The Great Victor Herbert
Cast & Crew
Andrew L. Stone
Allan Jones
Mary Martin
Walter Connolly
Lee Bowman
Susanna Foster
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Louise Hall, a choir girl from the small town of Riverford, foresakes her boyfriend, a country doctor, to make her name as a singer in New York. There she meets John Ramsey, star of the Victor Herbert operas. John is so smitten with Louise that he promotes her career, finally making her a star of such magnitude that she eclipses his own. Louise's rise creates a strain on their love, forcing her to give up the stage in order to save her marriage. Soon after, their daughter Peggy is born, but their relation remains tenuous as fatherhood cools the ardor of John's female fans and, finding himself relegated to small parts, he begins to blame Louise for his loss of popularity. Louise finally leaves John and takes Peggy to Switzerland, but there learns of his further decline as an actor and returns to New York. Louise finds John destitute and begins to give singing lessons to support the family. Humiliated, John leaves Louise, who then agrees to perform in a reprise of one of her operettas. However, on opening night, Louise, preoccupied with the dissolution of her marriage, is unable to sing and Peggy takes her place. She performs miserably until John coaches her on stage, imbuing her with a confidence that catapults her to stardom.
Director
Andrew L. Stone
Cast
Allan Jones
Mary Martin
Walter Connolly
Lee Bowman
Susanna Foster
Judith Barrett
Jerome Cowan
John Garrick
Pierre Watkin
Richard Tucker
Hal K. Dawson
Emmett Vogan
Mary Currier
James Finlayson
Crew
Phil Boutelje
John Cope
Russel Crouse
Hans Dreier
Ernst Fegte
A. E. Freudeman
Stanley Goldsmith
Hugo Grenzbach
Edith Head
Victor Herbert
Arthur Kay
Arthur Lange
William Lebaron
Edwin Lester
Robert Lively
Robert Lively
Hal Mcalpin
Victor Milner
Leroy Prinz
Loren L. Ryder
James Smith
Robert Stillman
Andrew L. Stone
Andrew L. Stone
Max Terr
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Nominations
Best Cinematography
Best Score
Best Sound
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working titles of this film were The Gay Days of Victor Herbert, The Life of Victor Herbert, Victor Herbert and The Life and Melodies of Victor Herbert. Before the credits begin to role, the film opens with a sequence of Victor Herbert entering a concert hall and picking up his baton to conduct the orchestra. According to a news item in Daily Variety, the film was originally to have been produced Paramount in 1936 as The Life and Melodies of Victor Herbert. Edward Arnold was to have played the composer and Melvyn Douglas, Fred MacMurray and Clark Gable were considered for the male lead and Irene Dunne for the female lead. Although the 1936 screenplay, written by Gilbert Gabriel, focused on the composer's middle years, producer Howard Estabrook ordered the script rewritten to include Herbert's early years. A news item in Hollywood Reporter notes that the revived project was shelved in late 1938 because of story conflicts. This was Broadway musical comedy star Mary Martin's first major role in a motion picture. The picture received Academy Award nominations in the Music (Scoring) and Sound Recording categories.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1939
Released in United States 1939
