[go: up one dir, main page]

    Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysSan Diego Comic-ConSummer Watch GuideToronto Int'l Film FestivalSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

L'amant de minuit

Original title: Oh, for a Man!
  • 1930
  • 1h 18m
IMDb RATING
5.4/10
93
YOUR RATING
Jeanette MacDonald in L'amant de minuit (1930)
MusicalRomance

Carlotta Manson is a young and beautiful opera star who wants some spice in her personal life. She threatens to forsake opera for a wild, romantic fling. One night, a burglar, Barney McGann ... Read allCarlotta Manson is a young and beautiful opera star who wants some spice in her personal life. She threatens to forsake opera for a wild, romantic fling. One night, a burglar, Barney McGann breaks into Carlotta's boudoir while she's asleep to steal her jewelery. Carlotta awakes a... Read allCarlotta Manson is a young and beautiful opera star who wants some spice in her personal life. She threatens to forsake opera for a wild, romantic fling. One night, a burglar, Barney McGann breaks into Carlotta's boudoir while she's asleep to steal her jewelery. Carlotta awakes and is facinated with Barney. They date and marry at her Villa in Italy. Soon Barney can't ... Read all

  • Director
    • Hamilton MacFadden
  • Writers
    • Mary F. Watkins
    • Philip Klein
    • Lynn Starling
  • Stars
    • Jeanette MacDonald
    • Reginald Denny
    • Marjorie White
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.4/10
    93
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Hamilton MacFadden
    • Writers
      • Mary F. Watkins
      • Philip Klein
      • Lynn Starling
    • Stars
      • Jeanette MacDonald
      • Reginald Denny
      • Marjorie White
    • 8User reviews
    • 5Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win total

    Photos7

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster

    Top cast15

    Edit
    Jeanette MacDonald
    Jeanette MacDonald
    • Carlotta Manson
    Reginald Denny
    Reginald Denny
    • Barney McGann
    Marjorie White
    Marjorie White
    • Totsy Franklin
    Warren Hymer
    Warren Hymer
    • 'Pug' Morini
    Alison Skipworth
    Alison Skipworth
    • Laura
    Albert Conti
    Albert Conti
    • Peck
    Bela Lugosi
    Bela Lugosi
    • Frescatti
    André Cheron
    • Costello
    • (uncredited)
    Gino Corrado
    Gino Corrado
    • Signor Ferrari, Italian Master of Ceremonies
    • (uncredited)
    William B. Davidson
    William B. Davidson
    • Kerry Stokes
    • (uncredited)
    Mary Gordon
    Mary Gordon
    • Stage Door Admirer with Violets
    • (uncredited)
    Donald Hall
    Donald Hall
    • Carlotta's Backstage Admirer
    • (uncredited)
    Evelyn Hall
    Evelyn Hall
    • Emily, Dressing Room Dowager
    • (uncredited)
    Althea Henley
    Althea Henley
    • June, Dowager's Homely Daughter
    • (uncredited)
    Bodil Rosing
    Bodil Rosing
    • Masseuse
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Hamilton MacFadden
    • Writers
      • Mary F. Watkins
      • Philip Klein
      • Lynn Starling
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews8

    5.493
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    1bbmtwist

    Poor early talkie with vivacious MacDonald

    This is a very poor early talkie, both in subject matter and in technical non-achievement. The sound is atrocious - sound sections are recorded at a low level and silent sections are extremely noisy with white noise- and there are damaged sections - Denny's audition aria and subsequent dialogue are drowned out. The surviving print, which must be a 16 mm one, is dark, blurry and washed out. One entire reel is missing from the surviving print, which runs 72 minutes.

    The plot is stupid and full of sexual innuendos. MacDonald will give up her opera career to marry a low life Irish thief. It's all sex here - opera star and man toy (inspiration for Pal Joey?). Alison Skipworth is fine as MacDonald's private assistant and Bela Lugosi plays the part of her manager well.

    The only reason to see this is for MacDonald - who has one number- the Liebestod from TRISTAN UND ISOLDE. She is vivacious, charming and full of diva personality. She does so well, it's a pity the film does not support her.

    The DVD I saw was taken from an old VHS print with horizontal blip lines - very dark and fuzzy. For those who must have this for their MacDonald collection - it's available from Loving The Classics.
    5arthursward

    Oh! For A Script!

    Jeanette MacDonald opens the film with the finale from Tristan And Isolde. Thankfully, she has been well recorded [early Fox films were rife with spoiled sound in spite of the fact Fox held the sound-on-film patents]. Charles Clark's cinematography weaves complex shadows into the foreground and background, his camera freed from the "meat locker" booth. The performance ends and backstage dialog begins. MacDonald is the snippy diva, she performs confidently and speaks clearly. Hey! there's Bela Lugosi could this get any better? Sadly, no,

    The proceedings quickly fall apart, first with a miscast William Davidson as Kerry Stokes. This actor can be convincing as a police detective, grilling a suspect into a confession. But when he uses the same delivery, trying to romance Jeanette "what I ought to do is crush you in my arms and smother you with kisses"! I almost fell off my chair with laughter. That is some clunky dialog. But the saddest thing is that it was set up by a gorgeous close-up of Jeanette. It gets worse.

    The plot thickens (congeals) with a burglar in the personage of Reginald Denny. He breaks into Jeanette's bedchamber to rob her jewels. When she protests his chloroform because she's an opera singer, he recognizes the diva, compliments her performance that evening, and speaks in the most ridiculous Irish accent you have ever heard. [That settles it, I'll sit on the floor so I won't fall again]. The writing reminded me of what I used to type when I was 10. Jeanette then decides to make this thief her protege! OK!

