CHU CHIN CHOW

Fritz Kortner and Anna May Wong

CHU CHIN CHOW (1934). Director: Walter Forde. Colorized.  

Now here is a weird one! Chu Chin Chow was originally a highly popular British operetta with music by Frederick Norton that played for years, but is now more or less forgotten. This very interesting film version has only one cast member whose name may be familiar to modern-day film buffs -- Anna May Wong -- although the other players were all well-known in their day. This adaptation uses some of Norton's wonderful (at times Puccinesque) music but drops some of his best songs. It is a version of the story of Ali Baba and the forty thieves. 

Pearl Argyle and John Garrick

Ali Baba (George Robey) is the brother of the much more successful merchant Kasim (Lawrence Hanray). One day looking for firewood in the Dark Forest, Ali discovers the supposedly magic words to open the entrance to the cave of Abu Hasan (Fritz Kortner of Somewhere in the Night) and his band of thieves and cutthroats. Ali makes off with as much booty as he can and becomes one of the richest men in town. Meanwhile Abu and his men waylay the party of the Chinese Chu Chin Chow and kill everyone, even burying the Chinese man alive; Abu impersonates the dead man, planning to sack the palace. Ali's son Nur-al-din (John Garrick) is in love with the gorgeous slave Marjanah (Pearl Argyle) while another slave, Zahrat (Anna May Wong of Daughter of Shanghai), is the beloved of the evil Abu. These characters all come into conflict with one another in unpredictable fashion until Abu secrets his men in large jars of olive oil planning to attack -- until his plans are stymied in violent fashion.

Lawrence Hanray and George Robey

Chu Chin Chow is strange because it is essentially a light-hearted operetta but has some decidedly grim and bloody developments. When Kasim discovers how his brother got his money, he enters Abu's cave only to be dismembered by forty slashing scimitars (although this is not shown graphically). Later a cobbler has to literally sew the pieces together (!) so the corpse can be presentable. Ali, not an especially likable character, immediately moves in on his brother's fat and unmournful widow. (The song about her, "When a pullet is plump," is dropped). The climax, with dancing girls, an initially unimpressed Caliph (Francis L. Sullivan), a knife attack by a vengeful Zahrat, and the jars allegedly filled with olive oil being dropped down a well followed by flaming liquid, is very well-done and exciting. 

An interesting notion is that the cave door is not opened by magic. When someone shouts out "Open O Sesame" a bunch of Abu's prisoners, starved, whipped and tied to a gigantic wheel, revolve this wheel to open the entrance. When Abu wrongly thinks that Zahrat has betrayed him, he ties her to the wheel until she effects an escape and enacts her revenge. The score includes "The Cobbler's Song," the thieves march, "Anytime's Kissing Time," "Marjanah,"  the title tune (sung briefly), as well as a song about the variety of slaves in the market and even one about olive oil, but doesn't include Norton's two best numbers "I Long for the Sun" and "I Love Thee So." Another version of the famous story is Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves starring Jon Hall and Maria Montez.

Verdict: Rather fascinating and unusual musical. ***. 

THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIER

Rise Stevens and Nelson Eddy

THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIER (1941). Director: Roy Del Ruth.

Karl Lang (Nelson Eddy) and Maria Lanyl (Rise Stevens) are a married couple in Vienna who appear nightly in a production of The Chocolate Soldier. Karl is generally surrounded by adoring young ladies, but he is still jealous of the attentions his wife receives from other men, and thinks that she has quite a romantic history. He fears it is time for her to take yet another lover and his marriage may be doomed. To test Maria's affections, he disguises himself as an intensely romantic Russian singer ...

Eddy disguised as the Russian

Like Sweethearts, which Eddy did with Jeanette MacDonald three years earlier, The Chocolate Soldier completely throws out the plot of that operetta -- while retaining some of Oscar Straus' music -- and substitutes the storyline of that creaky old standby The Guardsman (which Lunt and Fontanne actually filmed ten years earlier). This plot was recycled for more than one I Love Lucy episode which at least had Lucy and Desi yukking it up. However, to be fair to the leads in this picture, they are both excellent and amusing in their own way. Often damned as a lousy actor, Eddy is actually quite effective in this, including when he is impersonating the love-mad Russian. Stevens, a mezzo-soprano to reckon with and a genuine operatic star (and with a voice far superior to Jeanette MacDonald's ), also proves a delightfully talented and sophisticated actress. Stevens may not have been a stunning beauty, but with her personality, manner and charm -- not to mention her cute appeal -- I have no doubt she had plenty of male admirers (she was happily married for 61 years, however).

Nelson Eddy as Karl

But then we come to the music. The best song, of course, is the gorgeous "My Hero," which is reprised more than once in the movie and deserves to be. Vivian Vance sang this song in the classic "Ethel's Home Town" episode of I Love Lucy, but while Vance had a nice voice, she can't compare to Stevens, who gives a superb rendition, joined in by Eddy, who is also in fine voice, at one point. Stevens is also given a beautiful aria from Samson and Delilah, while Eddy does Tannhauser.  There are other musical interludes, including a weird, unmemorable piece sung by Eddy as the Russian, and a frenetically-edited dance at a drinking establishment.

Rise Stevens

Frankly, the script for Chocolate Soldier is not the chief appeal of the movie, although it does manage to remain amusing and watchable due to the actors and the soundtrack. Florence Bates [The Brasher Doubloon], Nigel Bruce, and Nydia Westman [Forty Little Mothers] add to the fun as assorted associates of the lead couple, and all are very good. Rise Stevens did a version of The Chocolate Soldier for television with Eddie Albert in 1955, which I believe stuck to the original story of the operetta. Stevens had a long and wonderful career with the Metropolitan opera in New York and did very few films, one of which was Going My Way. She did a few operas, such as Carmen, on TV as well.

