The Great Victor Herbert

Overview

In his last film assignment, portly Walter Connolly fills the title role (in more ways than one) in The Great Victor Herbert. Very little of Herbert's life story is incorporated in the screenplay (a closing title actually apologizes for the film's paucity of cold hard facts); instead, the writers allow the famed composer's works to speak for themselves. In the tradition of one of his own operettas, Herbert spends most of his time patching up the shaky marriage between tenor John Ramsey (Allan Jones) and Louise Hall (Mary Martin). Many of Herbert's most famous compositions are well in evidence, including "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life", "March of the Toys" and "Kiss Me Again", the latter performed con brio by teenaged coloratura Susanna Foster. Evidently, the producers were able to secure the film rights for the Herbert songs, but not for the stage productions in which they appeared, which may explain such bizarre interpolations as having a song from Naughty Marietta.

Details

Status

Released

Release date

December 29, 1939

Original language

English

Spoken languages

English

Countries

United States of America

Production

Paramount,Paramount Pictures

Cast

Susanna Foster,James Finlayson,Hal K. Dawson,Mary Currier,Emmett Vogan,Lee Bowman,Jerome Cowan,Allan Jones,Sandra Lee Richards,Pierre Watkinand 5 more

Director

Andrew L. Stone

Writer

Harry B. Smith,Buddy G. DeSylva,Glen MacDonough,Robert B. Smith,Russel Crouse,Robert Lively,Rida Johnson Young,Henry Martyn Blossom,Andrew L. Stone,William LeBaron

Producer

William LeBaron,Andrew L. Stone

Cinematography

Victor Milner

Budget

Not recorded

Revenue

Not recorded

IMDb

tt0031393