Was there ever an opera star as beautiful as the flawless Linda Darnell? Maybe Anna Moffo and Anna Netrebko come close, but it was something to hear a gorgeous voice (Helen Spann's) coming out of Darnell.
Anyway, Darnell stars with Paul Douglas and Celeste Holm in "Everybody Does It," a very funny 1949 comedy that is a delight for opera lovers and non-opera lovers alike. Douglas and Holm play Leonard and Doris Borland - she's from money, he's a demolition man - and she once aspired to a career as a concert soprano. He thought she had given up her dream until he comes home and sees her taking a voice lesson. She's determined to do a concert, so she rents Town Hall and Leonard and his partner bribe and threaten everyone they know to show up.
In the audience is a famous soprano, Cecil Carver, who met Leonad earlier and has taken an interest in him. She invites him to her apartment and tells him that his wife has a nice voice, but she'll never amount to anything. While he's there, she gets a phone call asking her to sing a particular song for charity. She can't remember all the lyrics, so she asks Leonard if he knows it. Leonard does, and turns out to have a magnificent high baritone voice (Steve Kamalyan did the singing, and I suspect he could easily have become a tenor like many high baritones). His business failing, Leonard goes on Cecil's concert tour and sings under another name.
A ridiculous plot, some beautiful singing, and fine performances are the highlights of this film, the best part of which is Leonard's opera debut. It's almost right up there with "A Night at the Opera" - hilarious.
An underrated comedy - don't miss it.
Anyway, Darnell stars with Paul Douglas and Celeste Holm in "Everybody Does It," a very funny 1949 comedy that is a delight for opera lovers and non-opera lovers alike. Douglas and Holm play Leonard and Doris Borland - she's from money, he's a demolition man - and she once aspired to a career as a concert soprano. He thought she had given up her dream until he comes home and sees her taking a voice lesson. She's determined to do a concert, so she rents Town Hall and Leonard and his partner bribe and threaten everyone they know to show up.
In the audience is a famous soprano, Cecil Carver, who met Leonad earlier and has taken an interest in him. She invites him to her apartment and tells him that his wife has a nice voice, but she'll never amount to anything. While he's there, she gets a phone call asking her to sing a particular song for charity. She can't remember all the lyrics, so she asks Leonard if he knows it. Leonard does, and turns out to have a magnificent high baritone voice (Steve Kamalyan did the singing, and I suspect he could easily have become a tenor like many high baritones). His business failing, Leonard goes on Cecil's concert tour and sings under another name.
A ridiculous plot, some beautiful singing, and fine performances are the highlights of this film, the best part of which is Leonard's opera debut. It's almost right up there with "A Night at the Opera" - hilarious.
An underrated comedy - don't miss it.
