Nelson Eddy

  • Sweethearts (1938)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, October 2022) If you want to cut straight to the conclusion, let’s just say that Sweehearts’ most distinguished characteristic is to have been shot in colour at a time when such productions were rare. (It counts as MGM’s first full-colour musical.)  Sure, you can also watch it to see the frequent Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald couple: after a number of historical features, this was their first film set in then-modern times. Still, there’s not a lot to this musical comedy: jumping from Broadway as its starting base, the film describes a couple attempting to reconcile work with their private lives, and derives much of its comic value from having them attempt an escape to Hollywood to the dismay of their self-interested entourage. It’s not that memorable: despite some flashy self-conscious colour cinematography (including a runway sequence for the very cute MacDonald), the plot is serviceable and the songs are forgettable—perhaps even annoying if you don’t like the Eddy/MacDonald operetta style. Watch Sweethearts in black-and-white, and there’s not much left there.

  • Naughty Marietta (1935)

    Naughty Marietta (1935)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (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.