MOONLIGHT SONATA (1937)

In a forest in Sweden, we see Eric (Charles Farrell) trying to tell Ingrid (Barbara Greene) how much he loves her. She replies that, though they've known each other for some time, she has never felt that way about him. At midnight, she'll turn eighteen and he plans to propose to her, but she says, "Please don’t rush me," and is clearly unenthusiastic about his plan. Suddenly, a small plane makes an emergency landing nearby. The two passengers are Ignacy Jan Paderewski, a famous concert pianist (as he was in real life) and Mario de la Costa (Eric Portman), a stage magician and hypnotist. Eric and Ingrid take them to the large country home of Ingrid's grandmother, Baroness Lindenborg to stay until the plane is fixed. Paderewski is charming and friendly, and is pleased to hear of a special connection he has to the family: Ingrid's parents became engaged after hearing the pianist play Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata at a concert. Mario is less pleased as he is in a hurry to get to Paris, but manages to turn on the charm for Ingrid, who will come into some money on her birthday. The next day, Eric presses his case again but realizes that naive Ingrid is falling for Mario, and they argue. Eric finds out that Mario is married, though supposedly estranged from his wife, and the Baroness fears that Mario is a fortune hunter. Ingrid remains in thrall to Mario until the Baroness offers Mario money to leave the house. Does Eric still have a chance with Ingrid? Maybe if Paderewski can work some magic again by playing the Moonlight Sonata.

This 90-minute movie is an average romantic melodrama with one difference: the first twenty minutes of the film is a concert by Paderewski where he plays works by Chopin and Liszt, followed by the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata. The music is interrupted when a small child chases a ball up to the stage, but the pianist is not upset because he knows the little girl. [Spoiler!] She's the daughter of Eric and Ingrid, and the rest of the movie is a flashback to how they got together. I admit to eventually skimming through the concert scene (even though I like pieces he plays) to get to the story, but the story has its own problems. Eric is apparently employed by the Baroness and lives at the house. We don't know how long his crush has gone on, but it seems surprising that he would suddenly spring his feelings on her just before he proposes marriage. Greene is the age of her character (18) but Farrell is 37 and, though still nice looking, looks too old to be mooning after this kid. It seems the Baroness has not actively discouraged his interest in her granddaughter, but aside from the fact that he's handsome and pleasant, we're not given much reason to think that he'd be a good husband. Farrell and Greene don't have much chemistry, and frankly Greene and Portman (pictured above) do, though we know from the get-go that there is something unsavory about him—while Paderewski handles the plane situation with grace, Mario is cranky and unpleasant until he figures out that Ingrid could make a nice meal ticket. Portman does the best acting, though Marie Tempest is fine as the Baroness. Paderewski is not an actor, and struggles through his lines. He does get to play piano again in a scene in which the Baroness takes him to a school to play for the kids. People who watch this for the allure of the music will probably be bored by the soapy drama, and people who want the romance will be bored with the music. [YouTube]