How quickly things date...
By Jim D.
When it was first produced, Leo Fall's "The Dollar Princess" was the latest thing in operetta, with its chorus of typists and its sharp satirical book. The title character, who runs her father's company, hires a man to be her secretary, and falls reluctantly in love. (Hepburn-Tracy, anyone?) Meanwhile, an adventuress schemes to marry the father, and a secondary couple sort out their own romance. When this version was mounted for television in 1971, the producers treated it like a Broadway show, souping up the arrangements and trimming down the more extended music. (The big waltz survives as a party entertainment.) There are some nice tunes--though none of them operetta classics--performed in earnest by an attractive cast. The result, alas, looks just as dated now as the original must have looked to them, but if you're not a purist, there's a good deal of fun to be had. Clear subtitles, nice booklet.
