Bitter Sweet (1940)

MGM, 1940
Starring Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, George Sanders, and Ian Hunter
Directed by W.S Van Dyke
Music by Noel Coward; Lyrics by Noel Coward and Gus Kahn

This was MacDonald and Eddy's second go at a tragic romance after Maytime, and their second film in color after the romantic comedy Sweethearts. MGM had high hopes for this to be as well-received as Maytime in 1938, but things didn't work out that way. Playwright and songwriter Coward really hated it, and MacDonald and Eddy weren't overly pleased, either. Why did this delicate confection engender so much hostility? To answer that question, let's head to London, where pretty young Sarah (MacDonald) is singing with her handsome music teacher Carl Linden (Eddy) and find out...

The Story: Sarah is to be married to Harry Daventry (Edward Ashley), a dull, stuffy member of the Foreign Office, but she really loves Carl. They marry secretly and run off to his home in Vienna, where they live in happy poverty as starving artists. Sarah, whom Carl calls "Sari," thinks their luck is changing when superstitious British aristocrat Lord Shayne (Hunter) is convinced their music helped his card game and hires them to sing at a local cafe. The cafe is popular with Austrian military officers, including Baron Von Tranisch (Saunders), who has his eyes on Sarah. When Carl's attempt to defend his wife's honor one evening ends in tragedy, Sarah's left with nothing but her husband's operetta and memories she holds dear for the rest of her life.

The Song and Dance: Gorgeous color and a decent supporting cast enliven this brittle story. Saunders is a delightfully scheming cad, with his roving eyes and sneering accent. Felix Bressart and Curt Bois have a few funny bits as Carl's buddies Ernst and Max, who have the habit of pawning anything their fingers can reach. (Including most of the furniture in Carl's apartment.) The bold palate gives the movie the look of a Dresden fairy tale...until the big "Ziguerner" finale, which is done in the most exquisite pale creams, coppers, and tans.

Favorite Number: We're introduced to the duo as Carl teaches Sarah the big hit from this show, the lovely duet "I'll See You Again." He explains why he so badly wishes to return to Vienna - and wants her to come along - in the yearning "If You Could Only Come With Me." When they do make it to Vienna, Carl leads the men at his favorite cafe through the rousing drinking song "Tokay." He and Sarah sing of their "Dear Little Cafe" as they set up for a meager dinner in their tiny flat. They perform "What Is Love" initially at their flat, then at the cafe among whirling dancers...right before Von Tranisch makes his improper advances at Sarah...

Trivia: There was an earlier British film in 1933 that starred Anna Neagle and apparently came a lot closer to what the original show was like.

What I Don't Like: No amount of color or stunning costumes can cover up the fact that the drama falls flat. I haven't seen the original 1929 Coward Bitter Sweet, but MGM apparently cut a lot out, including the other hit ballad "If Love Were All" and a prologue and epilogue set in the present that sounded too much like Maytime. A sequence with MacDonald and Eddy vying to teach music to shopkeeper Herman Bing's daughter is overwrought and seems completely out of left field with the rest of the film. MacDonald and Eddy don't even attempt to sound British or Austrian, making them fit in awkwardly with the real Brits and Germans in the supporting cast, and are way too old for their roles.

The Big Finale: This is my least-favorite of MacDonald and Eddy's eight films together. Even I Married an Angel shows more wit and sparkle. Only if you're a really huge fan of them, Coward, or operetta.

Home Media: Easily found for streaming and on DVD from the Warner Archives.

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