Cult Flops - I Married an Angel

MGM, 1942
Starring Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Edward Everett Horton, and Binnie Barnes
Directed by W.S Van Dyke
Music by Herbert Stothart and Richard Rodgers; Lyrics by Lorenz Hart, George Forrest, and Robert Wright

MGM wanted to do this movie ever since they got Jeanette under contract in the mid-30's, but the original play and Rodgers and Hart musical were too spicy for the era. By 1942, they'd cleaned it up enough to pass the censors...but MacDonald and Eddy were both past their prime, and the movie didn't do well at the box office. Does this angel deserve a second chance on Earth today? Let's head to the bank owned by playboy Count Palaffi (Eddy) in Budapest and find out...

The Story: Count Willie Palaffi would rather chase all the lovely ladies in town than take care of his bank affairs or pay attention to hard-working secretary Anna Zador (MacDonald). His head teller Whiskers (Reginald Owen) tries to encourage Willie to take a second look at her, but his head secretary Martika (Mona Maris) also has designs on her boss and gives Anna a costume to wear to his big birthday ball. She arrives dressed as an angel, but everyone else is wearing elaborate gowns and headdresses. Willie dances with her until they're laughed at.

He flees and falls asleep in his office, where he dreams that Anna is an angel named Brigitta who has come to Earth to marry him. He thinks she's perfect and does take her for his wife...but she's too perfect and too honest, alienating his society friends and causing a run on the bank. His sister Peggy (Barnes) takes her aside to teach her to be a little more devlish...but it proves to be too successful when she flirts with one of his partners (Douglass Dumbrille).

The Song and Dance: This charming fantasy is a great way for MacDonald and Eddy to go out. They both have some very funny moments; check out her rearranging the Bank's board of directors so they're sitting next to their mistresses, rather than their wives, or the expressions on Eddy's face during the surreal montage towards the end where he can't get to his angel, no matter how hard he tries. The lavish costumes, including MacDonald's "real" angel wings, give the film the appropriate decadent European feel. Great cast, too, including sarcastic Barnes as the Count's sensible sister and Edward Everett Horton as the Count's valet and announcer.

Favorite Number: The title number is heard twice, first as a solo for Eddy, then as a duet for him and MacDonald as he introduces her to his bank board at his wedding reception. "Spring Is Here" is also heard twice - MacDonald sings it in the opening, and she and Eddy perform it together later when they're on their honeymoon. Eddy talks to "Hey Butcher" on the streets in Paris, leading into "I'll Tell the Man In the Street." "Tira Lira La" is the big number for the Count's girls in their fancy costume at the party; they later sing it at the wedding reception when he's getting married. Barnes teaches MacDonald how to be a human woman with "A Twinkle In Your Eyes," complete with a really cute little jitterbug.

Trivia: This was originally going to be a Paramount musical in the early 30's, but Rodgers and Hart moved it to Broadway when the Hays Code declared the idea of an angel losing her wings to a mortal man to be too racy. The original I Married an Angel debuted on Broadway in May 1938 and ran nine months, not bad for the time. While it's probably too fluffy to be revived, it has been seen as staged concerts recently, including an Encores! concert in New York in 2019.

What I Don't Like: The fluffy story is cute but insubstantial, and is likely one of the big reasons this has rarely been seen outside of concert halls since 1938. The idea of a mortal "deflocking" an angel and the angel being corrupted may rub some people the wrong way even today, let alone then, and the film and show aren't terribly kind to women, either. MacDonald and Eddy, as funny as they are, were also a tad old for their roles by this point.

The Big Finale: Many MacDonald and Eddy fans aren't crazy about this one, but I think it's a great way for them to end their partnership. It was just the wrong movie at the wrong time. A European-set fantasy romance probably wasn't the best thing to be releasing during the height of World War II, and the stars had probably worn out their welcome by then, too. One of their better and more unique films.

Home Media: On DVD from the Warner Archives and several streaming companies.

DVD
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