Verdict: Despite its obvious flaws, this is still quite entertaining. "My Hero," indeed! ***. 

SWEETHEARTS

Nelson Eddy and Jeannette MacDonald

SWEETHEARTS (1938). Director: W. S. Van Dyke.

"She's in the hospital for over work. She can't even see the doctor for six months."

Gwen Marlowe (Jeanette MacDonald) and Ernest Lane (Nelson Eddy) have starred in the hit Broadway musical "Sweethearts" since the show opened -- and they were married -- six years ago. Producer Felix Lehman (Frank Morgan of Saratoga) is horrified at the notion that his stars may flee to Hollywood, but they are so fed up with demands upon their time that they agree to go west with movie man Norman Trumpett (Reginald Gardiner). But then the show's lyricist, Leo Kronk (Mischa Auer), comes up with a rather cruel way to keep the couple in New York -- by breaking them up! To do this he plants the notion in Gwen's head that Ernest is having an affair with their secretary, Kay (Florence Rice of Mr. District Attorney).

Eddy, Frank Morgan and MacDonald

Let's make it clear from the start that although Eddy, MacDonald, Morgan and others are swell, the true star of this picture is Victor Herbert. The plot of the great composer's operetta was thrown out for this mild backstage roundelay in which the lead characters only appear in "Sweethearts," which retains Herbert's music while attributing it to fictional composer Oscar Engel (an amusing Herman Bing). So we get the gloriously romantic title tune; McDonald warbling "Summer Serenade;" Nelson delivering "Marching On Parade" with real panache; and the couple dueting on "A Little Gray House in the West,"  memorable tunes all. MacDonald is delightful as she jazzes up "Pretty as a Picture."

Nelson and Jeanette

The shame of it is that the stars, especially MacDonald, seem more than up to the task of delivering what's required if there had only been a more sophisticated and/or meatier script. Both Gwen and Ernest have parents who are or were in show biz, and who talk about their past glories endlessly. but their children's near-contempt of them is a bit unsettling. Lucile Watson and George Barbier are two of the parents. Ray Bolger has no dialogue but does a snappy dance number, and Douglas McPhail [Babes in Arms] and Betty Jaynes show up briefly as young hopefuls. Fay Holden and Olin Howland have smaller roles. The two leads are in fine voice, even if they at times tend to over-sing, and Ms. MacDonald can occasionally be shrill.

Verdict: Beautiful MGM technicolor, some good performances and vocalizing, and lilting Victor Herbert music -- but oh that script! **1/2. 

ONE HEAVENLY NIGHT

Evelyn lays a big egg in "One Heavenly Night"

ONE HEAVENLY NIGHT (1931). Director: George Fitzmaurice.

Flower girl/usherette Lilli (the amusingly named Evelyn Laye) aspires to be just like the notorious man-hungry chanteuse Fritzi (Lilyan Tashman), and she gets her chance when Fritzi asks Lilli to impersonate her on a trip to the tiny kingdom of Zuppa. There Lilli meets the handsome Count Tibor (John Boles), and the two fall in love after an initial unpleasant encounter. One Heavenly Night is, alas, not an example of one of your more memorable operettas, having an uninteresting story, tedious comic relief, and songs that are only vaguely pleasant at best. Playing a young ladies man, Boles is sexier than in such dramas as Back Street and Stella Dallas, in which he was convincingly middle-aged only a year later. Neither Laye nor Tashman are terribly attractive by Hollywood standards; although Laye isn't a bad actress, she lacks distinction. One problem with Laye in this movie is that she's rather affected even before she begins her impersonation of the haughty Fritzi. Leon Errol is on hand as Lilli's vocal coach and loving buddy, but even the great comedian isn't able to do anything to save the picture. Laye made a few more films in the thirties, and then wasn't seen again for twenty years. That same year Fitzmaurice directed Greta Garbo in Mata Hari and he guided Barbara Stanwyck in her second film and first sound picture, The Locked Door.

Verdict: A not-so-heavenly hour and a half. *1/2.

FORBIDDEN MUSIC

FORBIDDEN MUSIC (aka Land Without Music/1936), Director: Walter Forde.

In the Grand Duchy of Lucca, Princess Maria (Diana Napier) is appalled to learn that her country is in debt to the tune of ten million and because of this may be taken over by Austria. It seems her countrymen spend entirely too much time singing and playing instruments, so she decides to ban music throughout the land upon punishment of prison. Jimmy Durante and June Clyde show up as a father/daughter team traveling through the Duchy, but of more importance is the re-appearance of Lucca's great singer, Mario Carlini (Richard Tauber), who romances the princess. There are some pleasant songs by Oscar Straus, very well-sung by the heroic Tauber, but both the characters and story line are unmemorable. The great Schnozzola is pretty much lost in this not so comic opera.

Verdict: Durante deserves better than this! **.

THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE

THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE (1934). Director: William K. Howard.

It's love at first sight when aspiring composer Victor Florescu (Ramon Novarro) meets American composer Shirley Sheridan (Jeanette MacDonald) in Brussels -- although she at first doesn't feel the same. When her career begins to take off, producer Jules Daudet (Frank Morgan), who loves Shirley himself, convinces Victor to leave her before she abandons her dreams out of love for him. Novarro, with charm to spare, has one of his best roles and he and the able MacDonald have chemistry together. Vivienne Segal also scores as the sexy Odette, who plans to make a comeback in Victor's operetta. (Segal starred in Pal Joey on Broadway and mostly appeared on the stage.) This is fluff, but it's well turned out and features some wonderful songs by Jerome Kern, including "The Night Was Made for Love."

Verdict: If you like musicals and operettas, dig in! ***.