At the height of their careers, MacDonald and Eddy managed to disappoint many of their most ardent fans.
"Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy are like tapioca," wrote Frank Nugent of the New York Times. "Either you like them or you don't."
With this film the public began dividing into two camps: those who loved the splendid entertainment Jeanette and Nelson promised in a good film and those who would be content to watch them read (or sing) the proverbial phone book.
Musically, this1938 movie abounds in some of the loveliest melodies Sigmund Romberg could write and musical director Herbert Stothart outdid himself in vibrant orchestrations. Unfortunately, M-G-M also dramatized uninteresting incidents only mentioned in the stage version and made maximum use of extremely obvious sound stage exteriors.
The Girl of the Golden West was the first weak MacDonald-Eddy vehicle and didn't bring much glory to anyone. While it was one of the top moneymakers of the year, the split between the general public and the "fans" was beginning. The uncritical enthusiasm of the second only served to reinforce the opinion of the former that all MacDonald-Eddy films were "silly." On top of the cool critical reception to The Firefly and Rosalie, their previous solo films, Girl represented a distinct minus for their careers.
OTHER VIEWS: The foremost criticism of Girl was its length combined with the weak plot. Variety thought it was twenty minutes too long, the New York Post said thirty minutes, and the New York World-Telegram acknowledged that there may have been longer films but "few others have seemed as long." The reviewer continued: "the story is neither distinctive nor sturdy and hasn't been helped much by the diffused direction."
Jeanette's singing also drew uniform raves, but her characterizations varied from "excellent" (New York Post) to "a little bit embarrassing" (New York World Telegram). All in all, this was one of the big disappointments of my picture-going youth. The impossible script seems to have defeated almost everyone: Director, leads, photographer, set designers, film editor. A major wasteland of talent, the script can only be described as a tediously trite collection of old-fashioned theatrics. Even the Romberg songs fail to perk up or alleviate the long winded, pedestrian proceedings.
"Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy are like tapioca," wrote Frank Nugent of the New York Times. "Either you like them or you don't."
With this film the public began dividing into two camps: those who loved the splendid entertainment Jeanette and Nelson promised in a good film and those who would be content to watch them read (or sing) the proverbial phone book.
Musically, this1938 movie abounds in some of the loveliest melodies Sigmund Romberg could write and musical director Herbert Stothart outdid himself in vibrant orchestrations. Unfortunately, M-G-M also dramatized uninteresting incidents only mentioned in the stage version and made maximum use of extremely obvious sound stage exteriors.
The Girl of the Golden West was the first weak MacDonald-Eddy vehicle and didn't bring much glory to anyone. While it was one of the top moneymakers of the year, the split between the general public and the "fans" was beginning. The uncritical enthusiasm of the second only served to reinforce the opinion of the former that all MacDonald-Eddy films were "silly." On top of the cool critical reception to The Firefly and Rosalie, their previous solo films, Girl represented a distinct minus for their careers.
OTHER VIEWS: The foremost criticism of Girl was its length combined with the weak plot. Variety thought it was twenty minutes too long, the New York Post said thirty minutes, and the New York World-Telegram acknowledged that there may have been longer films but "few others have seemed as long." The reviewer continued: "the story is neither distinctive nor sturdy and hasn't been helped much by the diffused direction."
Jeanette's singing also drew uniform raves, but her characterizations varied from "excellent" (New York Post) to "a little bit embarrassing" (New York World Telegram). All in all, this was one of the big disappointments of my picture-going youth. The impossible script seems to have defeated almost everyone: Director, leads, photographer, set designers, film editor. A major wasteland of talent, the script can only be described as a tediously trite collection of old-fashioned theatrics. Even the Romberg songs fail to perk up or alleviate the long winded, pedestrian proceedings.