Starring Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Frank Morgan, and Elsa Lanchester
Directed by W.S Van Dyke
Music by Victor Herbert; Lyrics by Rida Johnson Young and Gus Kahn
We're returning to the world of comedienne and opera diva Jeannette MacDonald with our first three films this week. After Maurice Chevalier left MGM in late 1934 and Ernst Lubistch switched his focus to non-musical projects, the studio searched for just the right leading man for MacDonald's next vehicle. They found him in a contract singer already at the studio. Nelson Eddy had three movies under his belt, but they were all cameos that focused on his singing. This would be his first starring role. How does this romantic musical swashbuckler look today? Let's start in France, as Princess Marie (MacDonald) arrives at the pet shop to purchase new love birds, and find out...
The Story: Marie would much rather be singing with her former music teacher and eager students than marrying the dull Spanish grandee Don Carlos (Walter Kingsford). She trades places with her maid Marietta (Helen Shipman) who had signed on with a shipload of casquette girls, young women traveling to New Orleans to marry settlers. Even as Marie befriends sweet young casquette girl Julie (Cecelia Parker), their ship is attacked by pirates. The girls are rescued by handsome Captain Warrington (Eddy) and his mercenaries. Marie initially thinks he's handsome, but he's not interested in marriage.
She heads off men trying to marry her in New Orleans by claiming she's a woman of questionable character. The governor of the colony (Frank Morgan) sends her off with two soldiers, but they're intercepted by Captain Warrington. Marie's not impressed with him, even after he pays for her rent, and eventually gets a job at a marionette theater. Warrington keeps trying, and they do eventually fall in love...just as Marie's uncle, the Prince de la Bonfain (Douglass Dumbrille) shows up to drag her back to France.
The Song and Dance: An action-packed romantic swashbuckler with some of the most famous songs in any operetta. MacDonald's Marie is spirited, sassy, and sensible enough to realize she won't get what she wants in France. Lanchester and Morgan are a hoot as the governor of Louisiana with an eye for the ladies and his suspicious and sarcastic wife, and Parker's adorable as the little casquette girl Marie takes under her wing. The costumes are especially stunning, with even the casquette girls dressed in mountains of ruffles, lace, and bows.
Favorite Number: We open with the catchy gavotte "Chansonette" as Marie sings along with the students who adore her. "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp" is Warrington's big marching number as he and his mercenaries come to the aid of the casquettes. Warrington's "The Owl and the Polecat" is a comic number on love's complications with Warrington and his men. He then gets the gorgeous ballad "'Neath the Southern Moon" as he tries to deflect Marie's idea of romance.
Warrington teases Marie that she can't sing like the gypsy girl who serenades them under his window. She goes on to prove that she can, and better, in the soaring "Italian Street Song." "Ship Ahoy" is the bizarre marionette number, with Marie and and one of the gypsies controlling the legs of the marionettes under their heads singing the song...but it also reflects Marie's worries about Warrington and his tomcat tendencies. Warrington finally admits he's "Falling In Love With Someone" while taking Marie on a boat ride through the bayou. They consummate their relationship on the steps at the ball for Marie with the big ballad and this score's standard, "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life."
Trivia: The original Broadway show was one of the biggest hits of 1910, in New York and London. It turned up again on early TV in 1955 with Patrice Munsel as Marietta and Alfred Drake as Warrington. While it hasn't been filmed since, it does remain a staple of opera and light opera companies.
When Warrington accidentally pushes Marie into a chair that topples over...it really broke! Eddy really didn't mean to be that formal. MacDonald wasn't expecting it, got upset, and ran from the set. WS Van Dyke had to coax her back.
Won Best Sound in 1935 and was nominated for Best Picture.
What I Don't Like: Eddy doesn't do nearly as well as MacDonald. He's better when throwing off banter with her at his apartment and in the town square and during his numbers than he is in the dramatic scenes, where he's stiff as a board. While this does retain the original New Orleans setting and some characters, it cuts a major story line about the Governor's son masquerading as a pirate and the woman he loves, Marietta was originally the maid she claimed to be, and more was made of Warrington finishing the lyrics of "Ah Sweet Mystery of Life" in the finale.
And yeah...obviously, if you're not a fan of MacDonald, Eddy, operetta, or romantic swashbucklers, don't touch this one with a hundred-foot pole. It's genre fluff of the highest order.
The Big Finale: This is a wonderful way to begin a partnership. My second-favorite MacDonald-Eddy movie after the melodrama Maytime. Highly recommended for fans of operetta, romantic swashbucklers, or the two stars.
Home Media: DVD only from the Warner Archives.
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