A Lady's Morals (MOD) (DVD Movie)

This decorous if provocatively titled meeting of two songbirds stars Metropolitan Opera soprano Grace Moore ("The Tennessee Nightingale") in her film debut portraying legendary 19th-century diva Jenny Lind ("The Swedish Nightingale"). A Lady's Morals is a prime example of highbrow-meets-hokum fluff from the early sound era. Bringing Moore's vibrant voice and charming poise to the screen was an ambitious attempt to launch a new film star and give the new audio technology an exciting workout. The Irving Thalberg production directed by Sidney Franklin is worth the gamble alone for Moore's elegant, clarion-toned Donizetti and Bellini arias. If the plot's fictions (swoony composer Reginald Denny faces blindness as a result of his infatuation) creak, its one biographical nod -- Lind's intersection with showman P.T. Barnum -- hits a high note when Wallace Beery barnstorms in near the end. Not a success in its day, this pleasant curio is a harbinger of the acclaim that a switch of studios (plus an Oscar nomination for One Night of Love) brought Moore three years later.

DVD Details

>Rated: 0
>Runtime: 1 hours, 27 minutes
>Video: Black & White
>Encoding: Region 1(US & Canada)
>Originally Released: 1930
>Label: Warner

Starring: Grace Moore; Reginald Denny; Wallace Beery; Jobyna Howland; Gus Shy; Gilbert Emery; George F. Marion; Paul Porcasi; Giovanni Martino; Bodil Rosing; Joan Standing; Mavis Villiers; Judith Vosselli