Stingaree is a musical

Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...

 western

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 film directed by William A. Wellman

William A. Wellman

William Augustus Wellman was an American film director. Although Wellman began his film career as an actor, he worked on over 80 films, as director, producer and consultant but most often as a director, notable for his work in crime, adventure and action genre films, often focusing on aviation...

 released by RKO Radio Pictures in 1934. The film was based on a story by E. W. Hornung

Ernest William Hornung

Ernest William Hornung , known as Willie, was an English author, most famous for writing the Raffles series of novels about a gentleman thief in late Victorian London....

, which was published in 1905. Set in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, it starred Irene Dunne

Irene Dunne

Irene Dunne was an American film actress and singer of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. Dunne was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performances in Cimarron , Theodora Goes Wild , The Awful Truth , Love Affair and I Remember Mama...

 as Hilda Bouverie and Richard Dix

Richard Dix

Richard Dix was an American motion picture actor who achieved popularity in both silent and sound film. His standard on-screen image was that of the rugged and stalwart hero.-Early life:...

 as Stingaree.

Plot

Hilda Bouverie is an impoverished Australian servant girl in the house of the wealthy Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Clarkson in 1874. Mr. Clarkson is kind, but Mrs. Clarkson, a former aspiring opera singer, regards Hilda and Annie, another servant, as little more than slaves. Mrs. Clarkson is excited by the news that Sir Julian Kent, a renowned British composer, is coming to Australia. Meanwhile, Sir Julian arrives and stops over at a tavern, where he hears talk of Stingaree, a notorious highwayman that the police, led by Inspector Radford, are keen to catch. Stingaree then comes in, posing as a fellow Englishman, and he and his sidekick Howie capture Sir Julian and flee, outwitting the police. Mrs. Clarkson goes off to meet Sir Julian, but misses him. While she is away, Hilda, who harbours dreams of being an opera singer herself, plays Sir Julian's new song, and Stingaree comes into the house, pretending to be Sir Julian. He encourages her talent, which the envious Mrs. Clarkson will not allow her to practise. After the Clarkson's arrive home, they soon discover that "Sir Julian" is Stingaree, and he escapes, taking Hilda with him. At his hideout Hilda discovers that Stingaree loves her, and she tells him that her parents had the dream of singing, and that when they died she inherited the dream. When Sir Julian finally arrives at the Clarkson's house, Mrs. Clarkson sings his song in an operatic manner, and Stingaree comes and insists that Hilda follow. Hilda then sings, her voice unpretentious by comparison, and Sir Julian invites her to come to England with him. Stingaree and Howie then try to escape, but Stingaree is shot and arrested.

Hilda is reluctant to leave Stingaree behind in prison, but she receives a letter from him telling her to pursue her dream, and that he gave up his freedom for her. She leaves, taking Annie with her. She travels around Europe with Sir Julian, and becomes a famous opera singer. Sir Julian falls in love with her, but she still loves Stingaree. Homesick, she returns to Australia to do a concert in Melbourne. Meanwhile, Stingaree has escaped, and he holds up the Governor General's stagecoach and takes his uniform. Stingaree comes to the concert disguised as the Governor General. When he is recognized, the police pursue him. He comes into Hilda's dressing room, and Hilda offers to give up her singing career for him. They escape through the window, and they ride off together on his horse.

Cast

• Irene Dunne as Hilda Bouverie
• Richard Dix as Stingaree
• Mary Boland
  Mary Boland
  -Career:Born Marie Anne Boland in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she was the daughter of William Boland, an actor, and his wife Mary Cecilia Hatton. She had an older sister named Sara....
  
   as Mrs. Clarkson
• Conway Tearle
  Conway Tearle
  Conway Tearle was an Anglo-American stage actor who went on to perform in silent and early sound films.-Early life:...
  
   as Sir Julian Kent
• Andy Devine
  Andy Devine
  Andrew Vabre "Andy" Devine was an American character actor and comic cowboy sidekick known for his distinctive raspy voice.-Early life:...
  
   as Howie
• Henry Stephenson
  Henry Stephenson
  Henry Stephenson , sometimes credited as Harry Stephenson, was a British character actor....
  
   as Mr. Hugh Clarkson
• George Barraud
  George Barraud
  -Selected filmography:* The Wolf Man * Bellamy Trial * Woman to Woman * Peacock Alley * The Return of Raffles * Great Expectations * Charlie Chan in London * Mystery Woman...
  
   as Insp. Radford
• Una O'Connor
  Una O'Connor
  Una O'Connor was an Irish actress who worked extensively in theatre before becoming a notable character actress in film.-Life and work:...
  
   as Annie

Before casting Dunne as Hilda, RKO held talks with Jeanette MacDonald

Jeanette MacDonald

Jeanette MacDonald was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy...

 in hopes of loaning her out from MGM

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

.

Critical reception

Mordant Hall's 1934 New York Times review called the film "nicely done" and that its "impossible happenings are highly entertaining." He went on to say that "Miss Dunne gives a charming performance and she sings several songs very agreeably."

Home media

In 1946, Stingaree, in addition to five other films, were sold out of the RKO library to producer Merian C. Cooper

Merian C. Cooper

Merian Caldwell Cooper was an American aviator, United States Air Force and Polish Air Force officer, adventurer, screenwriter, and film director and producer. His most famous film was the 1933 movie King Kong.-Early life:...

. Turner Entertainment

Turner Entertainment

Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. (commonly known as Turner Entertainment Co.) is an American...

 purchased the rights back and in April of 2008, Turner Classic Movies

Turner Classic Movies

Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...

remastered and released all six of the films on DVD as part of their Lost RKO Collection. Until the rights were purchased by Turner and released on DVD, Stingaree had not been released since a single television viewing in the late 1950s.