Main Cast: Lily Pons, Henry Fonda, Eric Blore, Osgood Perkins, Lucien Littlefield
Release Year: 1935
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
Plot
If Columbia could make an acceptable movie star out of opera-diva Grace Moore, then RKO Radio could do the same with Lily Pons. At least that was producer Pandro S. Berman's reasoning when he cast Pons in the 1935 musical romance I Dream too Much. The actress plays Annette, a rural French musical student who marries struggling American composer Jonathan (Henry Fonda). Possessed of a splendid singing voice, our heroine rises to fame on the opera stage, while poor Jonathan continues struggling, supporting himself as a tour guide. Annette eventually saves her marriage by transforming her husband's "masterpiece," a rather turgid modernistic opera, into a light-hearted musical comedy. Lucille Ball, who'd later co-star with Henry Fonda in The Big Street and Yours, Mine and Ours, has a funny minor role as a gum-snapping tourist. Though Lily Pons was at least 10 years older than Fonda, they make an attractive and believable screen couple, adding credibility to this somewhat contrived yarn. And of course, Lily Pons is seen and heard to excellent advantage in a variety of solos, both brand-new (courtesy of Jerome Kern) and classical: In the closing production number, the svelte Ms. Pons is alluringly garbed in a revealing oriental costume, proving once and for all that women did have belly-buttons back in 1935! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Van Nest Polglase - Art Director, Hermes Pan - Choreography, Bernard Newman - Costume Designer, John Cromwell - Director, William Morgan - Editor, Andre Kostelanetz - Musical Direction/Supervision, Max Steiner - Musical Direction/Supervision, Dave Abel - Cinematographer, Pandro S. Berman - Producer, James Gow - Screenwriter, Edmund H. North - Screenwriter, Elsie Finn - Short Story Author, David G. Wittels - Short Story Author
With John Clark (french horn), John Eckert (tpt). All brass front line. Includes three Knepper compositions, two standards, one by Hanna. ~ Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide
Annette Monard Street (played by Pons) is an aspiring singer, who falls in love with and marries Jonathan Street (played by Fonda), a struggling young composer.
Jonathan pushes her into a singing career, and she soon becomes a star. Meanwhile, Jonathan is unable to sell his music, and he finds himself jealous of his wife's success.
Concerned about their relationship, Annette uses her influence to get Jonathan's work turned into a musical comedy. Once she achieves this, she then retires from public life in order to raise a family.
^Woolsey, John Munro (1938). "Shipman et al. v. RKO Radio Picture, Inc. et al.". Federal Supplement: Cases Argued and Determined in the District Courts of the United States Court of Claims (St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co.) 20: 249–251.
