Coeurs brisés

At first I wasn't going to bother myself to review this movie which I found very inconsequential. In fact I watched the movie with one eye while concentrating on other things. I am only reviewing it because there is only one other review for the movie. That is a shame because these are two of the most respected actors of their era. The plot as it is nothing unusual. Playboy conductor meets aspiring conductor - they come together - playboy still has wandering eye to which conductress hits the road. Someone they reconcile. Scenes are buffoonish, not dramatic enough nor comedic enough - a rightfully forgotten movie. This needs to be ten lines, why i don't know, some movies aren't worth it so

This love story was actually good. Philip Moeller did not make this movie what it could have been. A better director such as George Cukor (who was familiar with Hepburn) would have made the scenes much more enjoyable. Katharine Hepburn does a good job of the aspiring composer and Charlie Boyer as the Great Franz Roberti, conductor. The two both have too much pride instead of talking things over, which is relatable. It's also surprising how Hepburn and Boyer got away with slamming each other with insults of their promiscuity. All in all, it was a good movie for Hepburn to do in her early career, and fans of her will enjoy it.

Two of the most distinguishable voices in film history Charles Boyer and Kate Hepburn find romance in this rather ineffective romantic melodrama involving a famous conductor and a struggling composer. It's a rather tepid Intermezzo.

World famous conductor and womanizer Franz Roberti drops by an old friend's and meets Constance Dane a music teacher and aspirant composer. He's pleasant to her but no more. When she can't get a ticket to his sold out show she sneaks into a rehearsal and creates a scene that first annoys and then charms Roberti. They go out and Roberti lays out his Casanova MO to her but much to his surprise finds himself falling in love and marrying her. They globe trot on their honeymoon and all is well until she discovers he has returned to his old ways and decides to leave him. Crestfallen they almost reconcile but she rejects him and he takes to drink sabotaging his career.

The early scenes between the pair falling in love has a charming energy as Boyer's dark eyed intensity and magnificent inflection charm Hepburn's bedazzled beauty. But once the honeymoon ends and Constance books the film descends into a mawkish affair it can't climb out of with both leads becoming a touch too strident.

Philip Moeller's direction is flat and uninspired as he relies heavily on Hepburn close-ups and Boyer's roving eye to make his point. Advancing the story choppily and with little form in the process the glossy sets and lavish costumes lack the sweep they deserve with Moeller's camera movements tentative at best.

The most ironic moment in the film is when Hepburn launches into discourse on how she will look out for the sodden Roberti eerily reflecting her relationship with Spence a decade away.

Maybe it's just me, but the idea of Charles Boyer playing opposite Katharine Hepburn in a romance is odd...to say the least. Now I am NOT casting any aspersions on their acting--they were both fine actors. But the combination of the two in a film like this just seems strange. Perhaps at the time it didn't--as Hepburn wasn't yet a huge star and hadn't the reputation she'd have just a few years later. But the reddish-haired lady with a refined New England accent and the suave Frenchman--what an unusual combination The film begins with Boyer playing a very famous orchestra conductor and musician. He's a bit of a womanizer, so it's surprising when he meets a young would-be composer (Hepburn) that he'd fall for her so hard that he'd ask her to marry him. They seem deliriously happy and go off on a wonderful honeymoon in Europe. Things couldn't be better for the pair until he decides on a whim to go to a party with an old lady friend. However, when Katharine seems them together, she assumes he's cheating on her and perhaps he was, so she storms off--and is ready for a divorce. Can the two get past this or is their marriage headed for an untimely end? See the film and find out what happens next.

Overall, while the acting is pretty good and a nice looking production, the movie itself is very ordinary...at best. In fact, some parts are a bit embarrassing to watch--it just wasn't written all that well and seemed overdone and unreal--particularly in the second half. A sticky and clichéd soap opera and not a whole lot more. There just wasn't enough interesting material in this film to elevate it anything more than a time-passer. Too bad--with this talent, it should have been a lot better.

It seemed like a good idea at the time------a cinematic pairing of upcoming stars Katharine Hepburn and Francis Lederer. Hepburn was the new sensation in Hollywood-----unique, talented and difficult to cast. Three of her first four films for RKO were critical and financial successes, but they were soon followed by two movies (Spitfire and The Little Minister both 1934) that failed to generate the excitement and acclaim of her earlier efforts. They also provided evidence (if any were needed) that Hepburn was a "special case" when it came to audience appeal-----folks either loved her or disliked her. Therefore, the cinematic vehicles she chose to act in had to be carefully selected to help ensure a reasonable opportunity for them to achieve a positive fan reaction. This probably launched the beginning of talk about Hepburn's being "box office poison"-----an accusation that would plague her through the 1930s until she definitively scored a twin success with The Philadelphia Story (1940) and Woman of the Year (1942).

Lederer (born Frantisek or Franz Lederer in Prague) was a handsome leading man-type actor who developed into a matinee idol in European films just before his arrival in the US in 1932. Although darkly attractive and warmly regarded by the critics, American audiences seemed not to be positively responding to him. RKO's strategy in 1935 was to cast Hepburn and Lederer together in a film with the hope that this combination would prove to generate a hit for both of them. The project was to be named Break of Hearts (BOH) and would be directed by Philip Moeller of the Theatre Guild. Then RKO started to film the picture. Trouble began shortly thereafter.

It turned out that Lederer was a temperamental and insecure actor, who initiated a quarrel with Moeller because he felt that the director was tilting BOH more in favor of Hepburn's character. During the second week of filming, Lederer walked off the set, and did not return. A desperate RKO sought out Charles Boyer to fill the void based upon his recent success in the film Private Worlds----and fill it he did. Hepburn and Boyer became a congenial acting couple and BOH was smoothly finished without further complications.

However, BOH did not meet box office expectations. Critics felt that Moeller was a static film director, and Hepburn's role of a long suffering serious composer providing endless support for a hedonistic symphony conductor left much to be desired as entertainment. BOH reinforced Boyer's growing reputation in Hollywood as an appealing Continental lover-type character who also had depth and conviction as an actor. Unfortunately, BOH's tepid box office results continued to complicate Hepburn's marketability and reinforced the impression that she seemed to have problems selling herself as a commercially viable artist.

BOH contained fine acting performances from its two principals and had an intelligent (if somewhat overwrought) script. However, the Boyer character was hard to like, and Hepburn's commitment to him grew tiresome to the film's audiences. In the end, their fans were underwhelmed. Hepburn made a modest comeback in her next film (Alice Adams (1935)), but continued on a mercurial career trajectory that was a feature of her work in the 1930s. She could not then realize that her best years were still ahead of her.