ONE HEAVENLY NIGHT

US, 1931, 76 minutes, Black and White.
Evelyn Laye, John Boles.
Directed by George Fitzmaurice.

One Heavenly Night is very dated entertainment. It is interesting only as indicating the styles of a film of 1930.
It is an early Sam Goldwyn sound production. It was directed by George Fitzmaurice, edited by Stuart Heisler, with a musical score written by Nacio Herb Brown and others.

It is a simple operetta style musical comedy - probably effective on stage at the time but very creaky on the screen. A flower girl in a cafe takes the place of a rather racy singing star. The setting is a mythical country in central Europe. She encounters one of the nobility of the country who expects the racy star. She resists him - especially by singing and then by running out into the rain. He pursues her - and is relieved to find out who she really is. The songs are unmemorable, the romance somewhat stilted and there are a lot of comedy routines - especially with a routine of breaking antique plates.

British stage star Evelyn Laye is the heroine. John Boles (The Desert Song, Back Street, Stella Dallas) is the rather stolid hero. While the camera work has a certain fluidity, the influence of staged musicals is very evident and makes the film unsuccessful in bridging the decades.