Nelson Eddy

(On Cable TV, January 2020) While largely forgotten today, Jeanette MacDonald was a major musical star in the 1930s, and she made no less than eight films with co-star Nelson Eddy, the most memorable of those (for all sorts of bad reasons) being Rose-Marie. But their collaboration began with Naughty Marietta, a competent musical that sees her play a French princess fleeing an arranged marriage and trying to begin anew in New Orleans, with many adventures prior and during that flight to the United States. MacDonald’s specialty was operetta signing, and this film definitely plays into that strength with a number of musical scenes tailored for her vocal register. It’s all unobjectionable—a lot of music, of mushy French, of frilly costumes and some chemistry between MacDonald and Eddy. Naughty Marietta was a hit at the time (being nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award) and was more recently selected as part of the National Film Registry. But it’s not particularly distinctive or interesting—the better-than-average moments don’t really stand out, and they’re widely spaced between some very conventional material. Still, MacDonald can sing, that’s for sure.