"Balalaika" is strictly for fans of Hollywood's Golden Age. If you are one, it's got a great cast of character actors you will recognize pretty quickly and you will appreciate the singing of Nelson Eddy and Ilona Massey. If you appreciate good acting, Eddy is passable and Massey, not so. He is his usual limited self but she comes across as cold and humorless, which is the polar opposite of Jeanette MacDonald.
The storyline is thin and unconvincing, sort of like "The Student Prince"; he is royalty, she is not, so he passes himself off as a peasant to win her hand. An interesting aspect of the picture is that it treats the aftermath of the Russian Revolution and the dissolution of the upper class. Here, many of Russian royalty end up in Paris after WWI in menial jobs, much to their sadness and chagrin. Can't recall the subject having been broached on film before.
In short, the plot is forgettable, the cast is interesting and the music carries the day. Not for younger audiences but for those of us who appreciate Hollywood's past.
