kitablett What can one say about Jeanette and Nelson that hasn't already been said. They harmonized so beautifully that anyone that has ever heard them knows what I mean.Their very first movie together is a sheer delight and has not aged a jot. Beautiful photography in monochrome and Jeanette has never looked more lovely.The music by Victor Herbert is just wonderful and shows what real music was like , unlike some of the rubbish that's written today. In fact, anyone who likes good music will just love it. Their duet near the end of the movie to "Ah !, Sweet Mystery of Life" is downright moving and their voices are just out of this world.I may be biased ,liking operetta,but I think that, even if one isn't all that fussy on it,they would still love this movie. Good story too with plenty of humour as well as drama and the audio, for the age of this film, is just perfect especially when they sing. Stalwart comic actor Frank Morgan is on hand in the supporting role, as well as Douglas Dumbrille and Elsa Lanchester. It was actually Nelson's first starring film and he makes an impressive hero and, even though people have said how wooden his acting was, it just seems right for Jeanette's glowing personality. To say that "they just don't make them like this anymore" would be an understatement.Perhaps it seems corny and sentimental compared to today's fare, but I'd prefer it any day of the week to escape reality for two hours away from the world of today. Just relax and drink it in.

mark.waltz During the return of the Bourbons years after the end of the French Revolution and the brief reign of Emperor Napoleon, noblewoman Jeanette MacDonald escaped from an arranged marriage by her domineering uncle (Douglas Dumbrille) by posing as a scullery maid and heading to New Orleans where settlers are awaiting the arrival of potential brides they've never met. There, she waives off the many admirers while sparring with Nelson Eddy, a law enforcement official who rescued her and the other ladies on her ship after they were overtaken by pirates. Of course, sparring on film ultimately leads to love, and in their first film together, MacDonald and Eddy are a romantic duo who became more famous than MacDonald was with her first partner, Maurice Chevalier. The result is a fun, sometimes camp, pairing that isn't as classic as their next ("Rose Marie") or as romantic as their third ("Maytime", my personal favorite of their many teamings), but is lavish and equally memorable in its own right.Today, "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life" is best known to film audiences for its spoofing in "Young Frankenstein" (in fact, the sequences of the song in the two films sometimes seems like it could be taking place at the same time, even if one is in Europe and the other the newly civilized North America), and its other romantic song, "For I'm Falling in Love With Someone" was also utilized in the Broadway version of "Thoroughly Modern Millie". Elsa Lanchaster, who ironically played "The Bride of Frankenstein" the very same year, is very funny as Governor Frank Morgan's initially suspicious wife, dressed to the nines but complete with cockney vocals, lightening up the minute she finds out that MacDonald is descended from European royalty. Morgan as usual is typecast as a flibbertigibbet, befuddled by everything going on around him. Also very funny is a sequence of when the women first arrive in New Orleans where a desperate local searches through the various women there as if he were shopping for steak at his local butcher. In their initial pairings, MacDonald and Eddy had tremendous chemistry, and you can see why they were so popular. His blandness in acting wouldn't be obvious until their later pairings. MacDonald is an expert comic, truly funny in a scene where she must disguise herself as the unclassy scullery maid, eating bread voraciously like a Parisian peasant starving under the cruelty of her own ancestors. The ending is the epitome of movie operetta camp, turning its constantly repeated love song into a march that may have you shedding tears in laughter.

