ManiakJiggy
This is How Movies Should Be Made
Catangro
After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.
Kinley
This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
jarrodmcdonald-1
This RKO picture benefits from William Wellman's direction, the re-teaming of Irene Dunne and Richard Dix, and a nice blend of music, adventure and romance. Miss Dunne is particularly suited to play an opera singer, and only MGM's Jeanette MacDonald could have performed the lead nearly as well. As for the love interest, Mr. Dix essays the title role of a dashing bandit, the first time he has worked with Miss Dunne since the studio's earlier hit, Cimarron.Mary Boland does a fine job as an obnoxious snob, proving her worth as a would-be member of the cultural elite who makes things a bit difficult for Dunne. And don't miss Andy Devine turning on the charm as Stingaree's high-pitched loyal sidekick (what else?).
dbdumonteil
This is a really disappointing movie by highly talented Wiliam Wellman,compared with magnificent works such as "wild boys of the road" "heroes for sale" or "the conquerors",the latter also featuring Richard Dix (playing two parts in the same final scenes!) .This far fetched story of a bandit with a big heart who helps his protégée ,a servant,to become a great diva ,is not convincing:the ending is very romantic but might disappoint the audience who might call for more .On stage ,the diva performs the Castafiore 's biggest hit (see "the adventures of Tin Tin")in French ,Gounod's "Air Des Bijoux " (Ah!Je Ris De me Voir Si belle En Ce Miroir =Ah my beauty past compare.....) Half melodrama ,Irene Dunne's field ,half musical (there are plenty of songs),"Stingaree" should be reserved for Wellman's buffs ,but there are plenty of them,including myself.
st-shot
Highwayman Stingaree ( Richard Dix) is the terror of down under as he plunders travelers and humiliates the local constabulary with his audacious crimes. When he becomes smitten with Hilda Bouverie (Irene Dunne) he risks his freedom to make her a great opera singer.Preposterous as the plot is in this piece of costume claptrap directed by William Wellman, Dix is dashing, Dunne exhibits a decent set of pipes and Marie Boland remains wonderfully oblivious to give Stingaree a certain degree of life and humor. Wellman directs like he's doing a silent though and the film ends up in an ill fitting time warp between pre-talkie swashbuckler and the musical pairing of Eddy and Mc Donald.
MartinHafer
This month (April 2007), Turner Classic Movies has re-introduced six old RKO films that were presumed lost. Nearly all of them were very good, but STINGEREE was a dog--a film better left lost! Unless you are a rabid fan of the Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy style operatic movies, this movie will probably annoy you with its very old fashioned and horrid singing. In addition, the plot is pure 1930s corn--completely lacking in realism and full of silly clichés that make decent actors look really, really bad.In addition to horrid opera-style singing, the film was saddled with some weird miscasting. As for the Irene Dunne, she was just fine. Her horrible warbling is exactly what the producers were looking for and back in 1934 it would have gone over quite well at the time--after all, she could sing, though in a style that is so out of style today that many will find the singing quite painful (my ears are still bleeding). But for the leading role, "Stingeree", they poorly chose Richard Dix who was unable to effect any sort of an accent. It seemed very odd that although the film was set in Australia and he was supposed to be English, he sounded exactly like an American! They should have instead given the part to cute old Snub Pollard, an Australian who played a tiny bit part in the movie (so you know he could effect a convincing accent of at least an Australian) but who used to be an amazing comic with Keystone Studios.Now for the incredibly silly plot: Irene wants to be a professional singer, but the nasty old crow who took her in is jealous of Irene's talent so she is planning on keeping Ms. Dunne from meeting a famous English musician and producer. But, quite by chance, the famous bandit Stingeree hears Irene and does everything he can to make her dream come true--even if it means him being caught. He is, but she is discovered in the process. After traveling the world and gaining great fame, Irene is determined to go back to Australia, as she knows she loves him and must marry him--even though they barely know each other and he is currently on the run again. In the end, just like in the campy MacDonald-Eddy operettas, they live happily ever after and the audience is thrilled that the singing is finally completed! They don't make movies like this any more--and for once, I am quite happy about this! What a load of hooey!PS--Late in the film, Ms. Dunne is braiding her very long hair. If you watch closely, you'll see an editing error, as her hair goes from just beginning to being braided to almost completed in a blink of an eye.
