pierre corneille	...	(Director)
	...	(Writer)
Nelson Eddy	...
Eleanor Powell	...
Frank Morgan	...
Edna May Oliver	...
Ray Bolger	...

Summary: This is a typical Hollywood remake of a 1928 Broadway musical. They threw out the original score, some of the dialog, and got a new score from Cole Porter. The original was a Romberg Operetta with ballet which had a decent run. The Hollywood version was a hit with the new jazzy score and services of the new star Elenor Powell, and the slightly wooden Nelson Eddy. The secondary characters are all excellent with Ray Bolger, Edna May Oliver, Frank Morgan, Clay Clement and others. Of the original cast only Frank Morgan and Clay Clement survive in the Hollywood version.

The country of Romanza is supposedly located in the Balkans, but the costuming does not resemble any Balkan costumes that I have seen. They are a fun pastiche of Russian, Hungarian, Tirolean, and generic Gypsy costumes. The large dance sequences feature music stolen from various composers including Borodin. The mixture is unbelievable, but lots of fun.

Those were the days when black & white could be used to great effect. The movie sparkles. This was exactly what the public needed during the great depression and Hollywood dished it out liberally. The transfer to VHS is low noise with good resolution. On hopes that they will use the sophisticated software now available to remove the dirt and scratches when they transfer the film to DVD.

One wonders what the original Broadway score was like, as it featured Romberg and P.G. Woodehouse as well as the Gershwins.