Zauber der Boheme

The best way to understand and appreciate this movie is to compare it with a similar, and much better, one, Moonstruck. This movie attempts to integrate the plot of Puccini's great opera, La Boheme, into a real life setting. It does so, sometimes with wonderful humor, but also, too often, with a lot of excessive melodrama.

Kiepura and Eggerth both sing beautifully in this picture. They also look their roles, which if you're used to Pavarotti and Scotto in Boheme will come as a very pleasant change. Eggerth is really a very fine actress. Kierpura gets along on good looks, a great smile, and a very beautiful voice.

One thing that did surprise me was his way of singing the pop tunes in the movie, one of which, Weine nicht, is really a great number. There is no finesse to his singing. He sings them loud almost without variation. Yes, he sounds great loud, but his contemporaries in this repertory, Richard Tauber, Wittrich, Herbert Ernst Groh, would have used more finesse, especially Tauber.

It's definitely worth a watch. But it's definitely not Moonstruck.