''New Moon'' is a 1930 black-and-white American,

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

romantic/drama/melodrama

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 ...

version of the

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

The New Moon ''The New Moon'' is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel, and Laurence Schwab. The show was the third in a string of Broadway hits for Romberg (after ''The Student Prince'' (1924) and ...

'', with music by

Sigmund Romberg Sigmund Romberg (July 29, 1887 – November 9, 1951) was a Hungarian-born American composer. He is best known for his musicals and operettas, particularly ''The Student Prince'' (1924), ''The Desert Song'' (1926) and ''The New Moon'' (1928). Earl ...

and book and 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 ...

and others. The original stage version premiered on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in 1928. The 1930 film is also known as ''Komissa Strogoff'' in Greece, ''Nymånen'' in Denmark and ''Passione cosacca'' in Italy. A second adaptation, also titled ''

New Moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse. ...

'', was released in 1940. The 1930 film, directed by Jack Conway, starred

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 ...

and

Lawrence Tibbett Lawrence Mervil Tibbett (November 16, 1896 – July 15, 1960) was an American opera singer and recording artist who also performed as a film actor and radio personality. A baritone, he sang leading roles with the Metropolitan Opera in New York ...

. Its plot is entirely different from the original play and is set in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. This version added new songs not by Romberg.

Synopsis

''New Moon'' is the name of a ship crossing the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

. A young man named Lt. Petroff meets Princess Tanya and they have a ship-board romance. Upon arriving at the port of Krasnov, Petroff learns that Tanya is engaged to Governor Brusiloff. Petroff, disillusioned, crashes the ball to talk with Tanya. When the couple are found by Brusiloff, they invent a story about her lost bracelet. To reward him, and remove him, Brusiloff sends Petroff to the remote, and deadly, Fort Darvaz. Soon, the big battle against overwhelming odds will begin.

Cast

as Lieutenant Michael Petroff *

as Princess Tanya Strogoff *

Adolphe Menjou Adolphe Jean Menjou (February 18, 1890 – October 29, 1963) was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies. He appeared in such films as Charlie Chaplin's ''A Woman of Paris'', where he played the lead role; Stanley Ku ...

as Governor Boris Brusiloff *

Roland Young Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

as Count Igor Strogoff *

Gus Shy Gus is a masculine name, often a diminutive for Angus, August, Augustine, or Augustus, and other names (e.g. Aengus, Argus, Fergus, Ghassan, Gustav, Gustave, Gustafson, Gustavo, Gussie). It can also be used as the adaptation into English of t ...

as Potkin *

Emily Fitzroy Emily Fitzroy (24 May 1860 – 3 March 1954) was an English theatre and film actress who eventually became an American citizen. She was at one time a leading lady in London for Sir Charles Wyndham. She made her film debut in 1915. Her debut i ...

as Countess Anastasia Strogoff

Soundtrack

* "

Lover, Come Back to Me "Lover, Come Back to Me" is a popular song composed by Sigmund Romberg with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II for the Broadway show ''The New Moon'', where the song was introduced by Evelyn Herbert and Robert Halliday (as Robert Misson). The song was ...

" :(1928) :Music by Sigmund Romberg :Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II :Played during the opening credits :Sung by Lawrence Tibbett at the tavern :Reprised by him and Grace Moore at the fort * "Farmer's Daughter" :(1930) :Music by

Herbert Stothart Herbert Pope Stothart (September 11, 1885February 1, 1949) was an American songwriter, arranger, conductor, and composer. He was also nominated for twelve Academy Awards, winning Best Original Score for '' The Wizard of Oz''. Stothart was widel ...

:Lyrics by

Clifford Grey Clifford Grey (5 January 1887 – 25 September 1941) was an English songwriter, librettist, actor and screenwriter. His birth name was Percival Davis, and he was also known as Clifford Gray. Grey contributed prolifically to West End and Br ...

:Played by the band on the ship and sung in a gypsy language by Lawrence Tibbett :Reprised by him with an English translation :Played on piano and sung in the gypsy language by Grace Moore * "Wanting You" :(1928) :Music by Sigmund Romberg :Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II :Sung a cappella by Lawrence Tibbett on the ship :Reprised by him and Grace Moore on the ship * "One Kiss" :(1928) :Music by Sigmund Romberg :Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II :Played on piano (and studio orchestra) and sung by Grace Moore * "What Is Your Price Madam?" :(1930) :Music by Herbert Stothart :Lyrics by Clifford Grey :Played by the orchestra at the ball and sung by Lawrence Tibbett * "Stout Hearted Men" :(1928) :Music by Sigmund Romberg :Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II :Sung by Lawrence Tibbett and soldiers at the fort :Reprised by the men returning from the battle

Background and production

* The operetta ''The New Moon'' opened on Broadway in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on September 19, 1928 and closed on December 14, 1929 after 519 performances. The leads were played by Robert Halliday and Evelyn Herbert, and the supporting cast included Gus Shy, who also in this film. * Some production charts included Hale Hamilton and Marie Mosquini in the cast, but they were not seen in the movie. * Modern sources include in this film the songs "Marianne", "Funny Little Sailor Man" and " Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise" (all from the original stage production), but they were not heard. * The credits list ''New Moon'' as the title of the original operetta, but its title was ''The New Moon''. * The production dates were from July 22, 1930 until October 3, 1930.

Film Connections

* A second film version of ''New Moon'' was remade in 1940 also titled ''

'' and the Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) TV Series ''

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise theatrical performances such as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is pr ...

'': ''The New Moon'' (#17.2)" (1989), are all considered to be based on the stage play

. * ''New Moon'' is featured in the 1954 film '' Deep in My Heart'' – the Romberg written production number.

External links

* * * * {{Jack Conway 1930 films 1930 musical films American black-and-white films Films based on operettas Films directed by Jack Conway Films set in the Caspian Sea Films set in Russia Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Operetta films Films with screenplays by Cyril Hume American musical films 1930s American films