travisanot This is just a flat out good movie! Maybe I should say a GREAT movie. Although I've been a fan over the past few decades of many films and performers of the 1930s--including the amazing dancing team of (who else?) Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers--until yesterday I'd never seen a film featuring Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. Then, by chance a couple of weeks ago, I heard some singing by Eddy and started checking his and Jeanette's work on Youtube. This led me to many scenes and songs on good old Youtube. The singing was, well, fabulous, and the chemistry between the stars was kinetic, but I figured that, outside of the songs themselves, the movies would probably be syrupy sweet and impossibly dated. That seemed to be the buzz, and otherwise, why weren't they more popular with today's audiences. Still, I had to see a whole film after those tantalizing Youtube scenes. Still, actually finding their films isn't all that easy. There is nothing much on Netflix and few videos of any kind seem to be currently in print. Still, I managed to track down and buy a DVD of 'Naughty Marietta' from an independent outlet--and was amazed at how good it was, and not just the songs!It has a compelling plot, a whole variety of settings going up and down the social ladder from posh Louis XV Paris to the bayous of the rugged Louisiana frontier. It also features some appealing comic moments from MGM's team of crack character actors. Frank Morgan (later the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz) particularly stands out as the likably incompetent governor of French colonial New Orleans. And even in their non-singing scenes, the chemistry between the two stars remains electric. I somehow hadn't realized, at least until my Youtube explorations, that Jeanette MacDonald was drop-dead gorgeous--but she was. She also had a great deal of vivacity and charm-- and, boy, could she sing. Eddy's acting has been criticized, and maybe he didn't have tremendous emotional range, but he does have a real presence on the screen along with that electric connection with Jeanette. And when he sings, his voice acts for him! Moreover, as a singer, he's even better than Jeanette.All in all, the effect is remarkable and one can see why these movies were so immensely popular in their own time. Moreover, overall, I'd rate the non-musical elements of Naughty Marietta (plot, dialog, characterization, acting, setting, thematic development) as superior to most or all of the non-musical moments of Astaire-Rogers, although their movies are, of course, far better known today. In Astaire-Rogers one is often wishing they'll get through this silly scene of dialog and get to the next dance, but that doesn't happen in Naughty Marietta, where the songs seem to grow organically out of the intriguing dramatic situations.I'm going to track down more films in the Eddy-MacDonald series. This one certainly far exceeded my expectations!

itsmits "Naughty Marietta" is acknowledged to be the initial memorable pairing of Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald in the still popular field of operetta and light opera.The terrible oppression of the Depression decade was relieved by the happy smiling Shirley Temple, the Dick Powell/Busby Berkeley musicals, and the screwball comedies of Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, William Powell, Rosalind Russell, Carole Lombard, et al.But the happy pairing of Nelson and Jeanette with their glorious duets and individual performances of the music of Victor Herbert, Rudolph Friml and Sigmund Romberg appealed to the many who found much solace in the sound of two balanced voices joined in melodic songs. Jeanette MacDonald had already made many musicals with Maurice Chevalier and Ramon Navarro but the music of Victor Herbert seemed to afford the opportunity for her to display her particular talents to advantage.While still a princess in Europe, she has a chance to sing the lilting "Chansonette". And as the boat leaves France for the new world, "Prayer" includes strains of the popular "Yesterthoughts". In the new world, Nelson Eddy has an opportunity to introduce himself with the famous "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp" rouser. Later, around the campfire, he does a marvelous job with "The Owl and the Polecat". Two lovely ballads that Victor Herbert provided are also included. " 'Neath the Southern Moon" and "I'm Falling in Love With Someone". Jeanette also has an opportunity to shine with the "Italian Street Song".But, of course, the song that everyone remembers is "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life" which develops over the life of the picture from the beginning scenes with Jeanette's teacher in Paris to the final scenes in the New World when it becomes a soaring duet.If operetta or light opera music is not your cup of tea, this movie may not have much appeal for you. Admittedly, this is the music of a century ago. But there are many movie viewers who do savor this type of music and for them, "Naughty Marietta" is a real treat. It even has delightful moments of comedy with Frank Morgan,Elsa Lanchester and Edward Brophy.Both for insight into film history, music history and just plain entertainment, this movie is an enjoyable diversion. An hour and a half or so in today's busy world is not too much to expend for a bit of nostalgia. If you do discover a 'new world' , there are many other treats awaiting you. "Naughty Marietta" was only the first in a long series of films such as Rose Marie"; "New Moon" "Maytime"; "Girl of the Golden West"; etc.