoree to appear at local cantinas and is pushed by his friend (Ernest Torrence) to get serious about opera. But then he meets a "runaway" from a convent (Dorothy Jordan) who knows nothing of the world. He falls in love and dumps Adoree. But Adoree gets even by finding Jordan's military brother who tracks them down and sends her back to the convent. Meanwhile Novarro is turned down by a local opera house because he's never had his heart broken and his singing has no soul. Torrence buys a night for Novarro to sing at the opera and he grudgingly does to, bringing down the house. But his heart is so broken he's actually dying until Adoree takes action.

Novarro is quite good here, especially when singing. A few of the dramatic scenes are badly done, but the rest of the film is lively. Novarro co-wrote the song "Lonely" with Herbert Stothart. I have no idea what Novarro sings in the finale but he's good despite having rather thin high notes. It's quite a shock to see Torrence break out in song, but the burly Scottish actor, a dependable heavy in silent films, was a trained opera singer. Jordan and Adoree handle the music well.

There's a great scene where Torrence at the piano joins Novarro in a burst of song only to be joined by the landlady (Mathilde Comont). It all seems so spontaneous.

Sadly this was Adoree's final film. Her other talkie was Redemption with John Gilbert.

I watched "Call of the Flesh" (1930) a romantic, musical melodrama with touches of comedy, that was a huge surprise for me. Surprise, because after watching "In Gay Madrid" (1930) filmed and released earlier the same year and after re-reading the pertinent passages from André Soares' very good Bio on Novarro "Beyond Paradise" my expectations were low, since Mr. Soares believes "In Gay Madrid" (1930) to be the best film that Novarro made with co-star Dorothy Jordan. (the other one was "Devil-May-Care" (1929)). Well, I am sorry to totally disagree, but for me "Call of the Flesh" is simply one of Novarro's best talkies along with "The Barbarian" (1933), "The Cat and the Fiddle" (1934) and "Daybreak" (1931) - I'm not counting "Mata-Hari" (1931) because it's a Garbo vehicle and not really Ramon's film.

Mr. Soares and some other reviewers felt that Novarro plays an obnoxious, difficult to tolerate character, especially at the beginning of the film, but I found him most amusing and likable in a way. A sort of immature, mischievous, full-of-life young lad -much more appealing than Haines' truly obnoxious characters. Novarro is very charming and natural, in spite that some times he could be perceived by some to be a little bit "too much". For me he's fine.

On the other hand, the chemistry between him and Dorothy Jordan is far more effective here than in the previous film I saw. Ms. Jordan really redeemed herself in my eyes in terms of acting. She's no Duse, but she did fine and she conveys the innocence and charm of a naive convent girl who falls for life outside the convent and for Novarro. The musical interludes, singing and dancing are much better in this film and it has better production values. In terms of cinematography, camera movement, pacing and editing it's "eons" beyond "In Gay Madrid" (1930); definitely Charles Brabin and his crew did a much better job that Bob Z. Leonard and his' in the aforementioned film. "Call of the Flesh" (1930) doesn't look at all stilted, stiff and creaky like "In Gay Madrid" (1930) did. Probably by the time they filmed the former the crew at MGM had already learnt how to overcome those shortcomings.

"Call of the Flesh" also benefits from an overall superior supporting cast, with Ernest Torrence fantastic as Novarro's mentor; ailing, lovely Rénée Adorée very moving as Novarro's fiery lover "Lolita" and Mathilde Comont hilarious as Novarro's landlady in Madrid.

Adorée was gravely ill with TBC and was in very bad condition during the making of the film (and one can see it; she looks very frail and thin). In fact she and Ernest Torrence died a couple of years after this film was finished. I think that it was her final film.

There are two alternate versions of this film: in Spanish and French, which I don't know if they are still extant, but I'd love to see.

I was so surprised by this film (maybe, because I didn't really expect much), I enjoyed the romance, the musical interludes, the comedic touches, even the Operatic Arias (although like Jeanette MacDonald people who know about Opera, say that Novarro hasn't got a voice of a caliber enough to tackle such a challenge) and I was sincerely moved by the scenes towards the ending.

All in all, a rewarding experience.

Ramon Novarro is really great in this fairly ordinary film about a young singer and his love for an innocent girl. The plot calls on him to sing a lot - and he does so quite brilliantly. He is also called upon to go through some pretty heavy emotional stuff and he is nothing short of astonishing in these scenes. Also he demonstrates his usual charm, wit and joy of life - and proves yet again that he deserved better material than MGM offered him.

It's easy to see why this sweet film was so popular in its day, and why it was re-made twice (in Spanish and French) in 1931, with Ramon starring in and directing both versions. It's all impossibly romantic and quite charming.

Ramon's regular leading lady, Dorothy Jordan, is pretty good here, Ernest Torrence hams a bit as Ramon's dad, and Renee Adoree is wonderful in her last screen performance (she died very young of TB) - just as in "The Pagan" her love for Ramon is unrequited and she is ultimately self-sacrificing. Russell Hopton is, unfortunately, wooden as Jordan's brother and, as a consequence, his crucial climactic scene with Ramon does not work as well as it should have.

Charles Brabin's direction and the screenplay are uninspired, but the film is worth seeing for Ramon Novarro's extraordinary performance.