Opera singer Grace Moore finished her Columbia contract with this genial screwball comedy. She stars as a diva whose aunt (Helen Westley) has convinced her to break a contract to sing in Buenos Aires for a more lucrative engagement in Paris. To get her back, the head of the Argentine company (Melvyn Douglas) courts her. By the time he's fallen in love, she's learned the truth, setting the stage for some fiery comic confrontations. Moore had defied the odds to become one of the Metropolitan Opera's first American-born stars. She tried filmmaking at the dawn of the talkie era, when she fell victim of the glut of musicals on the market. In 1934, she returned with a six-picture deal at Columbia, scoring a big hit with One Night of Love. Her films helped popularize opera among the masses, and I'll Take Romance was no exception, with scenes from Manon, Martha, La Traviata and Madama Butterfly. In a rarity for Hollywood, the scenes are presented with few interruptions, capturing her stage presence. Moore has strong support from some expert comic actors, including Douglas, Westley, Stuart Erwin, Margaret Hamilton and Ferdinand Gottschalk.

By Frank Miller