This movie's (deserved) lack of success may have started with the title, which is misleading. This is not a movie of Oscar Straus' once very-popular operetta *The Chocolate Soldier*. This is a movie of Ferenz Molnar's play *The Guardsman*, made popular in this country by Lunt and Fontaine on Broadway, with musical interludes taken from Straus' operetta. That's a big difference, and a problem. Stevens and, to a lesser extent, Eddy perform the music nicely. (Stevens really does a great job with some of her numbers.) But they are secondary to the play, which comprises most of the movie. In the play, Eddy does a great job as the Russian, but the rest of it just isn't very good.
So it's no wonder the movie didn't delight audiences.
One of the many mistakes I found in the movie was the opening, a beautifully performance by Stevens of the operetta's big hit, "My Hero", followed by a popular chorus from it. In other words, rather than building to the music American audiences knew and wanted, it is performed immediately. So what's left to wait for?
Stevens was an attractive woman, but in this movie, the camera usually does not flatter her.
This movie isn't painful to watch, but both stars did much better elsewhere.
So it's no wonder the movie didn't delight audiences.
One of the many mistakes I found in the movie was the opening, a beautifully performance by Stevens of the operetta's big hit, "My Hero", followed by a popular chorus from it. In other words, rather than building to the music American audiences knew and wanted, it is performed immediately. So what's left to wait for?
Stevens was an attractive woman, but in this movie, the camera usually does not flatter her.
This movie isn't painful to watch, but both stars did much better elsewhere.