Moonlight Sonata (film)

Last updated

Moonlight Sonata
"Moonlight Sonata" (1937 film).jpg
Directed by Lothar Mendes
Screenplay by Edward Knoblock
E. M. Delafield (Additional dialogue)
Story by Hans Rameau
Produced byLothar Mendes
Starring Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Charles Farrell
Marie Tempest
Barbara Greene
Eric Portman
Cinematography Jan Stallich
Edited byPhilip Charlot
Production
company
Pall Mall Productions
Distributed by United Artists
Release dates
  • 11 February 1937 (1937-02-11)(United Kingdom)
  • 9 May 1938 (1938-05-09)(United States)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Moonlight Sonata is a 1937 British drama film directed by Lothar Mendes and written by E. M. Delafield and Edward Knoblock. [1] The film stars Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Charles Farrell, Marie Tempest, Barbara Greene and Eric Portman. The film was released on 11 February 1937, by United Artists [2] [3] [4] and re-released in 1943 as The Charmer (shortened). [5]

Contents

Plot

In Sweden, Eric Molander (Charles Farrell) professes his love for Ingrid (Barbara Greene), the beautiful young granddaughter of baroness Lindenborg (Marie Tempest). Meanwhile, in the nearby countryside, a plane with Paderewski and two other passengers on board is forced to land due to mechanical problems. The travellers take refuge at the baroness's country estate; one of them, worldly Mario de la Costa (Eric Portman), steals the naive young Ingrid away from her lover. With Paderewski's help – he plays a hauntingly beautiful rendition of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" which soothingly calms the flighty-minded Ingrid and allows her to come to her senses – Eric exposes Mario as a shameless fortune-hunter who already has a wife, and the young hero and heroine are reunited. Seen at the beginning of the film as a happily married couple who are attending one of Mr. Paderewski's packed piano recitals, Eric and Ingrid have become the joyful parents of an adorable curly-headed little damsel who herself gets to meet the great artist in person at the concert (while enthusiastically clapping along with everyone else, the toddler had accidentally dropped her bouncy-ball which had rolled up the aisle and onto the stage, where the smilingly-amused Paderewski had caught the ball and graciously returned it to the little girl with a bow and a tender handshake, much to the charmed delight of both her parents and the thunderously-applauding crowd); at Ingrid's request, Paderewski then plays the Moonlight Sonata as his finale. During an after-concert gathering of his closest friends and business-associates, Paderewski begins to relate the details shown in the remainder of the movie, and how his playing of the Moonlight Sonata five years prior had helped cement the romantic bond between the little girl's mother and father. It is also revealed that Mr. Paderewski's playing of this very same lovely melody some two decades earlier had fortuitously brought Ingrid's own parents together, as well.

Cast

Critical reception

The New York Times wrote, "LONDON has at last seen "Moonlight Sonata," the film which Paderewski made at Denham last Summer for Lothar Mendez. It is an elegant little picture, set in a beautiful villa among the Swedish firs, and made with a dignity and simplicity worthy of the great figure for whom it was composed. The film begins with a concert at which Paderewski plays the whole of Liszt's Second Hungarian Rhapsody and the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata. Later in the film he plays his own Minuet. The recording of these pieces is excellent and the close-ups of the great pianist and of his hands are fascinating. For the rest he fits simply and unobtrusively into a simple story, speaking with slow precision and acting as naturally as if he were playing his part in real life" ; [6] while Leonard Maltin gave the film two and a half out of four stars, and noted "Well-made but stodgy romance, set in household of Swedish baroness, is excuse for screen appearance by famous concert pianist." [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ingrid Bergman</span> Swedish actress (1915–1982)

Ingrid Bergman was a Swedish actress. With a career spanning five decades, Bergman is often regarded as one of the most influential screen figures in cinematic history. She won numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, four Golden Globe Awards, BAFTA Award and a Volpi Cup. She is one of only four actresses to have received at least three acting Academy Awards. In 1999, the American Film Institute recognised Bergman as the fourth greatest female screen legend of Classic Hollywood Cinema.

<i>Autumn Sonata</i> 1978 drama film by Ingmar Bergman

Autumn Sonata is a 1978 drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, and starring Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann and Lena Nyman. Its plot follows a celebrated classical pianist and her neglected daughter who meet for the first time in years, and chronicles their painful discussions of how they have hurt each other. It was the first and only collaboration by Ingrid Bergman and Ingmar Bergman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ignacy Jan Paderewski</span> Polish pianist, composer and politician (1860–1941)

Ignacy Jan Paderewski was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's prime minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Tempest</span> English singer and comic actress (1864–1942)

Dame Mary Susan Etherington,, known professionally as Marie Tempest, was an English singer and actress.

Three Concert Études, S.144, is a set of three piano études by Franz Liszt, composed between 1845–49 and published in Paris as Trois caprices poétiques with the three individual titles as they are known today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Portman</span> English actor

Eric Harold Portman was an English stage and film actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in three films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s.

