The Lottery Bride

Arthur Hammerstein of the famous theatrical family and uncle of the celebrated lyricist Oscar Hammerstein, II, was a Broadway producer of considerable reputation. Probably deciding that the legitimate theater was risky in Depression times, he opted to go to Hollywood and produce his latest show as independent production released by United Artists. Hammerstein managed to secure the services of Jeanette MacDonald from Paramount and Joe E. Brown from Warner Brothers.

The three male leads John Garrick, Joseph Macaulay, and Robert Chisholm all came from the legitimate stage. Garrick would return to Great Britain where he had a considerable career in British cinema for the next decade. The other two had considerable credits on the Broadway stage.

The film is set in Norway with Jeanette working in an Oslo café and going out with Garrick. Italian dirigible explorer Macaulay has his eye on her as well. Jeanette's got herself an embezzling brother played by Carroll Nye whom she takes the fall for. But before that Garrick walks out in a huff thinking she's two timing him with Macaulay.

When released from jail, Jeanette becomes a Lottery Bride. She gets assigned a number and whomever draws her number among the miners in the area north of Trondheim gets that bride. Who should draw it, but Chisholm who's a miner up there and who's gone up to join him and forget a broken heart, but Garrick who is Chisholm's brother. Later on Macaulay joins bringing his polar expedition to town.

Unfortunately the three stage performers did not tone it down for the cinema and they overact outrageously. Macaulay as a villain of sorts is this side of Snidely Whiplash.

The climax of course is a rescue of the downed dirigible, reminding everyone of the ill-fated Umberto Nobile expedition of a couple of years before. On the plus side the special effects of the dirigible crash and rescue were pretty good though they're obviously miniatures to today's sophisticated eye. For the time they were first rate.

Rudolf Friml wrote the score with J. Keirn Brennan the lyrics and it's one of Friml's lesser efforts. Jeanette MacDonald as the movie name gets first billing, but most of the singing is done by the three guys from the stage. For comic relief Joe E. Brown and Zasu Pitts are here and quite frankly they're needed.

The Lottery Bride given its special effects was obviously something that Hammerstein was better off doing on the screen. The problem is that he couldn't shake his stage origins. After The Lottery Bride, Hammerstein went back to Broadway and what he knew best.

Sundered lovers meet again amid tragic irony at a mining camp in northern Norway.

I wanted to see this film because of the uncredited camera-work of Karl Freund, of whom I am a big fan. Although it is far too difficult to tell which work was his and which was not, and the overall film was rather blah. There is some impressive use of matte shots, but that does not thrill me.

I felt like there was too much singing and too much reliance on one character who was clearly supposed to be funny but was not. The overall story was okay, and maybe with a bit of updating it would be alright, but I just never felt like it was worth caring about anyone.

Lottery Bride, The (1930)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Based on the Rudolf Friml musical, this film was for years only available in a cut down 67-minute version but in 2011 the complete 80-minute version with the original Technicolor ending was shown on TCM. The film has Jeanette MacDonald playing Jenny, a woman who offers herself up as a lottery bride, which causes her to lose her true love (John Garrick) when the man's brother (Robert Chisholm) wins her. THE LOTTERY BRIDE is a pretty forgettable movie in terms of story but there's no denying that it has a very strong cast and the final reel being in color is also a major plus. This was the only film produced by Arthur Hammerstein and the musical numbers are certainly less than memorable. I'd say the story too is less than memorable as the screenplay follows just about every twist and turn you'd expect from it and this is especially true as the love story starts to play out. The ending has the "true love" going off in a dirigible, which of course crashes in the arctic and this here leads to a wild recovery. I must say that I was shocked to see how good the crash footage was. It's quite quick and to the point but the wreck is very effective. The final reel in 2-strip Technicolor also works well and especially since they added some special effects (look at the skyline) to show off the color. I must admit that I found the three lead performances to be good. Yes, they're quite over-the-top and you could say they'd been better on a stage but I thought they were still fun to watch. The supporting cast includes comic support from Joe E. Brown and Zasu Pitts and both of them are fine as well. Again, THE LOTTERY BRIDE isn't going to be for everyone but I think it has a certain campy charm to it. Not a masterpiece and not even a good movie but one that is worth watching for the good parts.

The other reviewers have said it all. A stupid story, an insipid Jeannette, whose later feistiness is nowhere to be seen, and a mediocre Friml song score - I won't belabor the plot, all of which would not exist if anyone actually talked to anyone else instead of walking around assuming all the time.

The acting is melodramatic silent style with only Jeannette restrained. Garrick reminds one facially of Dirk Bogarde and the only acting he's called on to do is smile at the beginning and be angry for the rest.

The restored TCM print I saw with all songs and two-strip Technicolor ending runs 77 minutes, 32 seconds, so the original timing is off by 2.5 minutes.

SONGS:

Drinking Song; Yubla; My Northern Light; My Northern Light - reprise; Round and Round; Brother Love ;High and Low ;Song of Napoli ;Strong Men; You're An Angel; You're An Angel - reprise; High and Low - reprise; I'll Follow The Trail

Jeannette has only two songs, Yubla (a solo) and My Northern Light (in duet with Garrick) and these appear in the first 12 minutes of the film. After that she sings not a note.

A big surprise is a very young and very handsome Carroll Nye (who turns in a ridiculously melodramatic performance as the thieving brother) - unrecognizable from his nervous nelly, bewhiskered Frank Kennedy, Scarlett's second husband in GWTW nine years later.

The Techncolor insert serves for a "vision of madness" superimposed on the sky - a church procession with a close up of MacDonald superimposed over it. Other than that it's just a wasteland of ice with the arrival of a rescue ship - all browns, reds and greens. It only lasts 3 minutes and 37 seconds - one wonders why they bothered at all.

All in all, it's dull, insipid and silly - rather a waste of time. For fans of MacDonald and Friml only.

An operetta about an Italian dirigible heading for the North Pole in a snowstorm has a lot going against it. Add to that - or rather subtract from that - a score by Rudolf Friml that does not have even one even slightly catchy number, and a script that gets worse and worse as it goes along, leaving reason and logic somewhere behind on the Norwegian tundra, and you have The Lottery Bride. Seldom has so much talent been so totally wasted, I'm afraid.

Jeanette MacDonald is really in very good voice in this picture, in particular in her one duet with her leading man. She does some fine singing, but it's a shame it's of music that is so completely bland. The two male leads also sing well.

But this plot is strictly from hunger - and I normally have no problem with silly operetta plots. This one is not at all funny. It is tedious melodrama with a lot of excessive acting.

If you like Jeanette MacDonald, as I do, you may be tempted to dismiss this review and give it a try. You'll be sorry, but you'll survive.

I can only wonder why Oscar Hammerstein would have wanted to produce this. It truly has absolutely nothing going for it. I couldn't wait for it to end, and didn't think it ever would. Actually, it doesn't come to an end; it just stops. There is still the crew of that dirigible stranded on the ice near the North Pole, and we never find out how they will get rescued. But we don't want to sit through any more to find out.