''I'll Take Romance'' is a 1937 American romantic

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

directed by

Edward H. Griffith Edward H. Griffith (August 23, 1888 – March 3, 1975)F ...

, starring

Grace Moore Mary Willie Grace Moore (December 5, 1898January 26, 1947) was an American operatic soprano and actress in musical theatre and film.Obituary ''Variety'', January 29, 1947, page 48. She was nicknamed the "Tennessee Nightingale." Her films helped ...

Melvyn Douglas Melvyn Douglas (born Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg, April 5, 1901 – August 4, 1981) was an American actor. Douglas came to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man, perhaps best typified by his performance in the romantic comedy ''Ninotchka ...

Helen Westley Helen Westley (born Henrietta Remsen Meserole Manney; March 28, 1875 – December 12, 1942) was an American character actress of stage and screen Early years Westley was born Henrietta Remsen Meserole Manney in Brooklyn, New York on March 28, ...

Stuart Erwin Stuart Erwin (February 14, 1903 – December 21, 1967) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Early years Erwin was born in Squaw Valley, Fresno County, California. He attended Porterville High School and the University of ...

and Margaret Hamilton.

Plot

An opera manager (Melvyn Douglas) tries to woo a contract-breaking soprano (Grace Moore) into performing in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Cast

as Elsa Terry *

as James Guthrie *

as Madame Della aka Madella *

as 'Pancho' Brown * Margaret Hamilton as Margot *

Walter Kingsford Walter Kingsford (born Walter Pearce; 20 September 1882 – 7 February 1958) was an English stage, film and television actor. Early years Kingsford was born in Redhill, Surrey, England. Career Kingsford began his acting career on the Lo ...

as William Kane *

Richard Carle Richard Carle (born Charles Nicholas Carleton, July 7, 1871 – June 28, 1941) was an American stage and film actor as well as a playwright and stage director. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1915 and 1941. Carle was born in Som ...

as Rudi

Songs

*Songs and arias performed by

**''I'll Take Romance'' (music by

Ben Oakland Ben Oakland (September 24, 1907 – August 26, 1979) was an American composer, lyricist, and pianist, most active from the 1920s through the 1940s. He composed mainly for Broadway and vaudeville, though he also worked on several Hollywood scores ...

, lyrics by

Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight Ton ...

) **''Gavotte'' (''

Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was first ...

'', music by

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...

, lyrics by

Henri Meilhac Henri Meilhac (23 February 1830 – 6 July 1897) was a French dramatist and opera librettist, best known for his collaborations with Ludovic Halévy on Georges Bizet's ''Carmen'' and on the works of Jacques Offenbach, as well as Jules Massenet's ...

and

Philippe Gille Philippe Emile François Gille (10 December 1831 – 19 March 1901) was a French dramatist and opera librettist, who was born and died in Paris. He wrote over twenty librettos between 1857 and 1893, the most famous of which are Massenet's ''Manon ...

) **''Drinking Song'' (''

La traviata ''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...

'', music by

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

, lyrics by

Francesco Maria Piave Francesco Maria Piave (18 May 18105 March 1876) was an Italian opera librettist who was born in Murano in the lagoon of Venice, during the brief Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. Career Piave's career spanned over twenty years working with many of th ...

) **''First Act Duet'' (''

Madama Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story "Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Luther ...

'', music by

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...

, lyrics by

Giuseppe Giacosa Giuseppe Giacosa (21 October 1847 – 1 September 1906) was an Italian poet, playwright and librettist. Life He was born in Colleretto Parella, now Colleretto Giacosa, near Turin. His father was a magistrate. Giuseppe went to the University of ...

and

Luigi Illica Luigi Illica (9 May 1857 – 16 December 1919) was an Italian librettist who wrote for Giacomo Puccini (usually with Giuseppe Giacosa), Pietro Mascagni, Alfredo Catalani, Umberto Giordano, Baron Alberto Franchetti and other important Italian co ...

) *Other Songs **''Quintet and Finale'' ( ''Martha'', music by

Friedrich von Flotow Friedrich Adolf Ferdinand, Freiherr von Flotow /flo:to/ (27 April 1812 – 24 January 1883) was a German composer. He is chiefly remembered for his opera ''Martha'', which was popular in the 19th century and the early part of the 20th. Life ...

, lyrics by Friedrich Wilhelm Riese **''She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain'' (Traditional) **A Frangesa!'' (music and Italian lyrics by

Pasquale Mario Costa Mario Pasquale Costa (24 July 1858 –27 September 1933) was a prolific Italian composer primarily known for his art songs, Neapolitan songs, and operettas. Costa was born in Taranto to Angelo and Maria Giuseppa ''née '' Malagisi. His fath ...

, English lyrics by

Milton Drake Milton Drake (August 3, 1912 - November 13, 2006) was an American lyricist and performing rights administrator. As a child, he performed in vaudevilles, in films and on radio. Later he wrote special material for theater and nightclub revues, includ ...

)

References

External links

* * 1937 films 1930s English-language films 1930s romantic musical films Films directed by Edward H. Griffith Columbia Pictures films American romantic musical films American black-and-white films Films with screenplays by Jane Murfin 1930s American films {{romantic-musical-film-stub