The Student Prince (1954)

In 1954, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer brought the delightful old play "The Student Prince" to the big screen. This lavish production was initially planned as a vehicle for their Italian singing sensation Mario Lanza, but this fun-loving tenor had put on a bit too much weight over the summer and ended up being axed as its star. Instead, the handsome English-import Edmund Purdum took on the lead role and lip-sung the songs that were pre-recorded by Mario Lanza. And it turned out quite well!

Sigmund Romberg musicalized the 1902 Wilhelm Meyer-Förster play "Old Heidelberg" in 1924 and turned it into one of the most popular operettas of the 20th century. The story centers around the young Prince Karl Franz of Karlsberg (Edmund Purdum), who is encouraged by his tutor, the kindly Doctor Engel (Edmund Gwenn), to attend the University of Heidelberg prior to capping the crown on his head. In this charming old German town, Prince Karl falls in love with Kathie (Ann Blyth), the barmaid at the local beerhall where all the students congregate after school. He wishes to marry Kathie but he is pledged to betroth Princess Johanna (Betta St. John), and so his heart is divided between his personal desire and duty for his country.

This simple but engaging plot was interwoven with over 15 glorious Romberg songs, including "Drink, Drink, Drink!", "Golden Days", the beautiful "Serenade", and "Deep in My Heart". Purdum did an excellent job of mimicking a tenor and Ann Blyth, of course, carried her own set of powerful lungs and sang better than she ever did on film. In between their romantic moments, Prinz Franz encountered some drama caused by a rival student (John Ericson), a little humor from the inn-keeper (S.Z. Sakall), and a good dose of paternal advice from his father King Ferdinand (Louis Calhern). Also in the cast was John Williams as the stiff valet Lutz, John Hoyt as the Prime Minister, and Richard Anderson as Franz's newfound friend at the university. 

The film looked beautiful in Cinemascope and the lovely Cedric Gibbons sets transported the audiences to old Germany and the grandeur of the German Empire before World War I began. 

"The Student Prince" was an immediate success upon its Broadway debut in 1924. It became the most popular musical of the 1920s, running even longer than "Show Boat". Hollywood brought it to the screen in 1927 as a silent film (!) starring Ramon Navarro and Norma Shearer and then it was shelved until this production in 1954. I always thought that it would have made an excellent Nelson Eddy-Jeannette MacDonald musical in the late 1930s but that never happened. 

This adaptation proved that a good story lasts for generations. MGM reaped more than double its return at the box-office and it launched Edmund Purdum's career in Hollywood. Shortly after The Student Prince was completed, Purdum went on to star in the epic The Egyptian over at 20th Century Fox.