OVP: Naughty Marietta (1935)

Film: Naughty Marietta (1935)
Stars: Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Frank Morgan, Elsa Lanchester
Directors (according to IMDB they are uncredited): Robert Z. Leonard & W.S. van Dyke
Oscar History: 2 nods/1 win (Best Picture, Best Sound Recording*)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

Ahh, sweet mystery of life I've found you...growing up, my Grandpa's favorite actress was Jeanette MacDonald, and my mother was not a fan.  I never actually had seen one of her movies, but Grandpa presumably liked the wholesome aspects of Ms. MacDonald's films, and my mother thought that they were a bit saccharine.  Many years later, I decided tonight was the perfect night to give her a shot (not coincidentally, but I did chase the RNC with a bunch of famously GOP actors and their films: Loretta Young, June Allyson, Gary Cooper, along with MacDonald and her partner Nelson Eddy-who said I can't handle a lot of Republicans?).  This was partially because I desperately need room in the TiVo for tomorrow's 4.5 hour taping of Greed, and also because I have a bevy of MacDonald films filling up my TiVo, but I digress. I decided of all of the films that Naughty Marietta, a Best Picture nominee (my 277th) would be the perfect choice.

Like I said-I was wrestling with saccharine and wholesome going into the film, and I came away feeling both, and that may be a good thing.  For starters, MacDonald can act, which was something I was a bit nervous about, as I'd heard not great things (her onscreen costar we'll get to in a moment, but he lived up to, or down to, the hype).  She's very beautiful, and her lyric soprano could steal every woodland creature away from Snow White.  She also has a Jean Arthur spunk about her that I liked, and while her saintliness could hypothetically get grading, I never found myself saying "move it along," to her while she was onscreen.  Additionally, I rather loved her interactions on the boat, and her comic timing was solid.  In fact, aside from the fact that she was clearly a girl of the 1930's and not the 1700's, I have nothing bad to say about her.  Not a Garbo style thespian, but definitely a star.

The plot of the film, on the other hand, is a bit weak even for a musical (which notoriously have flimsy plots, let's be honest).  She's a French princess on the run from a wedding to a man she doesn't love, so she impersonates one of her servants and boards a boat to New Orleans full of women that are going to get married to men that they've never met (clearly, she didn't read the pamphlet).  Once she arrives in the New World, she comes across a handsome army captain (Eddy) whom she falls in love with, despite his macho and egotistical ways.  I could fill you in on the rest of the film, but you already know what's going to happen-the fun is in the music and the undeniable chemistry that MacDonald brings to all of her onscreen partners, including Eddy.  Eddy is a brilliant baritone, but when he's attempting to act, he brings a woodiness that's undeniable.  He's got a connection with MacDonald, but it's clear she's doing the heavy-lifting, and I'm excited to see her in a film like San Francisco, where she's paired with a charmer like Clark Gable as her screen partner.  The film also boasts two terribly fun supporting performances-Frank Morgan, the Wizard of Oz himself, as the Governor of the New Orleans colony, and a bumbling fool of a man he is, as well as Elsa Lanchester as his domineering, comedically sharp wife.  The music is sensational, and very operatic (to be fair, the film is based on an operetta by Victor Herbert), and the most famous number, "Ahh, Sweet Mystery of Life, I've Found You,"is a show-stopper.  It's plain to see why this film won a Best Sound Recording Oscar-the cast are soaring in their respective choral pieces, and the two leads fill the entire screen beautifully with each serenade.  While it doesn't bring the technical virtuosity that, say, Top Hat did in the Best Picture category, it's still a fun way to spend a Sunday night.

And in hopes of spurring conversation, have you seen Naughty Marietta?  Are you a fan of MacDonald's and/or Nelson Eddy's?  Do you have a favorite Best Picture nominee of 1935?  And, putting your own politics aside, do you ever find yourself becoming a fan of entertainers of the opposite party?