Du burlesque à l'opéra

Being a great fan of Lauritz Melchior, I was extremely delighted to be able to see the few movies he made in 40's last night on TCM. The four times he sings in the picture were, for me, extreme highlights, especially when he sang 'Morgenlich leuchtend im rosigem Schein'.

June Allyson was a delight and the act she did in the night club, left me laughing. Alot was based on her innocence and it worked great.

Kathryn Grayson was also a delight and the film was very clearly made to showcase her and Melchior. But even so, she did come out in glorious voice and made her and Allyson's characters people to care about.

Jimmy Durante was also a great treat as the club manager and hood, using like phraise: 'I don't know nothin' alot to make people do what he wanted.

To finalise this comment, for me it was Lauritz Melchior who steeled the show every time he was on the screen, but the story was good with a happy ending where everyone had what they wanted.

High-C Susie! that's hilarious. and it's Abigail Chandler's stage name when she gets on stage to do her burlesky. Keep an eye out for Jimmy Durante doing his awesome shtick. He was a pro fer sure. fun to watch Durante work fun word-play into a song. When Abby's sister comes for a visit from back home, she tries to keep her from finding out the truth about her on stage performances. Kathryn Grayson and June Allyson co-star as sisters in this musical from MGM. Peter Lawford is in here as Lawrence Patterson. and Grady Sutton and Barbara Billingsly are in here as party extras, according to imdb. It's okay... it travels the line between comedy and serious period piece, and mostly succeeds. a funny number where she gets down to her bloomers and sings "after the show". i was never a big fan of either June Allyson or Peter Lawford, but if you turn down to high octave arias, the story is pretty good. I'll give this one an "okay". shows occasionally on Turner Classics.

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.

Nice turn of the century film where Kathryn Grayson comes to N.Y. to sing in a joint. Her presence there threatens a scandal in her native Boston as her uncle is the Republican candidate for mayor of the town.

He comes with his wife to investigate and the fun starts. June Allyson is her sister and Jimmy Durante, the owner of the place where Grayson is singing. To save Grayson, Durante arranges for her to sing at the opera with the established Lauritz Melchior.

Peter Lawford, falls for Allyson but thinks that Grayson is having an affair with his father.

The picture becomes funny at times but needed technicolor to brighten it up.

Ben Blue is funny as a drunken waiter and Melchior shows some comedic gift here.

A pleasant film capturing the turn of the century musical traditions in America.

A huge hit for MGM and Kathryn Grayson, the black-and-white film features a lot of classical music, Liszt and Wagner among others, with Jimmy Durante for comic relief. The always fresh-as-a-daisy June Allyson plays the other sister and balances Grayson's rebellious side, as she defies her puritanical family and shows her limbs on a turn-of-the-century vaudeville stage. Grayson has never been funnier than when she is disrupting the opera sequence from "Lohengrin" as the great Lauritz Melchior fumes his way through the aria. Musicals of this period may not be profound, but they are still a lot of fun to watch, especially when Melchior's dog hears "his master's voice" in a recreation of the earliest recording session. --from Musicals on the Silver Screen, American Library Association, 2013