Stingaree (1934 film)
- Richard Dix: Stingaree aka Mr. Smithon
- Mary Boland: Mrs. Clarkson
- Conway Tearle: Sir Julian Kent
- Andy Devine: Howie
- Henry Stephenson: Mr. Hugh Clarkson
- George Barraud: Inspector Radford
- Una O'Connor: Annie
- Snub Pollard: Victor
- Billy Bevan: Mac
Stingaree is a feature film with Irene Dunne and Richard Dix, directed by William A. Wellman. The two stars had already stood together in the Oscar-winning Western Cimarron front of the camera. The film combines a number of genres such as operetta, Western and adventure movie.
Action
The wealthy Australian sheep farmer Hugh Clarkson and his wife await the arrival of the famous composer Sir Julian Kent. Mrs. Clarkson lives in the belief that to be a gifted singer, an idea, however, shared by no one else. will. In the household of Clarkson's lives and the young Hilda Bouverie, who actually is a gifted talent in contrast to Mrs. Clarkson. Just as Sir Julian approaches by stagecoach, this is raided by the famous bandit Stingaree. Stingaree, which itself is an excellent singer, kidnapped Sir Julian. The next day, when the entire household, with the exception of Hilda breaks up to receive Sir Julian to Stingaree creeps on the estate of Clarkson. Hilda holds the handsome stranger for Sir Julian and sings a few bars for him. The - alleged - Sir Julian aka Stingaree is very impressed by the talent and Hilda promises to help her myself to make a career. After some confusion managed Stingaree that the real Sir Julian Hilda takes. A short time later, she celebrates triumphs at all the leading opera houses of the world. One day Hilda recognizes how much she loves basically Stingaree. She gives one last show at the Opera House of Melbourne and is kidnapped at the end of Stingaree. Both ride off into the sunset.
Background
Irene Dunne was already a professional singer when she came to Hollywood in 1930. Nevertheless, her singing talent was not used in the following years of her studio RKO and Dunne played mostly in tearful melodramas. Only Stingaree offered her the opportunity to put their skills to the test. How far in almost any of her films, Irene Dunne was also only the second choice and was given the role only after the originally planned Jeanette MacDonald was not released by MGM.
Stingaree brought them again together with Richard Dix, her partner in Cimarron, the 1931 breakthrough for Dunne meant and earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Meanwhile, the popularity of Dix was on the wane and his name was mentioned in the opening credits until after Irene Dunne. Originally, the two actors should occur in the previous year in the comedy The Ace together, but were dashed the plans. The role of the Stingaree was initially intended for Leslie Banks, before she went to Dix.
Most outdoor shots found on the ranch by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author of the Tarzan novels, instead, during the scenes that take place in the Opera House of Melbourne, in the still upright sets of the silent film The Phantom of the Opera from 1925 on the site at Universal Studios were filmed. The rent for the sets was 1500 U.S. dollars.
Theatrical Release
The cost of production amounted to 408,000 at the end of the U.S. dollar, which is about equal to the average for an A - film at RKO. Stingaree is proved at the box office as unpopular and only played 563,000 U.S. dollars. At the end of a loss in the amount of 49,000 U.S. dollars was for the studio.
Reviews
In the New York Times, the film was highly praised.
" [ The ] implausible events are very entertaining. Miss Dunne is a charming presentation and sings several songs with a lot of skill. "