THE FIREFLY

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CREDITS

1937, 131 minutes, B&W.
Producer, Hunt Stromberg; Director, Robert Z. Leonard; Screenplay, Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett and Ogden Nash; Cinematography, Oliver Marsh; Music Director, Herbert Stothart; Dance Direction, Albertina Rasch.

CAST

Nina Azara, Jeanette MacDonald; Don Diego/Captain Andre, Allan Jones; Colonel de Rougemont, Warren William; Innkeeper, Billy Gilbert; Secret Service Chief, George Zucco; Marquis de Melito, Douglas Dumbrille; Etienne, Leonard Penn; King Ferdinand, Tom Rutherford; Lola, Belle Mitchell; Duval, Corbet Morris.

SONGS

The Donkey Serenade; Love Is Like a Firefly; English March; A Woman's Kiss by Rudolf Friml with lyrics by Bob Wright and Chet Forrest; Giannina Mia by Friml with lyrics by Otto Harbach; A Maid Comes Knocking At Your Door by Friml lyrics by Harbach, Wright and Forrest; He Who Loves and Runs Away by Friml with lyrics by Gus Kahn; Sympathy by Friml with lyrics by Harbach and Kahn; Danse Jeanette by Herbert Stothart; Para La Salud; Ojos Rojos.

PLOT SYNOPSIS

"Jeanette MacDonald portrays Nina Maria, who sings, dances, and spies for Spain during the Napoleonic Wars. Early in the story, Nina is eager to discourage an amorous French officer, so she feigns interest in Don Diego (Allan Jones). Now, she has a bigger problem - discouraging Don Diego, who is actually a French counterspy. His mission: shadow Nina Maria!"
- Liner Notes from MGM/UA Videotape

NOTES

"Photographed in a sepia tint midway between rose and brown, MGM's The Firefly ran 138 minutes and was a lavishly produced bore."
- Clive Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical

"The sepia tint is monotonous. . .the length will seriously militate against popularity."
- Variety

"The musical film par excellence. . .resplendent and gorgeous."
- The Evening News

"Jeanette MacDonald partnered with Allan Jones in a long and lvaish costume operetta. . .She's a Spanish spy (in disguise) and sings wearing a Napoleon hat. (She's very hard to take.)"
- Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights At The Movies

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