Man marries opera singer, winds up taking back seat to her career.Man marries opera singer, winds up taking back seat to her career.Man marries opera singer, winds up taking back seat to her career.
Sharon Lynn
- Flora Preston
- (as Sharon Lynne)
Ann Sheridan
- Flora's Shipboard Friend
- (as Clara Lou Sheridan)
Mildred Boothe
- Trixie
- (uncredited)
Jack Byron
- Joe
- (uncredited)
Wallis Clark
- John H. Massey
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOne of over 700 Paramount productions, filmed between 1929-49, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. Its earliest documented television presentation took place in Johnstown, Pennsylvania Monday 14 December 1959 on WJAC (Channel 6); thanks to the presence of a young Cary Grant (I), in one of his more or less forgotten, early efforts, it was eventually aired in San Francisco 20 January 1960 on KPIX (Channel 5), in Toledo 25 June 1960 on WTOL (Channel 11), in Grand Rapids 26 August 1960 on WOOD (Channel 8), in Cleveland 11 November 1960 on WJW (Channel 8), and in Chicago 12 December 1960 on WBBM (Channel 2). It was released on DVD 19 April 2016 as one of 18 titles in Universal's Cary Grant - the Vault Collection, and again as a single 12 October 2016 as part of the Universal Vault Series.
- GoofsLynne Overman tells Elissa Landi that her fan is in the box on the right. He is in the box on the right from the point of view of the audience, but, since actors always give directions with reference to the stage, he should have said that her fan was on the left.
- Quotes
Lisa Della Robbia: They say there are great, pitch black spaces between the stars. I think they are between people too.
- ConnectionsVersion of Enter Madame (1922)
- SoundtracksCavalleria Rusticana
Music by Pietro Mascagni
Libretto by Guido Menasci and Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti
Featured review
"Enter Madame!" begins with Gerald (Cary Grant) going to see an opera. He's smitten with the Prima Donna, Lisa Della Robbia (Elissa Landi)....and gets a set right up next to the stage. Out of the blue, an accident occurs and the lady's dress catches fire...and Gerald jumps on stage to save her. However, a stage hand released the curtain...and it knocks out Gerald after he's put out the fire. When he awakens, Lisa takes the injure man home to care for him. Very soon after, they are married. Unfortunately, Lisa's career and life choices make having a married life nearly impossible. And, once she loses him, she concocts a plan to try to trick Gerald into coming back to her.
Casting Cary Grant made sense, as although this is one of his early films, he already was well on his way to becoming a matinee idol. Landi, on the other hand, is an odd choice. While she is Italian, like many great opera singers, I could find nothing in what I read about her online which would indicate she ever sang opera or was known for her singing. I can only assume her singing was actually performed by someone else. This makes me wonder why they didn't just find an opera singer for the role, as Hollywood had a short infatuation in the 1930-40s with opera stars and tried to make several of them stars (such as Lawrence TIbbett and Grace Moore*). A few made it...though most of these sang operatic music but chose to act as opposed to doing opera full-time (such as Deanna Durbin, Nelson Eddy and Kathryn Grayson). So, it wasn't like the studio had to use an actress like Landi who wasn't actually a singer. If I am wrong about her singing, please let me know....but as I said, I could find NOTHING about her singing opera music.
So is it any good? Yes and no. Grant is very professional and exactly what you'd expect. Landi, on the other hand, is occasionally rather shrill...but I think the script and director probably instructed her to overact and scream a lot...like a stereotypical temperamental opera star. I don't know for sure...but it was not exactly subtle and should have been toned down a bit. The same can be said about a few of the supporting characters as well. Enjoyable but far from a must-see unless you are a die-hard Cary Grant fan.
*By the way, Grant DID star in a film with Ms. Moore ("When You're in Love"), a genuine opera star. Sadly, the Grace Moore films I have seen weren't particularly distinguished and her career in movies was rather brief.
Casting Cary Grant made sense, as although this is one of his early films, he already was well on his way to becoming a matinee idol. Landi, on the other hand, is an odd choice. While she is Italian, like many great opera singers, I could find nothing in what I read about her online which would indicate she ever sang opera or was known for her singing. I can only assume her singing was actually performed by someone else. This makes me wonder why they didn't just find an opera singer for the role, as Hollywood had a short infatuation in the 1930-40s with opera stars and tried to make several of them stars (such as Lawrence TIbbett and Grace Moore*). A few made it...though most of these sang operatic music but chose to act as opposed to doing opera full-time (such as Deanna Durbin, Nelson Eddy and Kathryn Grayson). So, it wasn't like the studio had to use an actress like Landi who wasn't actually a singer. If I am wrong about her singing, please let me know....but as I said, I could find NOTHING about her singing opera music.
So is it any good? Yes and no. Grant is very professional and exactly what you'd expect. Landi, on the other hand, is occasionally rather shrill...but I think the script and director probably instructed her to overact and scream a lot...like a stereotypical temperamental opera star. I don't know for sure...but it was not exactly subtle and should have been toned down a bit. The same can be said about a few of the supporting characters as well. Enjoyable but far from a must-see unless you are a die-hard Cary Grant fan.
*By the way, Grant DID star in a film with Ms. Moore ("When You're in Love"), a genuine opera star. Sadly, the Grace Moore films I have seen weren't particularly distinguished and her career in movies was rather brief.
- planktonrules
- Oct 27, 2020
- Permalink
Details
- Runtime1 hour 23 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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