A Lady's Morals

1930 • NR • Series • Catalog pick

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, it's 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 it's 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.