Starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, the second film adaptation of The New Moon (like its predecessor, titled simply New Moon) premiered on June 18, 1940. Produced and directed by Robert Z. Leonard and choreographed by Val Raset, the film also featured Mary Boland, George Zucco, H. B. Warner and Grant Mitchell. The 105-minute film used only five songs from the original score, along with four additional songs, all of which were sung by MacDonald and Eddy.

The film was not well received. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times said “Somehow the familiar lilt of the old MacDonald-Eddy extravaganzas is missing.” Howard Barnes of the Herald Tribune found it “too long and tiresome,” and Walt Christie of Variety called it “pretentious and elaborately mounted.” In 1978, Harry Medved and Randy Dreyfuss included the movie in their book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (and How They Got That Way).