Evening star., 1940-01-06

un1OrgettaDle melOdleS which IT ded
story of pair of attractive, talented,
The cast, headed by pretty Mary
Martin and Tenor Allan Jones, labors
admirably. but it is able to make the
picture sing only when it is working
on the material provided by Herbert.
That is quite often, of course.
OF a piece with those musical cav
alcades which have proved so highly
successful in the last two years, this
latest one probably should escape
the cavil that it Is the same old
story. BY now it should be clear
that musicians in movies live life
of uniform pattern. Singing boy
meets singing girl, their hearts melt,
they become triumphant successes,
then comes professional jealousy,
tragic estrangement and finally rec
onciliation. Unlike other people. the
musician never is able to vary from
this routine The public, therefore.
will have to stop hoping that some
day the fleeing husband really will
get to New Zealand and be eaten by
mosquitoes or cannibals.
The sentimental sparkle of Kiss
Me Again" "Neapolitan Love Song"
"A Kiss in the Dark" and more than
a score of other time-proved Herbert
tunes makes them a pleasant anes-
thetic for the rheumatic movement
of the plot. And don't think Para
mount did not use them that way.
1t injects one song after another into
the course of THE Great Victor
Herbert" until they come with such
speed one is flattered that the studio
decided not to bother about the
story.
Beyond demonstrating Herbert's
knowledge of the human heart when
he was writing the Nations music.
the Earle's picture is notable for
its introduction of Miss Martin to
the movie public. The girl who gave
her heart so spectacularly to daddy
that she became Broadway's toast
last winter is a fresh and vital per-
sonality who photographs like
Claudette Colbert and who sings and
dances as if she knew what it was
all about. Miss Martin may need
to learn something about acting,
as what living player does not, but
since she plays a part which re-
sembles herself, there are no con-
spicuous shortcomings in this phase
of her work. She is supposed to be
a sweet, naive, charming youngster
with a popular singing style, and a
yearning to go on the stage. It is
the most biographical thing about
the film, indeed, in spite of the
implications of the title that it is
the musical biography of Maestro
Herbert.
Giving him such a rich oppor-
tunity to sing, the Earle's picture
is the best thing that has come
Allan Jones way since Show Boat"
His silken tenor was made for
catching the various shades of joie
de vivre and heartbreak which Her.
bert put into his sentimental
operettas before sophistication came
into the world to mask the face of
sentiment. 1t is something straight
out of the turn of the century
that he and Miss Martin make of
the duet, I'm Falling in Love With
Some One" the big production
number of the picture which offers
the pair in romantic mood as they
ride through the park on bicycles.
Lacking the lavishness of that
Tales of the Vienna Woods" pro-
duction In ~The Great Waltz"
(movie version), this one is reminis-
cent of it, even to the misty pres
ence OF sheep, shepherdesses, and
similar bucolic phenomena.
Connolly, in the title role, is his
effective self in creating a feeling
of the atmosphere of Herberts time
rather than a portrait of the COM
poser himself. postscript explains
that that is all the picture intended
to do, that and to present q songs,
the words of which nearly every
one can sing with the properly felt
gayety or gravity of spirit.
1t Is that familiarity with his work
which gives this festival of Herbert
music its meaning and its charm.
4 X \
The Earle's stage show has look
of opulence about it without being
ovsrly rich in any particular. The
cast is composed of talented people
rather than box-ofnce attractions,
Harry Anger has woven it all deity
into 4 hrisklY trottina reY1ie and