Heart's Desire

1935
1h 22m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

An impresario's sister touring Europe discovers the talent of a popular Viennese singer and persuades him to sign an operatic contract in England, reluctant as he is to leave his homeland. B... Read allAn impresario's sister touring Europe discovers the talent of a popular Viennese singer and persuades him to sign an operatic contract in England, reluctant as he is to leave his homeland. Beautifully sung music in a well done British production, one of the few starring Austrian ... Read allAn impresario's sister touring Europe discovers the talent of a popular Viennese singer and persuades him to sign an operatic contract in England, reluctant as he is to leave his homeland. Beautifully sung music in a well done British production, one of the few starring Austrian tenor Richard Tauber.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

YOUR RATING

3User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

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Featured reviews

4malcolmgsw

Great voice lousy actor poor story

During the 1930s attempts were made on both sides of the Atlantic to turn opera stars into film stars.Laurence Tibbett and Lily Pond were two who failed to make the grade in America.Here in the UK we had the photogenic Richard Tauber He had a great voice,this is indisputable.However he couldn't act and the plots of his films were little more than pegs on which to hang his songs.So quite frankly it would have saved the bother of going out to the cinema by going and buying his records instead.It is difficult to know if the producers were trying to make an entertainment or an artistic effort with a view to impressing that they were now a well-established industry.

rjhbjpt

Never mind the plot ... just enjoy Tauber's voice

Oliver Desmond [Carl Harbord] has written a new opera and is scouring Europe with Frances [Leonora Corbett] for a tenor to sing the lead. In Vienna they visit a street cafe where Josef Steidler [Richard Tauber] sings each evening for a few coins. They are impressed with this voice discovered in such an unlikely location, and invite him to London to sing in the opera. He is enamoured with Frances and so agrees, but when she agrees to marry Oliver his unrequited passion takes its toll.

OK, so the plot is neither very special or original. But I would need to be incredibly petty to worry about the absence of plot when I can sit back and luxuriate in such a magnificent voice as Tauber's.

didi-5

superb voice, shame about the story!

The gloriously voiced Richard Tauber stars here in a rag to riches story where he moves from being a cafe singer for a few pennies to a future in opera. Leonora Corbett plays Frances, the girl who ensnares him (Tauber's real-life wife, Diana Napier, also appears as usual).

Naturally one of Tauber's best known songs, 'You Are My Heart's Delight' appears, and whatever you can say about his acting ability (snicker) and screen appeal (zero) he certainly had a beautiful voice and this song is one of the best to showcase it.

The film is otherwise pretty forgettable but would be surpassed the following year by fully fledged opera in his majestical 'Pag'.