Ramon Novarro (as Victor) is a struggling musician, trying to make ends meet, in Brussels. After delighting diners with a new composition, Mr. Novarro refuses to pay the owner for some wine, and runs away. He loses pursuers by hopping into a car, which is occupied by another poor musician, singer Jeanette MacDonald (as Shirley). Novarro is smitten with Ms. MacDonald, and woos her from his neighboring apartment. The two are drawn to each other, both romantically and professionally. On the verge of becoming a successful team, Novarro's producer Frank Morgan (as Daudet) becomes a romantic rival for MacDonald's affections.

Operetta films featuring soprano MacDonald aren't exactly my favorite of movie genres; but, this one is better than most. Stars Novarro and MacDonald are very engaging; Novarro has a couple of great, unexpected, dramatic scenes. Look for some entertaining supporting performances, too; Charles Butterworth is especially good as the "Harp Player". The film eventually becomes a total operetta, with Novarro and MacDonald singing until the end of "The Cat and the Fiddle". The last song is shown in color. The better song was "The Night Was Made for Love".

****** The Cat and the Fiddle (2/16/34) William K. Howard ~ Ramon Novarro, Jeanette MacDonald, Frank Morgan, Charles Butterworth

Before I go any further, you need to understand something before you accept my review without question. While I adore films from Hollywood's Golden Age and I think I was born at the wrong time, I never have particularly liked the style of films that Jeanette MacDonald made--particularly those with Nelson Eddy. A while back, I gave a bad review to one of their very old fashioned films and I was beset with angry fans. Who was to know that anyone alive today actually LIKED these operettas?! So, to be fair, understand they just aren't my cup of tea, so to speak.

Now another thing you should know is why, in spite of this, I still watched the film. Well, while I generally don't like them, I really, really liked two of the films Ms. MacDonald made with Maurice Chevalier (THE MERRY WIDOW and LOVE ME TONIGHT)--probably because of his charming performance.

Unfortunately, while I preferred having Ramon Navarro in the film instead of Nelson Eddy (uggh--the combination of him and MacDonald is too much for me), this isn't saying much as overall I didn't like the film but at least I am intellectually honest enough to give the film a 6 for technical merit.

As for what I didn't like, the list would probably be very long, so I'll try to cover the major points. First, while Navarro was a capable leading man in the silent days, his transition to sound wasn't great due to his strong accent. While it got easier to understand him in some later sound films, here it is quite difficult for my American ear--perhaps others might have an easier time of this and it would have helped if the videotape had been close captioned. But what was apparent regardless of this was that Navarro couldn't sing well at all and couldn't come close to keeping up with Jeanette. Second, there was just too much singing. While I sometimes enjoy a good musical, there was so much singing and stage productions near the end that I tended to speed through some of them. Third, the Technicolor used on one small sequence at the end of the film looked just awful. I can't blame the people who made the film but those who released it on video, as it desperately needs restoration. It was fuzzy and garish and I doubt this was Technicolor's fault--particularly as I have seen Two-color Technicolor films that look a lot better and it's a much more primitive process than the Three-strip Technicolor used here.

Now there were a few things I liked. Charles Butterworth seems totally out of place in the film and just wanders about saying inane things. This actually IMPROVED the film and kept me laughing--particularly when the prima donna of the opera turned out to be very old and Butterworth suggested they change the plot to make it the love between a man and his mother (instead of his girlfriend)--even though it was clearly a romance! He said that perhaps people wouldn't mind and were broadminded about the whole thing!!!

DO NOT READ FURTHER--MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!

STOP READING NOW!! I MEAN IT--KEEP YOUR LITTLE ILLUSIONS AND STOP READING!!

THIS MEANS YOU!!

STOP!!!

WELL, DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU!!!

The romance between Navarro and MacDonald was difficult to believe for me and other lovers of film trivia because although I have read that Mr. Navarro was a wonderful man, he was also quite gay. Sorry to spoil the illusion, but I did warn you!! On the other hand, since it appears that the two are cohabiting in part of the film, this might make some a bit more comfortable since they weren't married.