A rare glimpse of James Melton and Jane Froman...
JAMES MELTON was a great tenor who never had much of a movie career and JANE FROMAN's fate in a plane crash made it impossible for her to pursue a career in films. She's very lovely and has a warm, appealing contralto voice. Melton, despite the fine pipes, lacks the charisma of a movie star in his role as a porter discovered by PAT O'BRIEN and turned into a successful radio star.
He handles his singing chores with professional ease but there's not much to be said about his bland acting. It's another story about the discovery of a new singing star while his manager makes personal sacrifices for the sake of new talent. FRANK McHUGH and MARIE Wilson offer some comedy support (not enough), and JEAN MUIR is colorless in a minor role as an aspiring singer who catches O'Brien's eye.
Melton's quick rise to stardom is too much for him and he has to be straightened out by manager O'Brien and friends when his drinking gets out of hand. The story limps toward a dramatic conclusion, but it's no use. None of it is the least bit convincing and the only lasting impression is made by JANE FROMAN, graceful and charming in a brief role.
Melton would return to the Metropolitan Opera and concert engagements, making another rare appearance in MGM's Technicolored ZIEGFELD FOLLIES OF 1946, singing an aria from "La Traviata" and continuing success on the stage of opera houses and occasional TV appearances on shows like "The Bell Telephone Hour"--but the movies never turned out to be his medium and he never made the sort of impression in operatic roles that other operatic singers did (like NELSON EDDY or MARIO LANZA).
He handles his singing chores with professional ease but there's not much to be said about his bland acting. It's another story about the discovery of a new singing star while his manager makes personal sacrifices for the sake of new talent. FRANK McHUGH and MARIE Wilson offer some comedy support (not enough), and JEAN MUIR is colorless in a minor role as an aspiring singer who catches O'Brien's eye.
Melton's quick rise to stardom is too much for him and he has to be straightened out by manager O'Brien and friends when his drinking gets out of hand. The story limps toward a dramatic conclusion, but it's no use. None of it is the least bit convincing and the only lasting impression is made by JANE FROMAN, graceful and charming in a brief role.
Melton would return to the Metropolitan Opera and concert engagements, making another rare appearance in MGM's Technicolored ZIEGFELD FOLLIES OF 1946, singing an aria from "La Traviata" and continuing success on the stage of opera houses and occasional TV appearances on shows like "The Bell Telephone Hour"--but the movies never turned out to be his medium and he never made the sort of impression in operatic roles that other operatic singers did (like NELSON EDDY or MARIO LANZA).
- Doylenf
- Jan 17, 2007