The Firefly (film)

The Firefly
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard
Produced by Robert Z. Leonard
Hunt Stromberg
Written by Otto A. Harbach (play)
Screenplay by Frances Goodrich
Albert Hackett
Ogden Nash
Based on The Firefly (operetta)
Starring Jeanette MacDonald
Allan Jones
Music by Herbert Stothart
Rudolf Friml
Cinematography Oliver T. Marsh
Edited by Robert Kern
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
  • September 1, 1937 (1937-09-01)
Running time
 131 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $1,495,000[1]
Box office $1,244,000 (Domestic earnings)[1]
$1,430,000 (Foreign earnings)[1]
Jeanette MacDonald in the film's trailer

The Firefly is a 1937 musical film starring Jeanette MacDonald and Allan Jones. The film is an adaptation of the operetta of the same name by composer Rudolf Friml and librettist Otto A. Harbach that premiered on Broadway in 1912. The film used nearly all of the music from the operetta but jettisoned the plot in favor of a new storyline set in Spain during the time of the Emperor Napoleon I. It added a new song, "The Donkey Serenade" (a reworking by Herbert Stothart of Friml's 1918 orchestral piece 'Chanson'[2]), which became extremely popular, as was one of the Friml songs, "Giannina Mia".

Plot

Secret agent Nina Maria Azara (Jeanette MacDonald) is working undercover for the King of Spain (Tom Rutherford) as a singer known as the "Mosca del Fuego" or "Firefly."[3] Despite her love for Captain Andre (Allan Jones), she tricks him so that his general will change the French defensive positions, thus allowing the Duke of Wellington to win the Battle of Vitoria. In the end Nina and Andre leave together for a new life in peace.

Cast

Musical Numbers

References

  1. 1 2 3 Turk Edward Baron "Hollywood Diva: A Biography of Jeanette MacDonald (University of California Press, 1998)"
  2. ↑ http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W4280_GBAJY9806711&vw=dc
  3. ↑ http://www.allmovie.com/work/the-firefly-17420
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