The Ghost Sonata is a play in three acts by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg. Written in 1907, it was first produced at Strindberg's Intimate Theatre in Stockholm on 21 January 1908. Since then, it has been staged by such notable directors as Max Reinhardt, Olof Molander, Roger Blin, and Ingmar Bergman. Bergman directed it four times: in 1941, 1954, 1973, and 2000. Strindberg took the title from Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, which he called 'The Gespenster Sonata', and also Piano Trio No. 5 in D major, known as the 'Ghost Trio'.

<i>Intermezzo</i> (1939 film) 1939 film by Gregory Ratoff

Intermezzo is a 1939 American romantic film remake of a 1936 Swedish film of the same title. It stars Leslie Howard as a married virtuoso violinist who falls in love with his accompanist, played by Ingrid Bergman in her Hollywood debut. The film was directed by Gregory Ratoff and produced by David O. Selznick. It features multiple orchestrations of Heinz Provost's title piece, which won a contest associated with the original film's production. The screenplay by George O'Neil was based on that of the original film by Gösta Stevens and Gustaf Molander. It was produced by Selznick International Pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gustaf Molander</span> Swedish film director (1888–1973)

Gustaf Harald August Molander was a Swedish actor and film director. His parents were director Harald Molander, Sr. (1858–1900) and singer and actress Lydia Molander, née Wessler, and his brother was the director Olof Molander (1892–1966). He was the father of director and producer Harald Molander from his first marriage to actress Karin Molander and father to actor Jan Molander from his second marriage to Elsa Fahlberg (1892–1977).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Farrell</span> American actor (1900–1990)

Charles David Farrell was an American film actor whose height was in the 1920s and 1930s and the Mayor of Palm Springs from 1947 to 1955. Farrell was known for his onscreen romances with actress Janet Gaynor in more than a dozen films, including 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Lucky Star. Later in life, he starred on TV in the 1950s sitcoms My Little Margie and played himself in The Charles Farrell Show. He was also among the early developers of Palm Springs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva Dahlbeck</span> Swedish actress

Eva Elisabet Dahlbeck was a Swedish stage, film, and television actress. She received a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film Brink of Life (1958). Dahlbeck retired from acting in 1970 and became an author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emánuel Moór</span>

Emánuel Moór was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and inventor of musical instruments.

<i>Intermezzo</i> (1936 film) 1936 film by Gustaf Molander

Intermezzo is a 1936 Swedish drama film directed by Gustaf Molander about a concert violinist falling in love with his daughter's piano teacher. The cast includes Gösta Ekman and Ingrid Bergman in the leads. This film led to Bergman gaining her contract with David O. Selznick and acting in a 1939 American remake opposite Leslie Howard. It was later remade again as the 1980 film Honeysuckle Rose.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lil Dagover</span> German actress (1887–1980)

Lil Dagover was a German actress whose film career spanned between 1913 and 1979. She was one of the most popular and recognized film actresses in the Weimar Republic.

Adela Verne was a distinguished English pianist of German descent, born in Southampton. She was considered the greatest woman pianist of her era, ranked alongside the male keyboard giants of the time. She toured with great success in many parts of the world. She composed a Military March dedicated to Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother; her sister Mathilde's pupil.

<i>Wanted for Murder</i> (film) 1946 British film

Wanted for Murder is a 1946 British crime film directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring Eric Portman, Dulcie Gray, Derek Farr, and Roland Culver.

Binkie Stuart was a Scottish film actress. During the 1930s she enjoyed brief fame as a child actress and was considered Britain's answer to Shirley Temple.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lothar Mendes</span> German film director and screenwriter

Lothar Mendes was a German-born screenwriter and film director. His two best known films are Jew Süss (1934) and The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936), both productions for British studios.

Olof Oscar Hemberg was a Swedish newspaper editor, writer and film producer. He has been credited with writing 21 films and producing eight films. Hemberg is best known for writing many screenplays for the director Schamyl Bauman including Witches' Night (1937) starring Gösta Ekman, På Solsidan for Gustaf Molander, starring Ingrid Bergman, and The Girls' Alfred (1935) for Edvin Adolphson, starring Sture Lagerwall. He also wrote the screenplay for the Danish film Idag Begynder Livet for Lau Lauritzen Jr. and Alice O'Fredericks. Furthermore, Hemberg produced several films for Gustaf Molander, including Paresiennes, and His English Wife, as well as Bara en danserska by Olof Molander.

References

  1. "Moonlight Sonata (1937)". Archived from the original on 28 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Moonlight Sonata (1937) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  3. "Moonlight Sonata". TV Guide. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  4. "PADEREWSKI BECOMES A MOVIE STAR". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  5. "Collections Search | BFI | British Film Institute".
  6. "Movie Reviews". The New York Times. 6 May 2022.