

The Great Victor Herbert
1939 Directed by Andrew L. StoneIn 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.

Allan Jones
....................................................John Ramsey

Mary Martin
....................................................Louise Hall

Walter Connolly
....................................................Victor Herbert

Lee Bowman
....................................................Dr. Richard Moore

Susanna Foster
....................................................Peggy

Judith Barrett
....................................................Marie Clark

Jerome Cowan
....................................................Barney Harris
Director
...........................................................Andrew L. Stone
Executive Producer
...........................................................William LeBaron
Producer
...........................................................Andrew L. Stone
Screenplay
...........................................................Robert Lively
Story
...........................................................Robert Lively
Andrew L. Stone
Music
...........................................................Arthur Lange
Production Companies
...................................................Paramount Pictures
Production Countries
........................................................United States of America
Spoken Languages
....................................................English
Genres
....................................................Music
Romance
Reviews