Main Cast: Jeanette MacDonald, Frank Morgan, Charles Butterworth, Jean Hersholt
Release Year: 1934
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
Plot
Based on the stage musical by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach, The Cat and the Fiddle stars Jeanette MacDonald as a music student and Ramon Novarro as a struggling composer. When the leading lady walks out of Victor's (Novarro) upcoming operetta, the star's husband pulls his financial support. The leading man ankles the production shortly thereafter, compelling Victor to play the role himself. All this scenario needs is fair Shirley (MacDonald) as the last minute-replacement for the missing leading lady -- but Shirley has given up music to marry philandering (but wealthy) Daudet (Frank Morgan). The fact that the film's final scene was lensed in Technicolor should indicate whether or not Shirley comes to Victor's rescue. Only one song from the original stage production of The Cat and the Fiddle was used in the film version; the remaining (and forgettable) tunes were penned by Kern and Harbach exclusively for the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
An amiable operetta, The Cat and the Fiddle would probably have been better had it been filmed at Paramount under the direction of Ernst Lubitsch, whose style would have fit it perfectly. Instead, at MGM and under the guidance of William Howard, Cat became an enjoyable but not especially memorable musical, even with Jeanette MacDonald making her MGM starring debut. MacDonald is grand, in superb voice and fine acting fettle. She hasn't yet settled into her prima diva mode, and so there's a freshness and allure to her performance that is hard to resist. As her true love, Ramon Novarro gives an engaging performance, even if he can't compete with MacDonald in the vocal department. Novarro's voice is fine, much better than many other musical stars of the period, but his high notes are less than secure, and the strain particularly shows when dueting with MacDonald. There's also fine diva support from Vivienne Segal, an amusing comic turn from Charles Butterworth, and a very nice contribution from Frank Morgan, convincingly cast as Novarro's rival. The Jerome Kern music is pure gossamer, even if the Otto Harbach lyrics fitted to it are occasionally hard to take. The script, unfortunately, is more on the level of the lyrics than of the music, with a hackneyed plot that will cause hoots among younger viewers. At least it has some pre-Code naughtiness to enliven things. The Technicolor finale benefits from using three-strip rather than two-strip color, but it still gives the actors' skin tones an unearthly hue. Cat is so classic movie musical, but the cast and score make it worth catching, especially for students of the genre. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
