Dream of Love

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Movie
Original title Dream of Love
Country of production United States
Publishing year 1928
length 65 minutes
Rod
Director Fred Niblo
script Dorothy Farnum
Marion Ainslee
production Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
music William ax
camera William H. Daniels ,
Oliver T. Marsh
cut James C. McKay
occupation

Dream of Love is a 1928 American silent film starring Joan Crawford and Nils Asther . It is based on the play Adrienne Lecouvreur by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé .

action

The gypsy girl Adrienne Lecouvreur plays the guitar skillfully. One day their singing attracts Prince Maurice, who was robbed of the rightful throne by his uncle, The Duke. Romantic feelings soon develop between Adrienne and Maurice, but an intrigue pulls the lovers apart. Adrienne, who believes that Maurice is no longer suitable for her, decides to pursue a career on stage. She quickly rises to become a world-famous actress. A few years later the two young people meet again. Although Maurice is about to marry The Duchess, he gets involved in a relationship with Adrienne. His uncle condemns him to death by shooting for his improper behavior, but just as the firing squad is aiming a revolution, which Adrienne has instigated among the poor of the country, breaks out. The coup brings Maurice back to his rightful throne, which he ascends to become a benevolent, benevolent ruler. But the price is high: Adrienne and he have to part, as the class barriers are insurmountable. Adrienne returns to the stage heartbroken to become an even bigger star than before.

background

Joan Crawford had been with MGM since 1925 and quickly rose to become a popular actress. However, she had not yet found a fixed type of role for herself and so she alternated between main and supporting roles in a wide variety of genres. Thanks to the resounding success of Our Dancing Daughters , she made her breakthrough as a star in mid-1928. The studio was surprised by the success, however, because the follow-up projects took little advantage of the fans' interest in Crawford as a flapper , a boisterous young woman who experiences all sorts of romantic entanglements.

Instead, immediately after filming was finished, the actress was put into the next production, which featured her as a guitar-playing gypsy who loves a prince fighting for his throne. Such ruritan romances between nobles and people from the people set in a transfigured Europe had become very popular with American cinema audiences since the success of the film adaptations of Elinor Glyn's novels Three Weeks and George Barr McCutcheon's Beverly of Graustark . The duo Ronald Colman and Vilma Bánky in particular suffered successfully for love in elaborately produced romances such as The Magic Flame , which did not always take the historical truth very seriously. MGM's attempt to go in the same direction with Dream of Love proved only moderately successful at the box office.

The main role was initially intended for Renée Adorée , while Joan Crawford was to appear in the western Tide of Empires , directed by Allan Dwan . The success of Our Dancing Daughters then led to a swap just before shooting began, so that Crawford took on the role in Dream of Love . There are still some still photos from the preparation of Tide of Empires with Crawford in different costumes.

Joan Crawford was realistic about the film and its quality when she confessed to Roy Newquist

"... a failure - a bad script, no direction and no plot worth mentioning."

Theatrical release

The film was nationally distributed on December 1, 1928. At $ 221,000, it was a rather inexpensive production by MGM standards. With a total of 339,000 US dollars, he made a good half less than Our Dancing Daughters . With foreign revenues of $ 232,000 and a cumulative total income of $ 571,000, the studio was able to make a profit of $ 134,000 in the end.

Reviews

The contemporary critics found occasional praise for the leading actress, but complained about the banal script.

The New York Sun was rather critical:

“Miss Crawford wasn't directed as well as usual this time around, so the result is poor. But "Dream of Love" may not be the right material for such a vital and natural actress as she usually is. "

Mordaunt Hall didn't write a particularly enthusiastic review in the New York Times :

“The sets and costumes are splendid. There are dozens of uniformed men and Miss Pringle looks good in the clothes of the Duchess and with the shiny crowns. Asther is handsome as a romantic prince. Mr. Oland leaves no stone unturned to show the pomp and power of the dictator. [...] Joan Crawford is charming as a humble singer who gains fame on stage and later confesses her love for the prince. "

literature

  • Roy Newquist (Ed.): Conversations with Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1980, ISBN 0-8065-0720-9 .
  • Lawrence J. Quirk : The Complete Films of Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1988, ISBN 0-8065-1078-1 .
  • Lawrence J. Quirk, William Schoell: Joan Crawford. The Essential Biography . University Press, Lexington, KY. 2002, ISBN 0-8131-2254-6 .
  • Alexander Walker: Joan Crawford. The Ultimate Star . Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1983, ISBN 0-297-78216-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ..a mess - a bad script, no direction, no story worth mentioning.
  2. ↑ Miss Crawford was not directed as well as usual, and as a result was not at her best, but "Dream of Love" is probably not the right material for such a fresh and vital actress as she customarily is.
  3. ↑ The settings for this production are lavish and so are the costumes. There are dozens of men in smart officers' uniforms and Miss Pringle does well with the Duchess's gowns and sparkling skull caps.Mr. Asther is capital as the romantic Prince. Mr. Oland leaves no stone unturned to show the pomp and power of the Dictator. [...] Joan Crawford is charming as the humble singer, who wins stage laurels and subsequently admits her love for the Prince.