12 Great Soundtracks In Otherwise Terrible Movies
11. One Night Of Love (1934)
One night of Love isn’t very well remembered these days but it holds an important title – it’s the first movie ever to win the Academy award for Best Original Score, beating out Fred & Ginger’s “The Gay Divorcee”.
The Oscar is thoroughly deserved as the film is a great showcasing of opera in the arts. Admittedly, it’s Grace Moore who carries the whole movie alone for her rich soprano voice and effortless elegance. She was Oscar nominated for Best Actress in a leading role because of her performance.
This film may also have helped to expand the ever-growing popularity of opera in the United States. For that reason, One Night of Love has relevance in the history of cinema.
Nevertheless, it’s still everything you’d expect from an early 1930s movie. It’s boring, dated and sluggish in its story – and that’s if you are a fan of music and opera.
It’s a typical Hollywood story where the romance (in this case, Mary and Giulio) is flat with no tangible chemistry. The plot also had potential to be really engaging – a young woman travelling all the way from New York City to Milan, Italy to pursue her music career – but it never quite gets interesting enough.
In short, One Night of Love isn’t a film for film lovers, but definitely a must-see for those who appreciate and enjoy the art of opera.