L'espionne de Castille

The reviews here that say the movie is too long (or "too long for a 1930s musical") must be written by people from fleet street. The movie is as long as it needs to be for a nicely complex storyline, nicely told with lots and lots of beautiful music to entertain, and Jeanette even gets a lot of dancing and wonderful non-dance choreography through crowds of men that she tantalizes with her charm.

The love scenes between MacDonald and Jones are funny, sweet, captivating, and the necessary betrayals are handled well and understandably from both sides.

I loved every minute of this film and would not have wanted it shortened. All the songs are hummable and lively/romantic. MacDonald's intelligence and sense of humor underlie everything she does, as when she says to Jones after his beautifully sung love song, "Well, perhaps I shouldn't tell you this, but you know that part where you sing, 'My heart's your throne dear, my heart's your throne dear, There you shall rule alone...' with the music building just before the high note?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering... but, no, perhaps I shouldn't tell you."

"Tell me."

"Well, I was wondering ... if you were going to make it."

Or when Jones complains to her, "You're always saying goodbye," and she replies, "All right then, I won't say goodbye. I'll just ... go."

Her comic timing is lovely.

In fact, she has never been lovelier than in this movie, and the two of them together are just a lot of doggone fun and romance.

I am told that the original plot of The Firefly has seen on Broadway back in 1912 had absolutely nothing to do with the Peninsular Campaign of the Napoleonic Wars. Hard to believe because the plot here seems so right.

The core of the plot is duty to one's country. Though Allan Jones and Jeanette MacDonald are on opposite sides and love each other, at some point each betrays the other at some point in the movie to gain a tactical advantage for France or Spain.

The Rudolf Friml-Otto Harbach-Oscar Hammerstein II, is mostly retained for the movie. One new song, based on a Friml instrumental composition called Chanson, is given a lyric by Bob Wright and Chet Forrest and arranged by MGM's house composer Herbert Stothart. Their combined efforts yielded The Donkey Serenade and provided Allan Jones a signature song for the rest of his career.

Jeanette was taking a rest from her usual singing partner, Nelson Eddy, and her teaming with Jones was felicitous. They are a pair of winning songbirds. Maybe had Jones stayed with MGM, he and MacDonald might have made some more films together. Maybe he might have played some of the parts that Nelson Eddy did opposite her. But he probably was right in thinking he'd always be number 2 at MGM, so he moved to Universal.

Beautiful singing and a decent plot in this one. Go see it.

If it wasn't for "Donkey Serenade", this would have been a total loss as a piece of gaudy MGM entertainment for the masses in the 1930s. JEANETTE MacDONALD gives her all as a sexy spy who tries getting potentially harmful information from French officers, but it's all pretty preposterous and finally much too long for sustained interest.

The only sequence that comes off as completely charming is the "Donkey Serenade" episode with ALLAN JONES singing his heart out as he rides a dusty trail following her carriage. Jones is a fine match for MacDonald but probably left MGM when he realized it was Nelson Eddy's territory.

The score is kind of lackluster, the sets are opulent in typical MGM grand style manner, but the plot is never lively enough to keep one's attention riveted on the plodding story of spies and counter-spies in ye olde Spain. Everyone tries hard, but it just seems to stall somewhere near the middle and never recovers.

Trivia: Did Jeanette MacDonald ever show her real hair in a costume film? She must wear at least 25 wigs and hairdos in this film alone, changing her far from simple hairstyles from scene to scene more often than Lana Turner ever changed her costumes in glamorous roles. There must have been a special Jeanette wig department at Metro just for the occasion.

Jeannette MacDonald and Allan Jones star with Warren William in "The Firefly," a 1937 MGM film.

MacDonald plays Nina Maria Azara, a singer, who is also a spy for Spain during the Napoleonic Wars. She is to seduce French officers and find out Napoleon's plans for Spain.

She meets Don Diego, who pursues her while she is working as a singer. She has to stave him off in order to meet with those who can give her information, among them Major de Rouchemont (William).

Don Diego keeps showing up, including on her trip to Bayonne. There, the famous Donkey Serenade is introduced. Unknown to her, Don Diego is actually Captain Andre, who is sent to Spain to spy on her.

The story is a backdrop for all of the music, and there is a ton of it. MacDonald's voice was highly touted; with today's ears, it was a lovely voice, particularly in the middle, but I was never crazy about her top notes. I think it was just the way women were trained by then. She was a beautiful woman and a fine, fiery actress, and her popularity was well deserved. She does a good job here.

Allan Jones was not the most sparkling presence -- he certainly was no match for MacDonald in that department -- but he truly had a beautiful voice. Warren William was very good in a villainous role.

Most of the music was written by Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart, so you need to like operetta in order to like this film, and also classical voices.

Allan Jones has a wonderful voice, but a rather bland personality. He is no match for Jeannette MacDonald, who here gives her best dramatic performance on screen with not much to play against. Warren William is the villain and he has more presence than Jones.

Jones and MacDonald play spies, he for France and she for Spain, during Napoleon's attempt to kidnap the King of Spain and add that country to his fiefdom. There is much intrigue and a few songs along the way, the best known being The Donkey Serenade and Gianina Mia.

The problem lies in the length of the scenes and musical numbers. This film could easily have had half an hour snipped out of it, bringing it closer to conventional playing times of the period. At 2 hours, 10 minutes, it is just too long. And it is heavy-handedly directed and written.

The original operetta from 1912 had a few good tunes. Friml was third in line of talent, behind Romberg and Herbert, as America's trio of operetta composers. The score is just not good enough to mount a major film around.

MacDonald is always worth seeing, as she either matches or outshines her best material. This one, like Broadway Serenade a few years later, was not one of her best films and is recommended for her fans and those of Jones only.