    The writers are Phillip Klein and Lynn Stalling. Now Lynn would go onto earn credits for Bob Hope's THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES and CAT AND THE CANARY. Can't blame her, hmmm, Phillip Klein went on to write CHANDU THE MAGICIAN and a couple Charlie Chan films, aha! Mr. Klein's career climaxed with DANTE'S INFERNO, let's blame him. Anyhow, I'm obviously trying to be mean because there is so much good work in the film I was compelled to sit through Denny's insufferable performance and more horrible writing. I can only recommend this film for MacDonald and Lugosi fans on a completory quest.
    3bkoganbing

    Marrying Your Burglar

    It took a long time, but I think I finally found the worst movie Jeanette MacDonald ever made. And to think William Fox actually got her services on loan from Paramount for Oh, For A Man.

    What's fascinating here is that there are elements from some really classic films that were later used far better. Jeanette is a bored opera diva who wakes up to find Reginald Denny robbing her home. Just like Greta Garbo in Grand Hotel finding John Barrymore doing the same. And of course they take to each other, especially Jeanette to Denny because he's going to provide something that she hasn't been getting regular in her life.

    She even hears him sing a note or two and she finds talent there, I assure you that you won't. Just like Orson Welles finding that operatic talent in Dorothy Comingore in Citizen Kane. In the end though she just settles for sex from Denny.

    Naturally though Denny is bored with his life. I can't go any further because that would spoil an unbelievable ending. Both Jeanette and Denny overact outrageously, I'm not sure anyone was directing them. You'll also find Alison Skipworth as her maid and confidante. There's one scene where Denny asks Alison Skipworth if she could imagine herself with Denny. There's a thought to turn over in your mind. Bela Lugosi also has a small role as a music impresario.

    Jeanette sings two songs, an aria from Tristan And Isolde and a forgettable ballad, I'm Just Nuts About You. I can't believe she did such classic work at her studio of Paramount and later MGM and such total garbage when being loaned out.
    2kevinolzak

    Jeanette MacDonald, Marjorie White and Bela Lugosi

    1930's "Oh, For a Man!" is, for an early talkie musical, such an atrocity that only fans of Jeanette MacDonald, Marjorie White, or naturally Bela Lugosi may find solace in it. The slapdash plot centers on opera singer Carlotta Manson (Jeanette), tiring of the daily grind, who finds excitement after professional thief Barney McGann (Reginald Denny) enters her boudoir after dark, and actually sings for his supper! (or something like that). Wanting to promote his singing career, Carlotta decides to call upon Senor Frescatti (Bela Lugosi), her opera director/impresario, who can only watch disapprovingly at the painful squawk in his presence. Soon she decides to marry the talentless scamp, but her class of people aren't exactly the same as his. He meets former lover Totsy Franklin (Marjorie White), now married to boxer Pug Morini, alias 'The Walloping Wop' (Warren Hymer), and runs off with them, leaving his wife in despondent tears (the ending isn't any better). As bad as it sounds, not even good for laughs, but Jeanette's beauty is ravishing. Still, once Marjorie White enters, we are introduced to her captivating vivacity, a diminutive blonde dynamo who graced several early talkies, including three more opposite Lugosi, "Women of All Nations," "The Black Camel," and "Broadminded." As for Bela, he's only in it for around five minutes (just two scenes), making his exit at 26 minutes; notable primarily as the last film he completed before starting work on his hard fought role in "Dracula."
    6boblipton

    If You Know What I Mean

    Jeanette MacDonald is an opera diva, and she fits all the characteristics: moody, selfish, hard-working, and sorry for herself. When burglar Reginald Denny -- with the oddest, most erratic Irish accent on record -- breaks in, she's charmed. At first she tries to make him an opera singer, but that's no go, so they get married and go on an endless vacation in Europe; it turns out all she wanted was a man with thick lips to kiss her and thick boots to kick her.

    But while she's happy, Denny is not. A man has to work, and he likes to be around colleagues, and he gets moody, so it's a rocky relationship.

    It's certainly an odd pre-code movie, with hints of masochism and real affection, and Miss MacDonald is a believably sexual creature, dressed in sheer silk. Alison Skipworth, as usual, has all the best lines as Miss MacDonald's factotum, and Marjorie White has a small but amusing role as what Denny calls "Americas Sweetheart."

    More like this

    Aimez-moi ce soir
    7.5
    Aimez-moi ce soir
    The Lottery Bride
    5.1
    The Lottery Bride
    Le Vagabond roi
    5.2
    Le Vagabond roi
    Annabelle's Affairs
    6.7
    Annabelle's Affairs
    Emporte mon coeur
    5.7
    Emporte mon coeur
    Monte-Carlo
    6.6
    Monte-Carlo
    Let's Go Native
    5.7
    Let's Go Native
    Hollywood Parade
    5.8
    Hollywood Parade
    Le chat et le violon
    6.4
    Le chat et le violon
    Charlie Chan Carries On
    6.7
    Charlie Chan Carries On
    The Black Camel
    6.6
    The Black Camel
    Vos mollets, mesdames...
    6.7
    Vos mollets, mesdames...

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Filming began September 12 1930, released November 5. Bela Lugosi's last film prior to "Dracula," which started September 29 1930.
    • Connections
      References Les ailes (1927)
    • Soundtracks
      Liebestod
      (uncredited)

      from "Tristan und Isolde"

      Music by Richard Wagner

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 7, 1931 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • Oh, for a Man!
    • Production company
      • Fox Film Corporation
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 18 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb App
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.