René Stern

A Russian courier struggles to deliver a message to the troops fighting Tartar invaders. (TCM)

Serenade represented the return to the screen of international favorite Lillian Harvey after an absence of two years. Based loosely on the life of composer Franz Schubert, the film casts Bernard Lancret as Schubert, Harvey as his dancer sweetheart, and Louis Jouvet as a possessive Baron who has his own designs on our heroine. Ultimately, the Baron gracefully bows out of the girl's life, allowing her to serve as the inspiration for Schubert's classic compositions "Serenade" and "Rosalinde".