alice-34 Reviews

Rosalie (1937)

How did this happen?

[16 July 2003]

Take a major studio studio (MGM) celebrated for its musicals. Take a top director (Woody Van Dyke) known for his breezy direction of films like THE THIN MAN, SAN FRANCISCO and NAUGHTY MARIETTA, among many others. Take a handsome singing star (Nelson Eddy) who was the studio's biggest matinee idol at the time, getting more fan mail than Clark Gable. Take a charming young tap-dancing star (Eleanor Powell). Take a score by Cole Porter written especially for the picture, including `In the Still of the Night.' Add some popular supporting actors like Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, and Edna May Oliver, and, for those few who find a professional sneezer amusing, Billy Gilbert.

Take all these elements, spend a small fortune on sets and costumes, and turn out a picture which is among the worst ever made. It's inexplicable. The full-throated Eddy has been turned into a crooner, playing the world's oldest (36) West Point Cadet. Powell's dancing is sprightly but the big centerpiece number, danced on a series of huge drums, can only be called bizarre, Poor Frank Morgan is forced to do most of his performing with a ventriloquist's dummy. There are one or two cute scenes---Powell and Eddy obviously like each other---but mainly this picture is simply awful. What a waste.

The Chocolate Soldier (1941)

Nelson Eddy hilarious? Yes indeed.

[15 July 2003]

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!

Let Freedom Ring (1939)

A pleasant surprise!

[23 June 2003]

"Let Freedom Ring is an undeservedly little-known "patriotic western" with comedy and, of course, music, written by veteran screenwriter Ben Hecht and featuring practically every character actor in Hollywood at the time (Victor McLaglen in a hilarious performance, Charles Butterworth ditto, the wonderful Edward Arnold, Lionel Barrymore, Raymond Walburn, Guy Kibbee, Gabby Hayes, H. B. Warner, Louis Jean Heydt) and the lovely and gentle Virginia Bruce as leading lady. Nelson Eddy looks terrific and natural--no eye makeup, no lipstick and no Jeanette MacDonald!--and, needless to say, sings divinely. His performance is relaxed, funny and charming, he was clearly an expert horseman, and the fistfight near the end of the movie between him and Victor McLaglen is worth the price of admission. It was performed by themselves; no stunt doubles. Highly recommended to anyone who hasn't seen it.