''Heart's Desire'' is a 1935

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Paul L. Stein Paul Ludwig Stein (4 February 1892 – 2 May 1951) was an Austrian-born film director with 67 films to his credit. Stein began his career in Berlin in 1918 and worked exclusively in the German silent film industry until 1926, when he first w ...

and starring

Richard Tauber Richard Tauber (16 May 1891 – 8 January 1948) was an Austrian tenor and film actor. Early life Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria, to Elisabeth Seifferth (née Denemy), a widow and an actress who played soubrette roles at the local theat ...

Leonora Corbett Leonora Corbett (28 June 1908 – 29 July 1960) was an English actress, noted for her charm and elegance in stage roles, and for a number of films made in the 1930s. Life and career Corbett was born in London, the daughter of Richard Ashwin Cor ...

, Kathleen Kelly,

Diana Napier Alice Mary Wolkowicki (née Ellis, formerly Mulcaster and Tauber; 31 January 1905 – 12 March 1982), known professionally as Diana Napier, was an English film actress.

and

Frank Vosper Frank Permain Vosper (15 December 1899, in London – 6 March 1937) was an English actor who appeared in both stage and film roles and a dramatist, playwright and screenwriter. Stage Vosper made his stage debut in 1919 and was best known for pl ...

. Its plot involves a young

opera singer Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

who is discovered in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and brought to London where he rises to stardom. The film was made at

Elstree Studios Elstree Studios is a generic term which can refer to several current and demolished British film studios and television studios based in or around the town of Borehamwood and village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Production studios ha ...

in April/May 1935, and had its charity premiere at the Regal Cinema,

Marble Arch The Marble Arch is a 19th-century white marble-faced triumphal arch in London, England. The structure was designed by John Nash (architect), John Nash in 1827 to be the state entrance to the cour d'honneur of Buckingham Palace; it stood near th ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 17 October that year. It was part of a cycle of British

operetta films Operetta films (German: Operettenfilm) are a genre of musical films associated with, but not exclusive to, German language cinema. The genre began in the late 1920s, but its roots stretch back into the tradition of nineteenth century Viennese ope ...

Cast

as Karl August Franz Ludwig Josef Steidler *

as Frances Wilson *

Carl Harbord Carl Harbord (26 January 1908 – 18 October 1958) was an English stage, film and television actor. Stage When he was 19, Harbord appeared in the play ''The Happy Husband'', which was presented at the Criterion Theatre in London, England. ...

as Oliver Desmond *

Paul Graetz Paul Graetz (8 August 1889 – 16 February 1937) was a German actor and star of the Weimar cabaret. Selected filmography * '' The Peruvian'' (1919) * ''The Princess of the Nile'' (1920) * ''Christian Wahnschaffe'' (1920) * ''Mary Magdalene'' (19 ...

as Florian * Kathleen Kelly as Anna * George Graves as Granville Wilson *

C. Denier Warren Charles Denier Warren (29 July 1889 – 27 August 1971) was an Anglo-American actor who appeared extensively on stage and screen from the early 1930s to late 1960s, mostly in Great Britain. Life He was born in Chicago the son of Charles Warren ...

as Ted Mayer *

Diana Napier Alice Mary Wolkowicki (née Ellis, formerly Mulcaster and Tauber; 31 January 1905 – 12 March 1982), known professionally as Diana Napier, was an English film actress.

as Diana Sheraton *

as Van Straaten *

Viola Tree Viola Tree (17 July 1884 – 15 November 1938) was an English actress, singer, playwright and author. Daughter of the actor Herbert Beerbohm Tree, she made many of her early appearances with his company at His Majesty's Theatre. Later she appe ...

as Lady Bennington * Hilda Campbell-Russell as Steidler's Maid

Critical reception

In a contemporary review, ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' wrote "This plot makes few demands upon Mr Tauber as actor and enables the audience to enjoy his magnificent singing without much interruption...It would be impossible one imagines, for Mr Tauber to navigate his way through a film that was stronger dramatically than this one. A film in which he appears becomes a pleasant alternative to a series of his phonograph records. From this point of view the producers of 'Heart's Desire' have succeeded admirably."

References

Bibliography

* Bock, Hans-Michael & Bergfelder, Tim. ''The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopaedia of German Cinema''. Berghahn Books, 2009.

External links

* 1935 films 1930s romantic musical films 1935 romantic drama films British romantic drama films British romantic musical films Operetta films Films directed by Paul L. Stein Films shot at British International Pictures Studios Films set in London Films set in Vienna British black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s British films {{romantic-musical-film-stub