|
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927)
Cast / Credits / Reviews (From the Turner Classic Movies Database)
Even without the benefit of sound, The Student Prince in
Old Heidelberg seems to be
inundated by Sigmund Romberg's unforgettable songs. Director Ernst Lubitsch fashioned a
gloriously schmaltzy, delightfully artificial rendition of the 1924 Romberg opera, which in
turn was based on the 1902 play In
Old Heidelberg. Ramon Novarro plays the title role, an
ever-carousing young monarch who falls in love with ebullient barmaid Norma Shearer. Fully
willing to forsake his crown for her sake, Novarro chooses duty over love when his country
is threatened with revolution.
He tries to let Shearer down gently, but it is clear that
she will never quite get over
her summer romance. Such is the genius of Ernst Lubitsch
that the 1927 version of
Student Prince seems a lot more alive and far less dated than the
1954 Technicolor remake. -- Hal Erickson
|
