Du burlesque à l'opéra

From 1946, "Two Sisters from Boston" stars Kathryn Grayson and June Allyson as -- well, two sisters from Boston at the turn of the century. Grayson is Abigail Chandler, who wants to make it as an opera singer in New York, but winds up singing with Spike (Jimmy Durante) in a burlesque house. When Martha (Allyson) comes to visit with their parents, Abigail claims that she's singing at the opera house, and they buy tickets.

Spike is an old hand at getting into places. He intimates to the staff that she is the girlfriend of a big patron, Patterson, and gets her into the chorus. Abigail incurs Olstrum's wrath when she keeps interpolating high notes during his aria.

Peter Lawford is Patterson's son Lawrence and is terribly upset when he thinks his father is having an affair with Abigail. That's straightened out, and Lawrence becomes interested in Martha. Now, how to keep his upper crust family from knowing that Abigail is High C Susie in a Burlesque house?

Sweet film, heartwarming, with Jimmy Durante hilarious as he pretends past scandalous associations with well-known people to get into places and get favors. June Allyson is delightful with her relaxed comedy that came out of her character. Peter Lawford - I can never get over how handsome he was. Kathryn Grayson had a very pretty voice though a screechy top and was charming as Abigail.

I just don't understand how anyone hired her for roles that absolutely, positively did not fit that fluttery light soprano: Apparently she performed La Boheme, La Traviata, and Madama Butterfly on the opera stage. No idea what they were thinking. She should have been singing Don Pasquale, Daughter of the Regiment, Mignon. As bad as Jeanette McDonald singing Tosca.

In this film, the studio took concertos for violin, etc., and turned them into classical music rather than having actual operas. The exception was in some of Lauritz Melchior's music. With the end of World War II before this movie began filming, he was able to sing Wagner once again. He was one of the greatest heldentenors who ever lived, and his specialty was in Wagnerian roles. Here he knocks your socks off with a sequence from Lohengrin and Preislied from Der Meistersinger. Magnificent.

The best sequence was Melchior's recording session where his dog sat in front of the megaphone-shaped phonograph in an exact replication of the RCA logo, and someone said, "His master's voice." Fabulous.

Fun movie. I wish they'd used some real operas, though, instead of "Marie Antoinette" which was really Violin Concerto in E Minor by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.

I saw this movie for the first time about 40 years ago and loved it. It came on TCM today and I was afraid I was going to be disappointed. NOT AT ALL!!! If anything it is even better than I remembered. The script is really tight; no loose ends. Silly? Of course, but what wonderful silliness. And there is some pretty clever humor. Some serious laughs. The songs for it are pretty bad, but how much fun it was when MGM took classical music and used it as opera arias. Melchior is astounding in that the voice is so huge and so sweet and his diction in English, impeccable. Durante is lovable even when he gets a bit annoying. And Grayson really had a beauty that is unlike anyone else's; her singing style is a matter of taste. But as is often the case, June Allyson steals the show just by being herself. Her soubrette number near the end is adorable and in its own way very, very sweet! This is what they used to call a family musical. Thank God for Turner Classic Movies.

Two Sisters From Boston is one of those comedies that will probably have less and less appeal since the coming generations might not know about the peculiar foibles of Boston, that were still operating in some quarters in 1946. The story is set at the turn of the last century in the time of what could be labeled George Apley's Boston.

Scandal is about to break when it is discovered that one of the Chandler sisters, Kathryn Grayson, is discovered to be the notorious High C Susie who headlines at a Bowery nightclub. The explanation is real simple, Kathryn's uncle Harry Hayden has been real stingy even though he's financing her voice lessons, the money for living just isn't there, so Kathryn is singing for her supper. In most places even in 1900 that would raise no problems, but not in Boston where coincidentally enough Hayden's running for mayor.

In rushes the other Chandler sister, June Allyson, to help save the family honor. In the process her little schemes manage to involve the family with Peter Lawford and his parents who are opera patrons, tenor Lauritz Melchior and Bowery theater entertainer Jimmy Durante. This film must have been a bit of nostalgia for Durante, it was at clubs like these where High C Susie headlines that Durante got his start during this same period.

Peter Lawford plays his part like a young George Apley in training. It might have been interesting casting if instead of Thurston Hall to play his part they could have gotten Ronald Colman albeit for a small role.

Both Grayson and Allyson get show their respective styles as singers and Lauritz Melchior is fine as the egotistical Wagnerian tenor. His was a limited casting potential so Melchior only made a few films over at MGM. The score written by Sammy Fain and Ralph Freed provided no big hits, but managed to accommodate Grayson, Allyson, Melchior, and Durante an eclectic group of singers if there ever was one.

Enjoy Two Sisters From Boston while you can while jokes about Boston's puritanical standards are still understood.

Here's a film that's a pleasure to view and hear. All departments work together, as does the talented cast, to make this a fun-filled experience.

Jimmy Durante ties the various comedic elements together with spunk and verve. Katheryn Grayson sings her operatic selections beautifully, yet it's her skill in the honky-tonk numbers that surprises and delights. Likewise June Allyson works smoothly on several levels, as does Peter Lawford.

The musical team has skillfully crafted operatic arias and montages for Lauriz Melchoir that shows off his glorious heldentenor marvelously. The entire production is fun-filled and thoroughly pleasant. It may seem like a modest effort, but there's a lot of solid craftsmanship at its core.

Reviewing this film during its first run (for the New York Times), Bosley Crowther called it "joyous, melodic and romantic". That is a fair assessment.

All the actors feel like they are in their element, and they deliver very enjoyable performances that make this an extremely entertaining film.

The story is about a young woman, Abigail Chandler (Kathryn Grayson), from an upper class Boston family who works in burlesque, though her family believes she performs in opera. Miss Grayson, who is both beautiful and talented, gets to perform with two MGM stars and she makes the most of it. Not surprisingly, they pair her with opera tenor Lauritz Melchior, and they are great together. She also performs some burlesque numbers with Jimmy Durante. It is an unexpected joy to see and hear her perform these very non-operatic songs alongside The Schnoz.

Her sister, Martha, is played by June Allyson. She is paired romantically with Peter Lawford, who plays a young man from an upper crust family. He is perfectly suited to the role of an earnest traditionalist.

The main story of the film holds everything together, but the musical performances are most of the best scenes. I plan to rewatch this film in the future.