Maytime

The first time I ever heard the name Nelson Eddy was in a Michael Crawford In Concert CD. Since then I have seen "The Phantom of the Opera" in which his starred... but I didn't recognize him as a performer in the least... not until I saw this movie. "Maytime" is my all time favorite movie with Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy. It's closely followed by "New Moon", and I have seen a couple others. Yet "Maytime" has more going for it than just the heart throb known as Nelson Eddy!

The plot is simple. Girl has fiance. Girl meets new guy. Girl falls in love but marries first guy. Years pass. Girl and guy meet again ... and the rest will be history to only those whom have seen it! I could never give away the ending. All I can say is that the music in this movie is absolutely amazing, and I always come so terribly close to crying. I'm not a cryer, so to say I get CLOSE is a good sign. I have bawled to it before!

John Barrymore, Drew's grandfather <?> is a wonderful anti-villain. He's a good guy who just happens to be a terrible protagonist, and he does something so horrible that you hope his Niccolai Nazaroth burns in hellfire for eternity. Yet he's such a terrific 'villain'. The one and only thing I have against this film is that it's in b&w. I wish beyond all wishing that it were in color, so I could see his gorgeous eyes and blonde hair!

Believe me, this is a good movie.

I remember as a young teenager, I had never heard of Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy.....then one late night, Maytime was being aired on television, I watched it and after that I would never forget who Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy were! I cried my eyes out and still do every time I see this glorious film. Everything about this movie is wonderful.....costumes, supporting cast, even the story line which is usually not too strong in McDonald/Eddy films. But, oh it's the music and those voices that will enchant you. This along with "Naughty Marietta" is my favorite of the McDonald/Eddy films. It was another time and another world when this type of film was popular but even so, Maytime will continue to enthrall you, touch you and make you weep copious amounts of tears. Especially when you hear..."Sweetheart, sweetheart, sweetheart. Though our paths may sever. Through life's last faint embers, will you remember, springtime, lovetime, May". Glorious!!

An unashamed wallow in that era where true romance took the place of stark reality, where our 'lovers' never actually got that far, and everyone went around singing - this is my favourite MacDonald/Eddy film and is absolutely delightful from beginning to end. It has its funny bits, its sad bits, its achingly romantic bits, and a worthy villain in the wonderful John Barrymore. And of course the Singing Sweethearts are at their most appealing. Lovely ...

For their third screen teaming MGM gave Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy the old Sigmund Romberg-Rida Johnson Young operetta Maytime which was originally on Broadway in 1919. They kept the libretto, but scrapped the entire score except for the famous Will You Remember duet which became one of Jeanette and Nelson's most beloved songs. In its place were some operatic arias and some public domain standards like Carry Me Back to Old Virginia and La Marsellaise. This served to make the musical part of the film tilted far more to Jeanette than Nelson.

But the plot is one of the most romantic. The film opens with a heavily made up Jeanette living as an old maid in some small town. Both the neighbor's daughter and her sweetheart confide in her. The daughter has been given a chance to study music, but that would mean uprooting herself and going abroad. The boyfriend is in love and wants to marry her.

Jeanette sighs and tells the daughter about her life that at one time she was a famous opera singer who's been living in obscurity by choice because she chose a career over true love. Of course we all know who her true love is. But she marries her manager John Barrymore and in the end Jeanette has cause to regret.

The movie's message about marrying for love is an odd one indeed to come out of Hollywood. That's one place where a whole lot of people including the two stars of this film sacrificed a lot of personal happiness for careers.

Actually in another film a year later, Jeanette and Nelson were a happily married singing team in Sweethearts. I guess the idea is you should marry for love, but if you're a singer hope your spouse can carry a tune.

Will You Remember got a second go around in the Sigmund Romberg biographical film Deep In My Heart with Vic Damone and Jane Powell doing the honors. But it's not half as good as when Nelson and Jeanette sing it.

John Barrymore turns in a fine performance as the rather tightly wrapped manager of MacDonald. For a man who was brought up in the bravura tradition of Victorian stage acting, Barrymore was capable of great subtlety in his screen roles. Watch his facial expressions, they tell you far more than any dialog will. Of course he out acts the two leads.

The other supporting performance of note is Herman Bing as Nelson Eddy's sidekick/music teacher. Maybe if Jeanette had studied with him things would have turned out better.

When the flashback sequence opens Jeanette and Barrymore are going to a palace ball where she sings for Emperor Louis Napoleon, Les Filles Des Cadiz. That sequence was later seen in Jeanette's later starring film Cairo where she plays a movie star stranded in Cairo. It was a most requested item in later concert performances.

For romantics at heart and of all ages Maytime is a must see film for you.

Leave it to the greatest movie studio of them all, MGM, to deliver to the world in l937 this unsurpassed musical joy. While all the other movies were celebrating swing and tap dance and the Big Band sound, "Maytime" comes along and when it was released, it took the world by storm. Why? Because it shows how a powerful studio massed together all of its brilliant talent onto this film. Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy would never surpass their performances here. Adrian's incredible costumes for McDonald are stunning. The lush photography, set designs and decor of late l9th century Paris are mind-boggling. And of course, the unforgettable music. You listen again and again to the magnfiicent scoring and vocal arrangements and never forget them. The ultimate sequence is the fabulous "Czaritza" that comes towards the end. McDonald and Eddy are backed up by a fantastic Russian choir. The pre-production on this one movie is amazing. Years in the planning, it was originally begun in l936 as a Technicolor spectacular. But after Irving Thalberg died, Louis B. Mayer chopped the budget in half and demanded "Maytime" be shot in black and white. Whatever the outcome, this movie can enchant even anti-music lovers. Now, let's hope it appears on DVD real soon.