Romance in the Dark
Cast & Crew
H. C. Potter
Gladys Swarthout
John Boles
John Barrymore
Claire Dodd
Fritz Feld
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In Hungary, Ilona Boros, a beautiful young peasant singer, meets famous opera star Antal "Tony" Kovach and his business manager, Zoltan Jason, at her music school graduation. Taking Tony's offhand compliment about her singing in earnest, she goes to Budapest hoping he will grant her an audition. Tony, however, is too involved in his competition with Jason for the affection of the beautiful Countess Monica Foldessy to notice Ilona. Instead Ilona is hired by Tony's feisty butler, Fritz, to be the new maid. One morning, however, she takes advantage of her position and removes cotton from Tony's ears and improvises an audition. At first, Tony demands she be fired for waking him, but after receiving a call from Jason informing him he has a booking in New York, Tony realizes Jason is trying to get him away from the countess and decides to use Ilona to lure Jason's attention away from the countess. He buys Ilona a luxurious wardrobe and takes her with him to his rented summer home next to the countess's estate. While Ilona falls in love with Tony, he spends all of his days and nights with the countess, until one evening he is struck by Ilona's beauty. He falls in love with her and becomes reluctant to carry through his plan to get Jason interested in her. Ilona has been going along with the farce because Tony promised her an audition with Jason, so after Jason arrives, she pretends to be an Egyptian princess, named Zilona. The ruse works, and Jason becomes enamored by Ilona's allure and beautiful voice and offers to book her at the opera house in Budapest. When Fritz reveals to her that Tony is using her as a foil so he can carry out his affair with the countess, however, Ilona indignantly leaves with Jason for Budapest. Tony ends his relationship with the outraged countess, because he is really in love with Ilona. Jason's promotional campaign goes so well that Ilona's opening night is sold out. A gossip columnist overhears that Ilona is a fake, however, and prints a special edition that is distributed during intermission. Although the audience gave her a standing ovation in the first act, the newspaper's allegations turn them against Ilona and they throw food and make catcalls during the second act. Ilona bravely attempts to continue and openly confesses to the fraud. The audience finally quiets when Tony appears on stage and sings a duet with his beloved Ilona. During the course of the song, they reconcile, while Jason loses the countess to his butler, Von Hemisch.
Director
H. C. Potter
Cast
Gladys Swarthout
John Boles
John Barrymore
Claire Dodd
Fritz Feld
Curt Bois
Carlos De Valdez
Torben Meyer
Margaret Randall
Fortunio Bonanova
Esther Muir
Eddy Conrad
Ferdinand Gottschalk
Lois Verner
Janet Elsie Clark
Alexander Schonberg
Otto Hoffman
Russ Powell
Nick Copeland
George Hickman
Harry Lamont
George Magrill
Frank Mills
Helen Dickson
Jacques Vanaire
Otto Fries
Max Barwyn
Florence Wix
Charles De Ravenne
Ray De Ravenne
Alfred Hummel
Sid D'albrook
Joe Ploski
Margaret Randall
Norah Gale
Helaine Moler
Carol Parker
Alma Ross
Beth Hartman
Ann Morgan
Sheila Darcy
Lola Jensen
Dorothy Dayton
Paula De Cardo
Marie Burton
Suzanne Ridgway
Yvonne Duval
Wanda Stevenson
Jeanne Francis
Marguerite Franz
Loie Tilton
Maxine Armour
Mary Manners
Flower Hugir
Jacqueline Kopp
Nita James
Jeanette Bates
Florence Nelson
Marion March
Elizabeth Hocker
Ferdinand Schumann-heink
Gloria Williams
Bela Piroska Schaffer
Crew
Travis Banton
Vladimir Ivanovich Belsky
Georges Bizet
Phil Boutelje
Thomas Carman
Anne Morrison Chapin
Frank Chapman
Hans Dreier
A. E. Freudeman
Benjamin Godard
Jay Gorney
Ludovic Halévy
Earl Hedrick
William Lebaron
Archie Marshek
Henri Meilhac
William C. Mellor
Harry Mills
Boris Morros
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Frank Partos
Leroy Prinz
Ralph Rainger
Nikolay Rimsky-korsakov
Leo Robin
Harlan Thompson
Hal Walker
Ned Washington
Howard Wilson
Adolph Zukor
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of the film was The Yellow Nightingale. According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, Adolphe Menjou was originally cast for a lead role, but was replaced by Georges Rigaud, who does not appear in this film. Variety notes that a scene in which Gladys Swarthout is "pelted with fruit as she was singing" was cut from the film. A version of this scene was seen in the viewed print. According to copyright records, Bela Piroska Schaffer, the leader of the Hungarian Gypsy orchestra, appeared in this film.
