O Soldado de Chocolate

This is one of those forgotten musical comedies from the vaults that is well worth taking the time to sit back and watch. The set-up for the plot takes a little more time than it should, but once the deceptions begin, the banter and the inter-play between Nelson Eddy and Rise Stevens carry the show. Nelson Eddy is in fine voice, and Rise Stevens' sparklingly burnished vocal range and comedic talent shouldn't be missed. 'The Chocolate Soldier' is well-filmed and crisply edited, presented in glorious black and white. The costumes alone should have merited a Technicolor production.

Nelson Eddy was always considered a dull non-actor with a nice voice, no histrionic match for his usual co-star Jeanette MacDonald (who became increasingly coy and diva-ish with every passing movie). Here, opposite Rise Stevens in a musical updating of Molnar's "The Guardsman," he gets to exercise some hitherto unknown comic energy, and he's quite good-- not up to Alfred Lunt, perhaps, who played the role in MGM's 1931 non-musical version, but pleasingly hammy and with genuine comic timing. Stevens has a nice personality and, of course, a lovely Met soprano, but she's unflatteringly photographed, and she's playing a not very likable character. With minor roles given to Nigel Bruce and Florence Bates, Eddy and Stevens are pretty much the whole show, and they navigate the Oscar Straus melodies (and a few others) and worn marital-discord plot expertly. Made during the Hays Code years, it's less spicy than the original -- we're never in doubt as to whether the wife realizes her husband's exploits or not -- and takes place in a mittel-European never-never-land that never, never intrudes on reality. Once you get used to all the artifice and MGM overproduction, it's quite enjoyable. And it suggests Eddy may have had a productive career in comedy.

THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIER is a musical based on the famous old Molnar play THE GUARDSMAN, filmed by the Lunts back in 1931, in which an actor (Nelson Eddy) tests the fidelity of his actress wife (Rise Stevens) by disguising himself as a Russian prince and trying to seduce her while her `husband' is out of town. He succeeds, to his chagrin. The handsome and amiable but often bland Eddy is almost unrecognizable as the fiery and passionate Russian, and his performance is a comic revelation, accent and all (favorite lines: `My fillings are runnink avay vith me' and `Like sheeps that pass out in the night'). Unfortunately, a good deal of the original naughtiness is missing: the Production Code of 1941 required that the wife be aware of her husband's masquerade from the beginning. In the original play she claims she knew it was him all along---but did she? We're not sure!

Dreadful choreography in the musical numbers, but beautiful Oscar Strauss music performed masterfully by Eddy and Rise Stevens, plus `Evening Star' from TANNHAUSER sung gorgeously by Eddy and `My Heart at Thy Sweet Voice' from SAMSON AND DELILAH by Stevens. Even though Stevens has the superior voice, one can't help wishing that Jeanette MacDonald, with her considerable comic gifts, had been available for the part!

Proof positive that NELSON EDDY finally was able to shed his "wooden" image is THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIER. Whatever inspired him to do this performance (some say it was his frequent radio work that developed his acting talent), his impersonation of a Russian Cossack is both hilarious and convincing. He has a great time squeezing every bit of humor out of his sardonic dialogue and is never for a moment upstaged by the talented Rise Stevens. In fact, although she is carefully photographed and seems to be brimming with good humor, her performance is considerably weaker than Eddy's. One can only speculate how much better the film would have been if Eddy's usual co-star (with her great sense of comic timing) had been available.

Both singers are in fine voice but it's Eddy who steals the show with his rendition of "Song of the Flea". Nelson Eddy was rarely praised for his acting prowess, but here he delivers a solid, sensational performance with great flair and dexterity. Absolutely his best work as an actor!

The pleasant supporting cast includes Nigel Bruce and Florence Bates.

After their seventh teaming in Bittersweet did not fare as well in the box office the previous year, MGM decided to split Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald for their next films. Nelson was given his choice of leading lady and he picked Rise Stevens of the Metropolitan Opera.

If nothing else, Louis B. Mayer prided himself on bringing class to the cinema and he never met a diva he didn't want to sign for MGM. Eddy, who didn't really get along with Mayer and was soon to leave MGM after a spat with him, I think knew just how much it would cost to sign someone from the outside and he made Mayer spend the dough.

Rise Stevens had appeared with him on radio so Nelson's motives weren't completely to hurt Mayer financially. They worked well together here and maybe they could have been a screen team themselves. Rise Stevens had a good gift for comedy, very much like that other singer/actress Irene Dunne. But after The Chocolate Soldier and an appearance in Going My Way with Bing Crosby, she left the silver screen.

Like the Eddy/MacDonald feature Sweethearts this utilizes the music, but not the plot. Like Sweethearts the leads are appearing on stage in The Chocolate Soldier, but it's a backstage story for the plot. And the plot used is The Guardsman which MGM owned the rights to, having filmed it in 1931 with Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne.

Eddy and Stevens look so good and sing so beautifully on stage, but that doesn't account for Eddy's all consuming jealousy over his wife. His Othello act doesn't even need an Iago for a boost, he's creating all kinds of imaginary lovers for Stevens. Finally he decides to put her to the test, playing a phony Russian opera singer with beard and Cossack costume. Stevens however is up to the challenge and it's a pretty funny film that follows.

The two leads have some nice duets together, particularly the My Hero duet from Oscar Straus's Chocolate Soldier. But the big hits of this film are Moussorgsky's Song of the Flea and another song While My Lady Sleeps written by Bronislau Kaper and Gus Kahn. Both were standard items in Nelson Eddy concerts. Eddy recorded both, however the version I have of the Song of the Flea is in English and in The Chocolate Soldier, Nelson sings it in the original Russian.

It was a good teaming Eddy and Stevens and since right after this Jeanette and Nelson would be doing their last film together, I Married an Angel, it's unfortunate Stevens and Eddy did not do a few more films together themselves.