L'espionne de Castille

Allan Jones has a wonderful voice, but a rather bland personality. He is no match for Jeannette MacDonald, who here gives her best dramatic performance on screen with not much to play against. Warren William is the villain and he has more presence than Jones.

Jones and MacDonald play spies, he for France and she for Spain, during Napoleon's attempt to kidnap the King of Spain and add that country to his fiefdom. There is much intrigue and a few songs along the way, the best known being The Donkey Serenade and Gianina Mia.

The problem lies in the length of the scenes and musical numbers. This film could easily have had half an hour snipped out of it, bringing it closer to conventional playing times of the period. At 2 hours, 10 minutes, it is just too long. And it is heavy-handedly directed and written.

The original operetta from 1912 had a few good tunes. Friml was third in line of talent, behind Romberg and Herbert, as America's trio of operetta composers. The score is just not good enough to mount a major film around.

MacDonald is always worth seeing, as she either matches or outshines her best material. This one, like Broadway Serenade a few years later, was not one of her best films and is recommended for her fans and those of Jones only.