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.

bkoganbing A film thought lost turned up a few months ago on TCM and I finally did get to see it. Stingaree is one curious and horribly miscast film which not even the presence of favorites of mine like Henry Stephenson and Mary Boland can save.Set in Australia in the 1870s, specifically in Victoria we don't see as much as one kangaroo in Stingaree. The presence of a lot of sheep being herded is supposed to make us think we're in Australia. When I finally saw The Sundowners which was actually filmed in Australia, I certainly saw the weakness of things like Stingaree made on the RKO back lot.But no Americans companies were location shooting that far in 1934 so I can be charitable there. But stolid Richard Dix is cast in a role that someone like Errol Flynn might have made believable. Or Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., or Tyrone Power or Louis Hayward anyone with that swashbuckling élan. Dix just looks silly up there spouting those romantic nothings.Irene Dunne is the lonely ward of Henry Stephenson and Mary Boland who accompanies Boland because Boland fancies she can sing. And she's going to sing come hell or high water for visiting British composer Geoffrey Tearle. Dunne is told not to emote as much as low A from her range when Tearle's around. But when she mistakes the notorious bandit Stingaree for the composer, they're taken with each other. He kidnaps Dunne and later forces a gunpoint addition for the real composer and it costs him his freedom. The rest of the film is too unbelievable to describe you have to see it to confirm, but not to be entertained. Even Mary Boland who usually can save anything with her flighty portrayals doesn't go over well. It's not in her character to throw Dunne out of the house because she was upstaged. Boland is irresponsible and flighty, but never a mean person on the screen.A lot of forgettable songs are included here and the whole film is best forgotten. Good thing none of the cast is still around to be embarrassed.

cahuffer-1 TCM presented STINGAREE, a film with Irene Dunne I had never seen, 2 April 2008. The plot can be read elsewhere. I will discuss some of the music in the film and its relation to Irene Dunne.Although the famous Oscar winning composer Max Steiner is credited with the music for two of the songs in the film, the non-Steiner song that is a vital part of the film is: TONIGHT IS MINE, words by Gus Kahn and music by Frank Harling. Recently, I was given an original 1934 copy of the sheet music for this song. This lovely song first appears in the film as a 'music box' is opened by Stingaree about 11 minutes, 53 seconds into the film.Irene first sings this song about 23 minutes 15 seconds into the film. The pitch is a minor third lower than the printed sheet music. The 'music box' is again opened at about 36 min. 46 sec. Irene again sings the song at about 44 min. 40 sec., this time a whole step higher than given in the printed sheet music. The 'music box' is again heard about 49 min. 50 sec.Irene sings THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER from the opera MARTHA at about 54 min. 10 sec. into the film. The 'music box' is heard for the last time about 59 min. 20. sec. into the film. But the consequence this time is that Irene's character decides NOT to marry Sir Julian Kent.The last operatic aria is the Jewel Song from FAUST by Charles Gounod. Irene transposes the aria down a half step from the original. Geraldine Farrar, reportedly a major influence on Irene's life, sings this aria a half step up from the original in my undated recording.TONIGHT IS MINE is sung by Irene for the last time about 108 min. 15 sec. into the film, again a whole step up from the printed sheet music. Nowhere does Irene sing this lovely song at the pitch used in the sheet music, although pictures of Irene and Richard Dix are on the cover and there is a statement that the music is as sung by Irene to Richard Dix! STINGAREE is a very touching movie in places and is so much more of a film than it would be because of this one song.

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.