New Moon (1940)

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Movie
Original title New moon
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1940
length 102 minutes
Rod
Director Robert Z. Leonard
script Jaques Deval
Robert Arthur based on the play of the same name by Sigmund Romberg
production Robert Z. Leonard
music Sigmund Romberg
camera William H. Daniels
cut Harold F. Kress
occupation

New Moon is an American film operetta from 1940 and the sixth collaboration between the popular screen couple Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy . The direction of the film, which essentially follows the play of the same name by Sigmund Romberg , was directed by Robert Z. Leonard .

action

The French Revolution forces the young nobleman Robert to flee to America. In order to earn a living, Robert worked as a wage laborer on a plantation. On the same ship to New Orleans is the lovely Marianne, who has just inherited the plantation on which Robert has to do his labor. They both quickly fall in love. Marianne gives Robert freedom and he can flee without assuring Marianne of his eternal love. Marianne still has a number of adventures to go through, including a pirate attack in the Caribbean that is carried out by none other than the Robert whom Marianne loves. In the end, the two find happiness in each other's arms.

background

After the disappointing box office result of In the Golden West , it was over two years before the popular screen couple Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy appeared together again in front of the camera. The studio played it safe and chose New Moon as a popular template for the film. Sigmund Romberg's operetta made it to 519 performances in 1928 and has seen numerous re-performances since then. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had already made a film adaptation in 1930 with Lawrence Tibbett and Grace Moore in the leading roles, which, however, flopped at the box office, as operettas became increasingly unpopular with viewers at the time due to an oversupply. In 1940 the conditions were not much better. While the films by the duo MacDonald / Eddy were great successes in the mid-1930s, in particular May time broke in 1937 box office results on both sides of the Atlantic, the audience now preferred musicals with contemporary songs. Louis B. Mayer , studio boss at MGM, on the other hand, firmly believed in a comeback of the genre. But despite the usual professional direction by Robert Z. Leonard , who had made some of the most successful films of the singing duo and a select group of character actors in the supporting roles, fell short of expectations. Filming wasn't that smooth. Initially, WS Van Dyke was scheduled to direct, but work on I Take This Woman , Hedy Lamarr's first MGM film , dragged on for eighteen months instead of three.

The working title was Lover Come Back before the film was released under New Moon .

Theatrical release

With production costs of 1,487,000 US dollars, New Moon was an expensive production on average, and the budget was therefore adapted to the dwindling pull of the screen couple at the box office. In the US, the film grossed $ 1,290,000; a poor value compared to the two previous films. An additional US $ 1,237,000 came from abroad. With a cumulative total result of $ 2,527,000 and a disappointing profit of only $ 221,000, the high expectations for a permanent comeback were not met.

music

As expected by the fans, the film was sung often and extensively. The pieces were composed by Sigmund Romberg (music) and Oscar Hammerstein (text) and come from the operetta. None of the songs originally composed for the 1930 film version were used.

In addition, as usual in her films, Jeanette MacDonald sings a classic aria, this time

Due to the historical background, the script even included an opportunity to sing the Marseillaise .

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