Balalaika (1939)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Reinhold Schünzel

Writers:

Charles Bennett (writer)
Jacques Deval (writer)

Release Date:

29 December 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Romance

Plot:

A Russian prince disguised as a worker and a cafe singer secretly involved in revolutionary activities fall in love.

Plot Keywords:

Revolutionaries | Cossack | Aristocracy | Emigrés | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Nelson Eddy	...	Prince Peter Karagin, aka Peter Teranda
Ilona Massey	...	Lydia Pavlovna Marakova
Charles Ruggles	...	Nicki Popoff (as Charlie Ruggles)
Frank Morgan	...	Ivan Danchenoff
Lionel Atwill	...	Prof. Marakov
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Gen. Karagin
Joyce Compton	...	Masha (Lydia's maid)
Dalies Frantz	...	Dimitri Marakov
Walter Woolf King	...	Capt. Michael Sibirsky
Phillip Terry	...	Lt. Smirnoff
Frederick Worlock	...	Ramensky
Abner Biberman	...	Leo Proplinski
Arthur W. Cernitz	...	Capt. Sergei Pavloff
Roland Varno	...	Lt. Nikitin
George Tobias	...	Slaski (bartender)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Movie Connections:

Featured in From the Ends of the Earth (1939)

Soundtrack:

Silent Night (Stille Nacht)

Uneven, uninspired musical with Eddy at least singing magnificently...

MGM gave NELSON EDDY a chance to co-star with someone other than JEANETTE MacDONALD, but they gave him a lumbering musical about a Russian prince who disguises himself as a commoner in order to woo a princess. It's the kind of story done countless times before and the only distinction here is the music.

Nelson sings some rousing Russian numbers and is joined in song by the beautiful ILONA MASSEY, who looks like a younger, blonder edition of Marlene Dietrich, sunken cheekbones and all. Given the complete glamor treatment with glossy MGM close-ups complimenting her vivacious good looks, Massey has what seems a contralto singing voice and not quite the soprano the songs want her to be. Neverthelss, she makes a striking picture opposite the robust baritone who is in excellent voice here.

As usual, there are comedy moments to lighten the rather dark story set against the Russian revolution, and these are handled rather indifferently by Frank Morgan, Charlie Ruggles and George Tobias. Sharp-eyed movie fans can catch a glimpse of actor Phillip Terry who is kept mostly in the background during the cabaret sequences.

Overall, it's a cumbersome story, with a predictable outcome, that takes too many long stretches between songs to tell a rather tedious story of lovers separated by their politics.