Music in the Air Reviews

Despite her top billing, Swanson doesn't have all that much to do in this adaptation of Jerome Kern's and Oscar Hammerstein II's Broadway musical. The silent story, improved by co-writer Wilder (who went on to direct Swanson in the immortal SUNSET BOULEVARD) casts Swanson as a top-billed opera star and Boles as a librettist who are always fighting. Montgomery, a young schoolmaster, comes to the Bavarian Alps along with his fiance, Lang. They try to sell her father's music, and end up meeting Swanson and Boles. After the opera singer and lyricist fight, each tries to make the other jealous by pursuing Montgomery and Lang, respectively. There is a happy ending, with Lang's father's music being used by Swanson and Boles in their new opera. The cast does well in this film, though the transition from stage to film wasn't a smooth one. The dubbed voices are painfully obvious. But songs like "We Belong Together" and "The Song is You" come off well. Shean recreates his original Broadway role and is quite funny. This was Swanson's last film for the Fox studio. At the time it was made, she had been off screen for two years and was eager to do a new film. Though in negotiations with Irving Thalberg of MGM, she eventually was deemed a "loan-out" to Fox for this film once all the contracts had been signed. Songs also include "I've Told Every Little Star," "There's a Hill Beyond a Hill," "One More Dance," "I'm So Eager" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern).