Starring Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Mary Boland, and George Zucco
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard
Music by Sigmund Romberg; Lyrics by various
By 1940, the ultra-romantic operettas MacDonald and Eddy specialized in were starting to go out of fashion in favor of zippier, less expensive musical comedies...and indeed, this was their first out-and-out flop. They already died out on Broadway, with only a few flops debuting in the 30's, but the success of MacDonald and Eddy and Grace Moore at Columbia in the mid-30's gave film operetta a shot in the arm. New Moon would be their last flat-out operetta, and their last film together for two years. How does this New Orleans-set colonial romance look today? We begin on the boat to Louisiana, as French nobles in snowy frills dance their cares away...but things are quite different below-decks...
The Story: Duchess Marianne de Beaunoir (MacDonald) is among those dancing their cares away above. The men in the holding area below are bond servants, criminals to be sold as labor to the merchants and plantations in New Orleans. Among them is the Duc de Villars (Eddy), arrested for singing revolutionary songs in the streets. He calls himself Charles and intends to lead the bond servants in a revolt. He passes himself off as an officer when Marianne catches him trying to get the captain to treat the bond servants better. She's annoyed at first, but soon falls for him.
That only lasts until they debark for New Orleans and he's purchased as a valet for Marianne's household. She's amused, then annoyed when she realizes he's only a bond servant. They eventually realize their love for each other is stronger than any class war...which is why Marianne sells him when she finds out from the Vicomte Ribaud (Zucco) that the French government sent people to arrest him. She thinks he's had dalliances in France; he thinks she betrayed him.
She and her aunt (Boland) take the next boat out of New Orleans with a group of casquette girls going to the Caribbean. They don't make it far when they're attacked by what turns out to be the former bond servants on their way to the New World. They end up on a tropical island during a storm. Charles insists the colonists all get married to avoid fighting over the opposite sex. He and Marianne try to dissuade others from wooing them by marrying each other, though she's still not buying it...until the colony is attacked by the French...
The Song and Dance: For once, it's Eddy who gets to have the most fun as the noble duke who is willing to give up his titles to see that all people get a fair shake. He's still a little stiff in dramatic scenes, but his banter with MacDonald is hilarious, especially once they get on the deserted island. Boland is adorable as Marianne's gossipy aunt who is not above shoving her niece into a relationship or passing the latest juicy story from Paris. Eddy and MacDonald's chemistry is still off the charts. You really do feel the heat between them, especially during the "Wanting You" sequence in the bayou and in the finale when she thinks he's going off to defend the island.
This is also one of the few Broadway adaptations of the era to actually stick to the original stage show. It did change a few minor details - Charles' name was Robert, Marianne came to Lousiana with her father, not her aunt, the bond servants staged a mutiny instead of commandeering a ship - but it's certainly closer than the version MGM put out in 1930.
The Song and Dance: We open with the re-written "Dance Your Cares Away" as the nobles above-decks enjoy a carefree ship-board ball. Marianne sings "Stranger In Paris" and "The Way They Do It In Paris" for the crowd to drown out the noise of the bond servants under them...and only partially succeeds. Charles is so smitten with Marianne, he sings about her "Shoes" as he shines them and croons a gorgeous version of the hit ballad "Softly, As In a Morning Sunrise."
Marianne is once again called on to sing at a ball, this time at her plantation in New Orleans. She gets another hit ballad, "One Kiss," with prompting from Charles and the others. She and Charles wander out to the bayou to hear the African-American spiritual "Troubles of the World," which becomes a gorgeous backdrop for their big duet, "Wanting You." Charles leads the bond servants in the rousing "Stoutheared Men" as they head for the docks to take over that ship. Marianne sobs "Lover, Come Back to Me" after she sends Charles away...which turns into a duet on the island when she thinks they're being invaded.
"Dance Your Cares Away" gets an ironic call-back when danced by former bond servants and brides during Marianne and Charles' wedding. All of the men on the island woo Marianne with the song bearing her name, to her annoyance, and keep following her everywhere.
Trivia: MGM originally released New Moon in 1930 with Grace Moore and Lawrence Tibbett. Not only did it retain just three songs from the original, but for some reason, they reset it in imperial Russia just before the Revolution.
The New Moon debuted on Broadway in 1928, after a disastrous try-out in Philadelphia that saw nearly the entire score re-written. That worked. It ran for two years, a smash hit at the time, and would be the last major hit of the Golden Age of Broadway Operettas. It's still frequently performed by opera and light opera companies today. In 2003, it became the only operetta to date to turn up as an Encores! concert in New York. (That show went over so well, it's one of the few Encores titles to have been released on CD.)
Buster Keaton and Nat Pendleton originally had larger roles as Charles' men and comic relief. Most of their performances ended up on the cutting room floor, though they can be seen briefly in the crowd during "Stouthearted Men."
What I Don't Like: It can come off as way too close to Naughty Marietta at times (though I have read this was a complaint with the Broadway version as well). In fact, the first half feels like a gender-reversed rehash of Marietta, with him as the runaway noble and her the one who doesn't know his identity. MacDonald is more frigid than spirited, even after she's supposed to be thawing and falling for Charles (twice). There's a few annoying plot holes, too, like how the very wet Charles suddenly cleans up for a visit to the captain's cabin in the beginning he never mentioned before.
The Big Finale: One of the better MacDonald/Eddy movies. Recommended for those who loved Marietta or fans of operettas, the stars, or swashbucklers.
Home Media: Easy to find on DVD and streaming, the former from the Warner Archives.
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