Format: Video from The Magic Flashdrive on rockin’ flatscreen.
I knew nothing about One Night of Love going into it other than it was nominated for more Oscars than I’d have thought for a film I’d never heard of. Once is started and the singing began, I knew I was in for it, though. Surprisingly, this is not the sort of musical that I typically detest. In fact, all of the singing comes at appropriate times in the course of the narrative—there’s no “singing of my feelings” or people on the street suddenly knowing the choreography. No, this is actually a musical that makes sense. At least it makes sense in terms of the music.
In reality, this is pretty much standard early-Hollywood musical fare despite where the songs come in. Mary Barrett (Grace Moore) enters a singing competition with first prize being a chance to study under the great Giulio Monteverdi (Tullio Carminati). Ah, but this is something a little different right off the bat—Mary doesn’t win. She surprises her parents, though—she’s going to take all of the money she has saved up over the course of her lifetime and head off to Italy anyway. It’s her destiny to sing in the opera, she believes, and thus Italy is the place to be.
