Nelson Eddy (Rose Marie) stars as a Czarist prince who falls in love with a café singer in the days just before the Russian Revolution in this gorgeous period musical. Prince Peter (Eddy) masquerades as a poor worker to woo Lydia Marakov (Ilona Massey) and secretly arranges for her to audition at the Imperial opera, and the two fall in love. Their romance is shattered, however, when Lydia discovers Peter’s true identity when he leads his Cossacks into town to break up a demonstration that ends with tragic consequences. Only after the war, when the two have become émigrés in Paris, are they reunited. Featuring wonderful Russian music and songs and sterling performances by the cast, Balalaika is an enduring treasure.
