I'll Take Romance (1937)

Admirable film.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Grace Moore was such a talent. She would live only another 10 years as a plane crash would deny the world one of the greatest opera singers of all time.In this 1937 film, she plays a diva who is contracted to sing in Buenos Aires but instead is going to Paris. Manager Melvyn Douglas comes along and the first part of this comedy is devoted to him and his pal, Stu Irwin, trying to get in to see her. He has to resort to sublet the apartment next door to speak to her. Helen Westley steals the scenes that she is in as a long-retired, but doting aunt to Moore. It is so funny how Douglas tries to get Westley to like him.Along for the ride is none other than Margaret Hamilton as Moore's wily secretary.The film descends into constant kidnapping plots by Douglas to get Moore to Argentina. The film ends with her turning the tables on him and the scene of her singing in Madame Butterfly is a joy to watch.

As far as Grace Moore films go, 'Louise' and 'One Night of Love' are better films, but having been let down by 'When You're in Love' (yes even with the presence of Cary Grant) 'I'll Take Romance is superior to that. Haven't seen 'Jenny Lind' yet, but am in two minds as to whether it will be good or not.'I'll Take Romance' is not a great film, but it's good fun and it is difficult to not be taken by its charm. The story is slight, it's also predictable and gets sometimes on the wrong side of incredibly silly. Moore showed in other films that comedy comes naturally to her, but they were films with a frothier approach. Here the timing (as it's more screwball-like comedy) needed to sharper and wittier and she struggles a little.Have to concur also that, as good as the operatic music is as music on its own, other films have done much better jobs at integrating opera into their stories. Here they are well sung (though Butterfly is rather heavy a role for Moore's voice from personal opinion), but it does feel like they are there for the reason of having opera to showcase Moore's voice without finding a way to weave it into the story in a relevant way, consequently they do slow the film down, especially when the scenes from 'Madama Butterfly' and 'Martha' are long. A couple are more interesting than others, coming off least is actually the least known one 'Martha', it was interesting to see and hear a non-standard repertoire excerpt but the staging was static and indifferently directed.On the other hand, 'I'll Take Romance' is a beautifully photographed and produced film and mostly very nicely directed (only 'Martha' doesn't quite come off, and it could be to do with that the drama in the opera is not the most compelling in the first place, not bad as such but there are operas that are more involving dramatically in general). The music is wonderful especially the title song, there are no qualms with the music itself it's just the placement.Scripting is witty, funny, frothy without being shallow and don't fall into schmaltz. Moore is charming and likable, though her character frustrates at times, while Margaret Hamilton and Stu Erwin provide sterling comic support. Best of all is debonair Melvyn Douglas, a role that fits him like a glove and one that he can do in his sleep and still engage the pants off you, a contender for Moore's best leading man. The romantic chemistry is sweet without being sentimental and endearing.To conclude, charming, romantic and fun, reservations for the story and placement and timing of the operatic excerpts aside. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Back in the day, Grace Moore was a huge opera star. Somehow, the studios thought they could translate this into making her a movie star but after less than a dozen films, she just didn't make much traction in the film industry. Her acting wasn't bad but she didn't exactly have a movie star look and her singing style was something most viewers wouldn't have enjoyed...even more so today. Fortunately, Columbia paired Moore with Melvyn Douglas, an actor who had an easy-going acting style and brought out the most in this otherwise limp film.The film hampers itself by creating a pretty dreadful conflict...one that makes viewers immediately dislike Moore's character. Apparently, this singing diva has a contract to sing in South America but is planning on just ditching it in favor of singing in Paris. I don't know about you, but anyone totally ignoring a contract and the impact breaking it would have on others makes me pretty angry at her. Douglas plays a guy hired to try to get her to South America and eventually he tries to use romance to woo her that way. Unfortunately, every time this film starts to get interesting, Moore breaks into song....and most of the songs are operatic. I was watching the film at home and whenever she sang, I did chores! Too bad, as it's otherwise an agreeable little film.

If you only know Grace Moore from *One Night of Love*, you should definitely check out this movie. It's much better.First, Moore is much more at ease acting in front of the camera. In ONOL she often delivered her lines in a stilted way. Here, she is much more natural, and really seems to be having fun.Second, and even though they do repeat it rather often, this movie does have a dynamite title song, which bears repeated listening.Third, Moore is surrounded by a uniformly fine cast, starting with Melvyn Douglas and including Stu Erwin, Helen Westley, and Margaret Hamilton (yes, the Wicked Witch of the West, two years before TWOO), all in top form.The weak point, frankly, is the three fully-staged operatic scenes. The first and the third, from Traviata Act I and the Love Duet from the end of the first act of Madama Butterfly, are well-performed. (The middle one, the Act III finale from Martha, is not as well done.) The problem is that they just sit there, and are not in any way integrated into the plot. If you think of a movie like Moonstruck, which does such a magnificent job of incorporating various scenes from La Boheme into its plot, you have some idea of what could have been done. Instead, the action just stops, and the audience is asked to sit back, watch, and listen, not even as if they were at the opera, because we are given no idea whatsoever of what is going on in those three scenes. If scenes had been chosen with situations similar to what was going on in the movie, and if the parallels had been indicated, the operatic scenes wouldn't have acted as dead weights in what is otherwise a nicely paced romantic comedy. (There is some effort to incorporate the scene from Manon into the action, but not much.) Still, don't let those three scenes keep you away. Moore comes off as vivacious and fun-loving, Douglas is his usual easy-going and agreeable self. The result is an enjoyable 90 or so minutes.---------------------I watched this again on TCM. The cast is really very good, a group of first-rate comedians. It's a shame the material isn't up to the level of their talent. Every now and then it seems about to take off and become a good comedy, but then it falls flat again.I still feel that the operatic numbers slow things down. Only the Butterfly duet is really well done. On the other hand, Moore does a great job with the few pop numbers she is given. She should have sung more popular numbers and cut back on the opera.