I’ll Take Romance *** (1937, Grace Moore, Melvyn Douglas, Helen Westley) – Classic Movie Review 7199

Director Edward H Griffith’s rarely revived 1937 Columbia Pictures black and white musical romance I’ll Take Romance is worth a little look, mainly for its effective and tuneful star turn by Grace Moore.

As Elsa Terry, Grace Moore takes a fine chance to sing bits of Massenet’s Manon (‘Gavotte’), Verdi’s La Traviata (‘Drinking Song’) and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (‘First Act Duet’). Meanwhile smooth Melvyn Douglas has to handle the perfunctory plot as James Guthrie, the agent who kidnaps prima donna Moore to make her keep her appointment in Buenos Aires and not head for Paris instead.

The screenplay’s main success is in leaving plenty of space for the music and in providing opportunities for the support cast (especially Helen Westley, Stuart Erwin, Margaret Hamilton and Walter Kingsford) to shine. The sweet title tune is by Oscar Hammerstein II (Lyrics) and Ben Oakland (Music).

Also in the cast are Richard Carle, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Esther Muir, Frank Forest, Walter O Stahl, Barry Norton, Lucio Villegas, Gennaro Curci, Marek Windheim, Albert Conti, John Gallaudet, George Hickman, Al Hill, Louis Mercier, Greta Mayer, Franklin Pangborn, Ernest Wood and Bruce Wyndham.

Grace Moore also stars in One Night of Love (1934), for which she was Oscar nominated as Best Actress, and When You’re in Love (1937). She died in a plane crash on 26 January 1947, aged 48.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7199

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