Romberg–Student Prince, Golden Days

Lady, Be Good! opened on December 1, 1924 at Liberty Theatre; one day later, Sigmund Romberg’s The Student Prince of Heidelberg opened at Jolson’s Theatre. George Gershwin was the composer looking forward, driven by the syncopating rhythms in his mind; Romberg was the man firmly anchored in the past. However, both had major hits on Broadway in the 1920’s. Gershwin was readying himself for the 1930’s; Romberg’s great operetta’s of the 1920’s (including 1926’s Desert Song and 1928’s The New Moon) marked the high point of his career.

But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Let’s enjoy the first of Romberg’s three great operettas. The musical’s libretto was based on a good story; it was about a Prince (Karl Franz) of a small country who goes to university in Heidelberg, mixes in well with the other students, unexpectedly falls in love with Kathie, one of the waitresses, is recalled to his homeland on the death of the King, his grandfather, and must assume the duties as Monarch.

The musical starts with Karl preparing to leave for the university with his tutor, Dr. Engel; Engel looks back on his own days at the university and calls them his “Golden Days.”

In the movie, the song is sung a the end of the movie by Karl Franz as he journeys to his arranged marriage to a woman he doesn’t love.

Here is a clip from the 1954 movie, starring Edmund Purdom and Ann Blyth. The backstory of the movie was that it was to be Mario Lanza’s crowning achievement; the studio pulled a switch on Lanza after Lanza had recorded all of the music. Purdom was cast and lip-synched Lanza’s singing. We see Purdom, but we hear Lanza. Lanza is at his very best.