I was a bit surprised when I noticed that the leading man (Lawrence Tibbett) looked an awful lot like John C. Reilly! See for yourself.
"New Moon" is an operetta starring two big-time opera singers of the era, Tibbett and Grace Moore. In many ways it's a lot like a Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy film, though Moore and Tibbett clearly had stronger voices and were singers first and movie stars second. Now I must admit that I hate films with this sort of singing and why I decided to see this film escapes me! On an ocean voyage during the latter days of Czarist Russia, the Lieutenant (Tibbett) meets the Princess (Moore). Despite the huge disparity in their social classes, the two quickly fall in love. However, when they reach port Moore goes off with her fiancé (Adolph Menjou) and seems to completely forget about Tibbett (what a creepy thing to do!). Clearly this lady is interested in marrying for money and prestige.
When the fiancé meets the Lieutenant, he decides to get him out of the picture and assigns him to a fort in the middle of nowhere--and a very dangerous one at that. And, Moore does absolutely nothing--again, it's hard to like or respect her. Well, she actually does something--she whips him in the face!! And, you wonder why the film will end with them falling in love for good as per the formula)! I agree with the other reviewer that felt that Moore's character was totally unlikable!! And, as a result, the film seems oddly unromantic and a bit silly. But, being an MGM production, at least it looked nice and the singing, for what it was, was very good.
By the way, if you do see the film, get a load of the battle sequences, as they are surprisingly brutal. I liked the guy hopping about on one leg during the height of battle.
"New Moon" is an operetta starring two big-time opera singers of the era, Tibbett and Grace Moore. In many ways it's a lot like a Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy film, though Moore and Tibbett clearly had stronger voices and were singers first and movie stars second. Now I must admit that I hate films with this sort of singing and why I decided to see this film escapes me! On an ocean voyage during the latter days of Czarist Russia, the Lieutenant (Tibbett) meets the Princess (Moore). Despite the huge disparity in their social classes, the two quickly fall in love. However, when they reach port Moore goes off with her fiancé (Adolph Menjou) and seems to completely forget about Tibbett (what a creepy thing to do!). Clearly this lady is interested in marrying for money and prestige.
When the fiancé meets the Lieutenant, he decides to get him out of the picture and assigns him to a fort in the middle of nowhere--and a very dangerous one at that. And, Moore does absolutely nothing--again, it's hard to like or respect her. Well, she actually does something--she whips him in the face!! And, you wonder why the film will end with them falling in love for good as per the formula)! I agree with the other reviewer that felt that Moore's character was totally unlikable!! And, as a result, the film seems oddly unromantic and a bit silly. But, being an MGM production, at least it looked nice and the singing, for what it was, was very good.
By the way, if you do see the film, get a load of the battle sequences, as they are surprisingly brutal. I liked the guy hopping about on one leg during the height of battle.