Melba (film)
| Melba | |
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theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Lewis Milestone |
| Produced by | Sam Spiegel |
| Screenplay by | Harry Kurnitz |
| Story by | Harry Kurnitz |
| Starring |
Patrice Munsel Robert Morley John McCallum |
| Music by |
Muir Mathieson Mischa Spoliansky |
| Cinematography |
Arthur Ibbetson Edward Scaife |
| Edited by | Bill Lewthwaite |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | United Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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112 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Melba is a 1953 musical biopic drama film of the life of Australian-born soprano Nellie Melba, written by Harry Kurnitz and directed by Lewis Milestone for Horizon Pictures, marking the film debut of the Metropolitan Opera's Patrice Munsel.
Based on the life of Dame Nellie Melba, the film traces the career of Melba (Patrice Munsel) from the time she left Australia, traveling to Paris to receive vocal training, meets a new suitor, and debuts her talent in Brussels. As her success grows, her former suitor from Australia arrives in Monte Carlo, convinces her to marry him, but then finds himself placed in the position of being "Mr. Melba". When he leaves her to return to Australia, Melba remains in Europe to continue singing.
In January 1952, upon completion of the Melba story treatment by Harry Kurnitz, producer Sam Spiegel and his attorney flew to London with the script in-hand to acquire film rights for her story from Melba's estate. In May 1952, Spiegel reported that the film was to be shot on locations in Australia and Britain with Patrice Munsel cast as Nellie Melba.
Upon release of the information, representatives of the J. Arthur Rank organization expressed surprise, as they had themselves been planning a film about Melba. They had hoped to get Marjorie Lawrence for their own film and, when unable to do so, had even considered using actual recordings Melba's voice dubbed over that of an actress. They decided to put their plans on hold until they could find a suitable singer/actress for the lead role.
One of Speigel's early choices for director was Charles Vidor. In July 1952, Spiegel flew to Paris to speak with him. Spiegel then hired Edmond Goulding as director. Pre-production for the film was being done in Paris, and Patrice Munsel and her husband arranged a second honeymoon in that city. When problems arose with Goulding, Speigel fired him and hired Lewis Milestone to direct. The change of directors disheartened Munsel, as she had been looking forward to working with Goulding, and she found Milestone to be "more traffic cop than auteur". She had also anticipated a script that would allow her to play Melba as the "gutsy, difficult, strong-minded" person she really was, and was disappointed that the Kurnitz script "was essentially a plot-less, soft-centered love story built around a long string of opera sequences."
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