Oh, Marieta!

Naughty Marietta marked the first teaming of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy and what a success it was. MacDonald had broken into films with Paramount pictures which made her a star. She moved to MGM the previous year and had done a fourth film with Maurice Chevalier which was well received. But she and Chevalier did not get along and she wanted no more films with him. She did one with Ramon Novarro and there was no great demand for that team.

Louis B. Mayer decided to team her with operatic baritone Nelson Eddy. Eddy had been signed by MGM and had done what we would now call cameo parts in three films. He even gave Eddy co-star billing in this first featured role.

The results were a box office smash. Jeanette and Nelson looked great on the screen and sang even better. Seven more films followed that paired them. Even today they still have a loyal fan base.

Naughty Marietta had its debut on Broadway in 1910 with music by Victor Herbert and book and lyrics by Rida Johnson Young. It was one of Herbert's biggest hits and the songs are still popular today. Back then the melody was king and what melodies they were.

Of course the book has to be taken with a grain of salt and allowances for the mores of the times. The operetta is set in the New Orleans of Louis XV. One of his royal wards has been promised to wed a Spanish nobleman and she wants none of it. The royal lady exchanges places with her maid who is going to New Orleans as a promised bride for one of the French colonists.

When they're almost there, the ship is attacked by pirates and the promised brides among them Jeanette MacDonald are taken ashore. But they are rescued by an intrepid band of frontiersman led by Nelson Eddy who sing even better than they fight. They're mercenaries in the service of the Territorial Governor of Louisiana.

As Jeanette put it in the beginning of the film, she wants to marry for love and she couldn't love any of those powderpuff courtiers that inhabit Versailles.

Watching my VHS of Naughty Marietta today it was interesting to see a portrayal of New Orleans society in 1765 and then seeing New Orleans try to dry out from another hurricane. New Orleans was and is one valuable piece of real estate on this continent, located at the mouth of the Mississippi-Missouri-Ohio river systems. It changed hands until many times until the Louisiana Purchase got it for the USA.

Nelson and Jeanette have a rough go of it as they always do in their films. But a few songs and love conquers all.

Being this was their first film, Jeanette and Nelson got to sing their first duet which was Ah Sweet Mystery of Life. A really fabulous melody and lyric from a golden age of song writing. One of the great love songs ever written. Naughty Marietta should be seen for that alone.

One of the first concerts I ever attended was an appearance of Nelson Eddy singing on the stage of the Troy Music Hall in Troy, New York, my hometown. My older sister was a violinist, and took me to hear him, a fine baritone, wanting to introduce me to classical music for the first time. He had a very appealing voice, as he was a handsome man. His parts were important, for they reflect music and styles of eras of the early twentieth century before and after films. Nelson 2003 is now history, having been a fabulous week-long festival of films, music, lectures, friendship, fun (and glorious food) at the historic Riverside Inn in beautiful Cambridge Springs, PA. Plans are already underway for June 2007. For details, contact Dr. John Marsh (jmarsh1@san.rr.com) after January 1, 2007 for exact dates, convention theme, and a hint about guests and activities. You are also invited to attend the dedication of Nelson Eddy Street at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, 6000 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, California. The ceremony will begin at noon in the chapel and conclude with the unveiling of the street sign. There will be entertainment and refreshments. It is hoped that many who knew and heard Nelson, and were important in his life will be able to come.

Only a few of the other comments mention the dialogue of this movie, which I think is superb! The verbal sparring between Marietta and Captain Warrington is a delightful contrast to their soul-mated singing and elevates this film above other musicals of the era. One always suspends disbelief when viewing any film, of any era (come on, you don't think modern films are really "real", do you?), and it may be difficult for some to enter into the mindset of a '30s moviegoer, but with not too much effort even those who say they don't like this type of film, or these actors, or whatever, can find something to enjoy in this film. (Just call it a fantasy, without special effects.) Some of the opening scenes are almost embarrassingly silly, but quite soon the movie hits its stride and the music, humor, and sweep of the story carry you along. As an untrained actor in his first real role (singing cameos don't count), Nelson Eddy does quite well, thank you; I am inclined to think that the oft-repeated comment about his "wooden" acting style may owe more to L. B. Mayer's jealousy (remember what he did to John Gilbert?) than to a true assessment of his skill (which, admittedly, did improve over time). Mayer wanted MacDonald for himself and the obvious attraction between Eddy and MacDonald, coupled with her stinging rebuffs of Mayer's advances, made him no good friend of "the baritone". (Bear in mind, too, that Eddy was not interested in being an actor; he used film to advance his concert career.) I think this is a grand film, almost my favorite of the duos' work. "Maytime" has an edge because I had the good fortune to see it on the big screen when it was re-released in 1962, and I've only seen the others on television. The music in "New Moon" is glorious, and Nelson and Jeanette seem to be having such fun together in "Sweethearts".... All I can say is, if you have the opportunity to see MacDonald/Eddy films on the big screen at a film festival or revival theatre, don't pass it by!

