Rose-Marie

I'm tired of the condescending and facile "appreciations" of Eddy-MacDonald, particularly in "Rose Marie." Does no one actually pay attention to the movie?

For those who dismiss Rose Marie as a "saccharine" confection, this is an operetta. Get it? O-p-e-r-e-t-t-a. Light opera. L-i-g-h-t. No more saccharine than a Nicholas Cage vehicle like It Could Happen to You. Yes, the soundtrack for the Indian spectacle sounds, alas, like the hoochee-coochee, demanded by the box office of the time, but even that unfortunate element is an interesting document of contemporary popular taste. If one claims to have the sensitivity to make judgments about a scene, he should first know how to place it in context.

The production values someone complains about - for the first Eddy song - is a process shot, about the same quality as others throughout the film, which were state of the art for the time. So if one can shed silly presentist snobbery, the production values are fine. And the location shots are spectacular.

Perhaps the stupidest criticism is that MacDonald and Eddy were "mediocre" talents. Yes, Eddy is famous for his supposed woodenness, but I think Rose Marie shows that with good direction - like that of W. S. Van Dyke - woodenness could become stolidity and then a buffer for heavy emotions highly prized by all actors. With Eddy it was "stiffness," but the same qualities in Cooper are called "natural" by the snobs. I challenge any other actor to deal with the inner conflict between love and duty as well as Eddy in Rose Marie. The scene when he says, "You'll remember me as just a policeman" is executed with exquisite torment and brittle irony - through that so-called "wooden" countenance.

As for Jeanette MacDonald, of course she wasn't an opera singer. She had a better job! As for her "mediocre" talent, MacDonald was not only beautiful, stable and smart, she was a fine actress and had an E above high C three-octave lyrical soprano voice. That kind of voice is far from mediocre.

As for Eddy's voice, it's a little on the flat side, but it's strong and masculine. In fact, both MacDonald and Eddy had highly successful solo recital careers after their breakup. Movie build-ups last only so long. After that, it's up to talent.

No, Rose Marie wasn't Gone With the Wind, but it wasn't a 1936 Rocky Horror Show either. To call it camp or kitsch is ill-informed and incompetent. So you graduates of the David Thomson (a hack who seems to have callow film snobs in his thrall) school of criticism, get a life. Rose Marie is a fine work of it's genre - a filmed operetta, no more, no less. Watch it as that and enjoy!

Oh yes, a note about the mutual feelings between MacDonald and Eddy, again dismissed by an ill-informed reviewer: documents submitted by their children are more than just "gossip." Also, before speaking about something you know nothing about, why not check out a photo of MacDonald's beloved husband, Gene Raymond. Remind you of anyone you know?

I saw this as I like Nelson Eddy. And I liked Rose-Marie. The story is creaky(and perhaps a tad schmaltzy), the film is perhaps a little too long and the pace sometimes pedestrian. However, the production values still look lovely and hold up quite well, and the music is wonderful with the incidental music stirring and the songs joyous. The script has some nice touches, a vast majority of times are beautifully staged and the film as a whole is well directed.

And then we have Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. Both look and sound wonderful, they exude great chemistry together and both give believable performances.

All in all, lovely. 7/10 Bethany Cox

There have been three versions of Rose Marie done for the screen, a silent 1927 version and on in 1954 as well as this one. And not one of them had the same plot and not one of them repeated the same plot as the original stage version in 1923. Not that it matters because this version with Jeanette and Nelson sets the standard.

One thing I did object to is that a whole lot of the Rudolf Friml- Otto Harbach-Oscar Hammerstein II score was jettisoned. Some very nice songs were left out. Only The Mountie Song, Rose Marie, and Indian Love Call were retained. Totem Tom Tom which is done as a dance number actually has words. Because Jeanette is an opera singer in this one, arias from Tosca and Romeo and Juliet were included. And Friml and MGM house composer Herbert Stothart wrote a couple of other melodies with Gus Kahn doing lyrics. Nice, but not the real score.

