Sérénade (1940)
Directed by Jean Boyer

Film Review

Coming between Abel Gance's Un grand amour de Beethoven (1936) and Christian-Jaque's La Symphonie fantastique (1942), Jean Boyer's Sérénade is a comparatively obscure film centred around another important 19th century composer, Franz Schubert.  Overshadowed by Marcel Pagnol's later film La Belle meunière (1948), Boyer's modest offering concerns itself with a minor incident in the composer's life which probably owes more to the imagination of its screenwriters than historical fact.  In common with Gance's and Christian-Jaque's superior films, Sérénade is less a serious biopic and more an affectionate homage to the composer, making generous use of his music in its score whilst not even bothering to concern itself with the man behind the myth.

The film was one of two directed by Jean Boyer (the other being Miquette, released the same year) to showcase the talents of the Anglo-German actress and singer Lilian Harvey, who had just fled from Nazi Germany.  Now in her mid-30s, Harvey is clearly too old for the part she plays in the film - the muse who inspires Schubert to greatness - but her vivacity and multiple talents enliven what would otherwise have been a pretty sombre and forgettable production.  With Louis Jouvet playing Schubert's rival in love (and doing so with no discernible interest in the part), Bernard Lancret, the actor playing Schubert, is relegated to third billing, which is fair given that his performance is just about the least memorable thing about the entire film.  Lancret's portrayal of the composer is as two-dimensional as it is charmless, and you suspect the only reason he was cast in the role was because of his resemblance to Schubert.  Félix Oudart has a much greater impact as the colourful impresario who, if he had his way, would have turned Schubert into a composer of light operettas.

The sequence where Schubert gets to meet his personal idol Beethoven at the end of the film is an indulgence the screenwriters obviously couldn't resist.  Contrived though it is, it provides the film with its one memorable scene, with the ageing Beethoven sagely offering advice that any struggling artist can take consolation from. Very different in tone and subject from Boyer's other films of this period - mostly lively comedies and musicals such as Circonstances atténuantes (1939) and Romance de Paris (1941) - Sérénade is a rare departure for him into more serious territory, although he overreaches himself and fails to deliver much more than the humblest of tributes to a great artist.

Film Synopsis

In Vienna of the 1810s, an unknown young composer, Franz Schubert, is struggling against self-doubt and his modest circumstances to make a success of his career.  He idolises Beethoven but doubts whether he can ever hope to create any work half as sublime as that of this musical master.  Whatever he composes seems to be contrary to the prevailing fashions and no one appears interested in his work.  He can only work at night as the distractions of the day prevent him from concentrating, but this earns him a fine he can ill afford.  One day, Schubert encounters a beautiful English dancer, Margaret Brenton, and through this acquaintance he is inspired to compose his first great work.  With the connivance of his rival, Baron Hartmann, the impresario Schwindt stages a ballet featuring Schubert's latest piece with Margaret in the starring role.  Realising that Schubert has fallen in love with her, Margaret decides she must leave Vienna so that he can find success as a composer...