This is just a flat out good movie! Maybe I should say a GREAT movie. Although I've been a fan over the past few decades of many films and performers of the 1930s--including the amazing dancing team of (who else?) Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers--until yesterday I'd never seen a film featuring Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. Then, by chance a couple of weeks ago, I heard some singing by Eddy and started checking his and Jeanette's work on Youtube.

This led me to many scenes and songs on good old Youtube. The singing was, well, fabulous, and the chemistry between the stars was kinetic, but I figured that, outside of the songs themselves, the movies would probably be syrupy sweet and impossibly dated. That seemed to be the buzz, and otherwise, why weren't they more popular with today's audiences. Still, I had to see a whole film after those tantalizing Youtube scenes.

Still, actually finding their films isn't all that easy. There is nothing much on Netflix and few videos of any kind seem to be currently in print. Still, I managed to track down and buy a DVD of 'Naughty Marietta' from an independent outlet--and was amazed at how good it was, and not just the songs!

It has a compelling plot, a whole variety of settings going up and down the social ladder from posh Louis XV Paris to the bayous of the rugged Louisiana frontier. It also features some appealing comic moments from MGM's team of crack character actors. Frank Morgan (later the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz) particularly stands out as the likably incompetent governor of French colonial New Orleans.

And even in their non-singing scenes, the chemistry between the two stars remains electric. I somehow hadn't realized, at least until my Youtube explorations, that Jeanette MacDonald was drop-dead gorgeous--but she was. She also had a great deal of vivacity and charm-- and, boy, could she sing. Eddy's acting has been criticized, and maybe he didn't have tremendous emotional range, but he does have a real presence on the screen along with that electric connection with Jeanette. And when he sings, his voice acts for him! Moreover, as a singer, he's even better than Jeanette.

All in all, the effect is remarkable and one can see why these movies were so immensely popular in their own time. Moreover, overall, I'd rate the non-musical elements of Naughty Marietta (plot, dialog, characterization, acting, setting, thematic development) as superior to most or all of the non-musical moments of Astaire-Rogers, although their movies are, of course, far better known today. In Astaire-Rogers one is often wishing they'll get through this silly scene of dialog and get to the next dance, but that doesn't happen in Naughty Marietta, where the songs seem to grow organically out of the intriguing dramatic situations.

I'm going to track down more films in the Eddy-MacDonald series. This one certainly far exceeded my expectations!

I adore this movie. It is Black & White, which some viewers don't like, but the story is well written, well acted, and has a bit of it all: action, adventure, romance, humor, and music. Frank Morgan is excellent as the Governor of Lousiana in a young New Orleans, and while Elsa Lanchester's role as his wife is a little "over the top" she handles it well. MacEddy have such chemistry on screen it takes the whole move right along. The details in the movie are rather impressive, from the levee in New Orleans to the scenery in the young city. The story starts in France where a princess is being wed off to Don Carlos who is given a place in the French court so the King can get his hands on Marietta (backstory revealed in the movie). She escapes by switching roles with her maid and becoming one of the Casquette Girls. Historically, the Casquette Girls were virtuous young women sent to be wives for the French colonists. The ship is attacked by pirates close to port, and they are rescued by Captain Warrington (Eddy) and his men. The story moves along well from there and the music is excellent. It is one of the less corny movies of the era, and the attention to detail is impressive. I can only imagine how beautiful the costumes were in real color. This is my favorite MacEddy film.