

An aging opera singer looks back on her long life, including her relationships with her vocal teacher and a student.
Acting
Barrymore's final great performance as the possessive maestro.
Score
MacDonald and Eddy's voices carry the whole emotional weight.
Production
Lavish MGM sets that scream 1937 budget.

Director
Robert Z. Leonard
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was the highest-grossing film of 1937 and saved MGM from financial trouble. The studio basically owed its survival to Jeanette MacDonald crying in a garden.
The film's flashback structure influenced decades of nostalgic romantic dramas — everything from Titanic to The Notebook owes this melodrama a drink.