Enter Madame!


1h 23m 1934

Film Details

Genre
Adaptation
Comedy
Release Date
Nov 2, 1934
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Paramount Productions, Inc.
Distribution Company
Paramount Productions, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play Enter Madame! by Gilda Varesi Archibald and Dorothea Donn-Byrne (New York, 16 Aug 1920).

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 23m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
9 reels

Synopsis

American Gerald Fitzgerald marries beautiful Italian opera star Lisa Della Robbia and leads a romantic life with her until she returns to work. Gerald accompanies Lisa on her extensive tour, but becomes disillusioned when he continually finds himself being relegated to the position of dogwatcher. Gerald finally leaves Europe for the United States after Lisa promises to join him for six months of unadulterated married life after her Scandinavian tour. Lisa postpones her return, however, and Gerald loses his patience and files for divorce, telling his attorney that his married life has been like "a charming nightmare." Before Lisa accepts Gerald's divorce request, he renews his relationship with Flora Preston, but one day they are surprised when Lisa appears, full of melodrama, and claims she, too, has a lover she intends to marry. When Gerald accuses her of having no idea of how to be a wife, she angrily agrees to the divorce, although she still loves him and has lied about her lover. Lisa insists that Flora be present while she and Gerald discuss the financial arrangements of their divorce and, hoping to get Gerald back, invites the couple to attend her opera and join her for dinner afterward. Gerald is delighted to be back in the company of Lisa and her entourage, but Flora is not amused, especially when Gerald stays on after she leaves. That evening, Gerald and Lisa reconcile and decide to live in the United States, sans opera. To evade gossip-seeking reporters, Lisa and Gerald sneak out of the apartment via the dumbwaiter and "elope" to South America.

Film Details

Genre
Adaptation
Comedy
Release Date
Nov 2, 1934
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Paramount Productions, Inc.
Distribution Company
Paramount Productions, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play Enter Madame! by Gilda Varesi Archibald and Dorothea Donn-Byrne (New York, 16 Aug 1920).

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 23m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
9 reels

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

According to a pre-release news item in Motion Picture Herald, Alberto Valentino, brother of Rudolph, was signed to appear in the film as an Italian opera singer. Richard Bonelli, a baritone for the Metropolitan Opera, made his film debut in this picture. Michelette Burani also played "Bice" in the stage version. According to the pressbook, the opera scenes were backed by the Los Angeles Opera Company. The pressbook also indicates that Paramount secured the use of a house of a wealthy Los Angeles resident through the Los Angeles Assistance League, which used the money from the rental for charity. The Gilda Varesi Archibald and Dorothea Donn-Byrne play was first filmed in 1922 as Enter Madame!, starring Clara Kimball Young (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1921-30; F2.1540).