Uncle Stevie wrote:There are two performances of "The Bell Song" from Lakme that I have seen and adore. One is from a pop musical "It Happened in Brooklyn" (1947) starring Frank Sinatra and Kathryn Grayson. Kathryn Grayson does the honors here and does a mgnifiscent job singing Lakme. The second is "I Dream Too Much" (1935) starring Lily Pons and Henry Fonda. Lily Pons is the superior Opera singer here with many years of training and does an oustanding job but some how I find Grayson's performance a little more thrilling.
I would like your opinions and also to know if any other movie is around with someone else singing the Bell Song from Lakme.
Lakmé has a long film history; not only with the aria
Où va la jeune Hindoue (better known as the "Bell Song"), but also with its "Flower Duet". The duet may even be better known today, especially after its popular use in the British Airways commercials. Actually,
Lakmé first hit the silver screen in 1906, with an early British sound film of a scene from the opera. It was only 3 minutes long, but the music was synchronized on a phonograph with the film.
Lily Pons sang the "Bell Song" in two different films. First in your mentioned
I Dream Too Much, and again in
Carnegie Hall (1947). Simone Simon plays a french singer in
Love and Hisses (1937) who sings the "Bell Song". Italian horror director Dario Argento used it in his version of
Phantom of the Opera (with Julian Sands as the Phantom).
The "Flower Duet" has been used on the soundtrack of many films, usually employing the Joan Sutherland (may she rest in peace) recording. It can be heard in
The Hunger (as Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve share lustful looks), Tony Scott's
True Romance, the delightful Canadian romp
I've Heard the Mermaid's Singing and Ridley Scott's
Someone to Watch Over Me. If you're curious about Sutherland's
Lakmé, she made a documentary about putting together a production in Australia.