In this version Jeanette is an opera singer who receives word in Montreal that her younger brother is a fugitive after killing a man. She goes to him, but on the way gets sidetracked by Mountie Nelson Eddy. He just happens to be the guy they've assigned to get the brother. I don't think I have to give any more of the plot away.

Jeanette and Nelson are in good voice and MGM splurged a little by going on location and not using any back lot sets to show the Canadian wilderness. I'm willing to bet that Rose Marie may have been the most expensive of their eight films to produce.

Three future stars got exposure in Rose Marie. Allan Jones who Jeanette would co-star with the following year in The Firefly sung the opera numbers with her. David Niven has a brief role as a stage door Johnny ready to declare his undying love for the diva. And James Stewart plays her fugitive younger brother.

Of course Jimmy Stewart was able to do this before he became typecast as all American good guy Jimmy Stewart. Three years later MGM could never have cast him this way. But his performance was definitely a big break for bigger and better roles.

Because of this film Nelson Eddy got his trademark. After he left films and concert singing and did nightclubs towards the end of his life, Nelson would always make a grand entrance replete in white tie, tuxedo, and a Mountie hat. Nelson Eddy was one of the kindest and most generous of performers in giving of himself to his public, but he least of all took his movie career image seriously. In fact he always maintained he was a singer first and film was just a medium to give his singing career more visibility.

But if you want to hear some golden voices doing some classic songs like they don't write any more than I can't recommend Rose Marie strongly enough.

Beautiful scenery provides a romantic backdrop for this musical love story. The role of a stout-hearted Canadian Mountie who "always gets his man"--and in this case, "his woman", too!--is ideal for Eddy, whose stiff mannerisms usually hold these MacDonald/Eddy vehicles back somewhat. As a "straight and true" type his stiffness becomes an asset. While MacDonald undresses in a tent, for example, this Mountie's mind is solely on his duty as he goes through every item of her clothes (as she peels them off) looking for the map that will tell him where his quarry is. It never once occurs to this over-sized boy scout that this beautiful woman is getting naked two feet away from him!

The opening half-hour or so is all Jeanette's and she is vibrant as a swell-headed prima donna whose every thought is of herself. MacDonald seems to really enjoy playing this caricature of a star. David Niven is barely discernible (he's not given one close-up) in his brief appearance as an unrequited suitor. His character goes from city to city to see Marie-- and to propose to her--only to be ushered to the door every time. There's also something deliciously wacky in the way Jeanette enchants everyone with her singing--they cluster around her the same way "100 Men" do around Universal's Deanna Durbin whenever she starts to sing.

But the heart of this romance is in the wilderness scenes, perched above the lakes and hills and beneath the stars, where it seems like time has stopped and all that exists are two lovers singing the echo-like "When I'm Calling You" number to one another. The story in this musical has a wonderful habit of dropping away--while the beautiful singing and orchestration draw these two hearts closer and closer until they finally kiss and profess their love. It doesn't get any cornier than this--but the rhythm of this movie is just right. The last scene with Eddy just standing there finally able to return the "call" he couldn't before is played perfectly--all in song.

The story has once again just dropped away and the two lovers are alone together again. There's a purity to this bonding that is hard to resist...

When you see this film, you must remember that these were America's Singing Sweethearts and movies were very different than they are today. We were just coming off of the Great Depression and moviegoers needed something frothy and light to forget their troubles. Nelson Eddy and Jeanette McDonald were just the ticket. Although they may not have been the greatest actors in film (especially Eddy), they were beautiful to look at and when they began to sing, you were swept away. The story line was never very important.....it was just a framing device until the next song. That's what people came to see and hear...it was all so romantic. So, put aside any thought of Academy Award acting and if it's a little bit corny, just ignore it.....instead get caught up in the sound of two of the most glorious voices in screen history.....together they epitomized the romantic ideal. After almost 70 years, it's still wonderful!!!