This film was one of Irving Thalberg's personal projects. He had planned to make it a color film, but then he died of a heart attack in 1936 and the footage that had been shot was scrapped. A year later the project was resurrected resulting in the film we have today. It features the great voices of Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy, lavish production values, some great examples of McDonald's singing in her prime, and one of the last great roles the legendary John Barrymore ever had. Although the movie is 72 years old, I'll just warn you that what could pass for spoilers are in the rest of the review.
I have the VHS tape, but I also saw it on TCM one night as part of their guest programmers' month. During the film's introduction, the guest host said something that forced me to look at this film in a new light. She said "it's a lot like Titanic". You know, she was right. In many ways if you delete the music, make the site of the entire movie a doomed ship, and make John Barrymore a worse shot, you have James Cameron's Titanic. It makes me wonder how much he was influenced by this movie when he made his own film.
Where the films part ways is that this film more accurately portrays the attitudes of the times in which it was set than Titanic did. The love story is very moving and the music just adds to its poignancy. Also, John Barrymore turns in a perfect supporting performance as Jeanette's patron turned husband who realizes his wife doesn't love him but doesn't realize why until he sees Eddy and McDonald onstage together during a performance. Barrymore says few lines in this film, but his mannerisms and facial expressions say it all. If the ending of the movie doesn't tug at your heart, I don't know what will. Highly recommended.
I have the VHS tape, but I also saw it on TCM one night as part of their guest programmers' month. During the film's introduction, the guest host said something that forced me to look at this film in a new light. She said "it's a lot like Titanic". You know, she was right. In many ways if you delete the music, make the site of the entire movie a doomed ship, and make John Barrymore a worse shot, you have James Cameron's Titanic. It makes me wonder how much he was influenced by this movie when he made his own film.
Where the films part ways is that this film more accurately portrays the attitudes of the times in which it was set than Titanic did. The love story is very moving and the music just adds to its poignancy. Also, John Barrymore turns in a perfect supporting performance as Jeanette's patron turned husband who realizes his wife doesn't love him but doesn't realize why until he sees Eddy and McDonald onstage together during a performance. Barrymore says few lines in this film, but his mannerisms and facial expressions say it all. If the ending of the movie doesn't tug at your heart, I don't know what will. Highly recommended.