The Chocolate Soldier is a 1941 American musical film directed by Roy Del Ruth. It uses original music from the Oscar Straus 1908 operetta of the same name, which was based on George Bernard Shaw’s 1894 play Arms and the Man. Unable to come to terms with Shaw, the studio used a story to which it already had rights: the Ferenc Molnár play The Guardsman, (originally Testőr) . The plot centers on the romantic misunderstandings and professional conflicts between two recently married opera singers, played by Metropolitan Opera star Risë Stevens (in her film debut) and Nelson Eddy, who perform excerpts from the operetta during the film. This screenplay was written by Leonard Lee and Keith Winter. The Guardsman—a huge hit on Broadway in 1924— was brought to the screen in 1931, with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne reprising their stage roles as married actors.