T would seem they didn't really know what to do with Miss Pons, she, being a vivacious, scatterbrain French girl with a look and manner that would make her a character actress, sort of a shorter version of Fifi D'Orsay, except she's a trained opera star. Her fame came from grand opera and radio performances. So what to do with her? She has to be the star of the film, but how many french musicals have been done? How much American box office milage does grand opera promise?
So here, they get her out of France as fast as possible, and remove her from a stuffy high-brow opera-class environment, too, landing her amidst the all-American, low-brow milieu of a four man night club band featuring Jack Oakie. It's a remake of "Street Girl", which was the first Radio pictures production. Oakie more or less reprises his role here.
This affords Lily an oppurtunity to sing supposed jazz/swing music in the nightclub, with such numbers as a tricked up version of "The Blue Danube". And later, she gets a show at the Metropolitain Opera, and sings one of those sopranic arias that only snobs and foriegners want to hear. So there's something to not like for everyone.
But the worst part of this is the Gene Raymond character. He's the love focus for her, but throughout, he's a cold fish, with far more sarcastic remarks for her than tender ones. One never gets any romantic heat from them. He has to be literally bound and gagged to get him married to her. He's still protesting this at the strange fade out.
So here, they get her out of France as fast as possible, and remove her from a stuffy high-brow opera-class environment, too, landing her amidst the all-American, low-brow milieu of a four man night club band featuring Jack Oakie. It's a remake of "Street Girl", which was the first Radio pictures production. Oakie more or less reprises his role here.
This affords Lily an oppurtunity to sing supposed jazz/swing music in the nightclub, with such numbers as a tricked up version of "The Blue Danube". And later, she gets a show at the Metropolitain Opera, and sings one of those sopranic arias that only snobs and foriegners want to hear. So there's something to not like for everyone.
But the worst part of this is the Gene Raymond character. He's the love focus for her, but throughout, he's a cold fish, with far more sarcastic remarks for her than tender ones. One never gets any romantic heat from them. He has to be literally bound and gagged to get him married to her. He's still protesting this at the strange fade out.