THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIER

Rise Stevens and Nelson Eddy

THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIER (1941). Director: Roy Del Ruth.

Karl Lang (Nelson Eddy) and Maria Lanyl (Rise Stevens) are a married couple in Vienna who appear nightly in a production of The Chocolate Soldier. Karl is generally surrounded by adoring young ladies, but he is still jealous of the attentions his wife receives from other men, and thinks that she has quite a romantic history. He fears it is time for her to take yet another lover and his marriage may be doomed. To test Maria's affections, he disguises himself as an intensely romantic Russian singer ...

Eddy disguised as the Russian

Like Sweethearts, which Eddy did with Jeanette MacDonald three years earlier, The Chocolate Soldier completely throws out the plot of that operetta -- while retaining some of Oscar Straus' music -- and substitutes the storyline of that creaky old standby The Guardsman (which Lunt and Fontanne actually filmed ten years earlier). This plot was recycled for more than one I Love Lucy episode which at least had Lucy and Desi yukking it up. However, to be fair to the leads in this picture, they are both excellent and amusing in their own way. Often damned as a lousy actor, Eddy is actually quite effective in this, including when he is impersonating the love-mad Russian. Stevens, a mezzo-soprano to reckon with and a genuine operatic star (and with a voice far superior to Jeanette MacDonald's ), also proves a delightfully talented and sophisticated actress. Stevens may not have been a stunning beauty, but with her personality, manner and charm -- not to mention her cute appeal -- I have no doubt she had plenty of male admirers (she was happily married for 61 years, however).

Nelson Eddy as Karl

But then we come to the music. The best song, of course, is the gorgeous "My Hero," which is reprised more than once in the movie and deserves to be. Vivian Vance sang this song in the classic "Ethel's Home Town" episode of I Love Lucy, but while Vance had a nice voice, she can't compare to Stevens, who gives a superb rendition, joined in by Eddy, who is also in fine voice, at one point. Stevens is also given a beautiful aria from Samson and Delilah, while Eddy does Tannhauser.  There are other musical interludes, including a weird, unmemorable piece sung by Eddy as the Russian, and a frenetically-edited dance at a drinking establishment.

Rise Stevens

Frankly, the script for Chocolate Soldier is not the chief appeal of the movie, although it does manage to remain amusing and watchable due to the actors and the soundtrack. Florence Bates [The Brasher Doubloon], Nigel Bruce, and Nydia Westman [Forty Little Mothers] add to the fun as assorted associates of the lead couple, and all are very good. Rise Stevens did a version of The Chocolate Soldier for television with Eddie Albert in 1955, which I believe stuck to the original story of the operetta. Stevens had a long and wonderful career with the Metropolitan opera in New York and did very few films, one of which was Going My Way. She did a few operas, such as Carmen, on TV as well.

Verdict: Despite its obvious flaws, this is still quite entertaining. "My Hero," indeed! ***. 

SWEETHEARTS

Nelson Eddy and Jeannette MacDonald

SWEETHEARTS (1938). Director: W. S. Van Dyke.

"She's in the hospital for over work. She can't even see the doctor for six months."

Gwen Marlowe (Jeanette MacDonald) and Ernest Lane (Nelson Eddy) have starred in the hit Broadway musical "Sweethearts" since the show opened -- and they were married -- six years ago. Producer Felix Lehman (Frank Morgan of Saratoga) is horrified at the notion that his stars may flee to Hollywood, but they are so fed up with demands upon their time that they agree to go west with movie man Norman Trumpett (Reginald Gardiner). But then the show's lyricist, Leo Kronk (Mischa Auer), comes up with a rather cruel way to keep the couple in New York -- by breaking them up! To do this he plants the notion in Gwen's head that Ernest is having an affair with their secretary, Kay (Florence Rice of Mr. District Attorney).

Eddy, Frank Morgan and MacDonald

Let's make it clear from the start that although Eddy, MacDonald, Morgan and others are swell, the true star of this picture is Victor Herbert. The plot of the great composer's operetta was thrown out for this mild backstage roundelay in which the lead characters only appear in "Sweethearts," which retains Herbert's music while attributing it to fictional composer Oscar Engel (an amusing Herman Bing). So we get the gloriously romantic title tune; McDonald warbling "Summer Serenade;" Nelson delivering "Marching On Parade" with real panache; and the couple dueting on "A Little Gray House in the West,"  memorable tunes all. MacDonald is delightful as she jazzes up "Pretty as a Picture."

Nelson and Jeanette

The shame of it is that the stars, especially MacDonald, seem more than up to the task of delivering what's required if there had only been a more sophisticated and/or meatier script. Both Gwen and Ernest have parents who are or were in show biz, and who talk about their past glories endlessly. but their children's near-contempt of them is a bit unsettling. Lucile Watson and George Barbier are two of the parents. Ray Bolger has no dialogue but does a snappy dance number, and Douglas McPhail [Babes in Arms] and Betty Jaynes show up briefly as young hopefuls. Fay Holden and Olin Howland have smaller roles. The two leads are in fine voice, even if they at times tend to over-sing, and Ms. MacDonald can occasionally be shrill.

Verdict: Beautiful MGM technicolor, some good performances and vocalizing, and lilting Victor Herbert music -- but oh that script! **1/2. 

SWEETHEARTS (BOOK)

SWEETHEARTS: The Timeless Love Affair -- On-Screen and Off -- Between Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. Sharon Rich. Donald Fine; 1994. NOTE: This is a review of the original 1994 edition. There is an updated 2014 edition of which I have read the new introduction and the afterword, and some of the source notes.

"[Eddy] ripped off [MacDonald's] blouse and described to her in graphic detail what he was going to do to her to make sure she never forgot she was his. Then he threw her down on the bed and raped her (my underlining)." from the book, page 116.

Where do I begin? Sweethearts purports to tell the "timeless love affair" between Nelson Eddy and Jeannette MacDonald, which seems rather odd when one participant -- according to this book -- actually raped the other. Although decades later the author addressed this bombshell on a blog post, it certainly should have been addressed more thoroughly in the book itself. What's amazing is that Ms. MacDonald seems to have no real reaction to being raped! Whether it was an actual rape or not is worth debating, but "rape" is the word the author uses.

It reminds one of old style soap opera plots where women would get raped and later on fall in love with their rapists, plots that were eventually and thankfully discarded by modern soap writers, especially women.

This section (as are many sections) of the book is also confusing. Did Eddy not go to bed with MacDonald for a long time (apparently "raping" her out of frustration) because he put her on a pedestal and didn't wish to despoil her -- despite knowing that she was not a virginal girl scout --  or because she was, as is later implied, supposedly frigid?

In any case, Sweethearts suggests in occasionally tedious detail that MacDonald [Love Me Tonight] and Eddy [Phantom of the Opera], although married to other people, were actually in love with each other, but one thing or another kept them apart. First, MacDonald quite sensibly refused to give up her career. Then, after both were married to others, Eddy's wife, Ann, threatened to destroy the both of them if Eddy left her. MacDonald tried hard to get divorced from actor Gene Raymond [Million Dollar Weekend] -- who was, according to this book, more interested in men than in MacDonald -- but this never occurred, either. Finally, when both were virtually seniors, Ann agreed to a divorce, but when Eddy found out how much it would cost him he told his supposed beloved MacDonald that "he would never marry her." And so on.

Frankly, as I read Sweethearts, which does have its entertaining sections, it came off to me as a Hollywood story somehow genetically combined with a Harlequin romance, a good old-fashioned "bodice-ripper" with misunderstandings, reconciliations, stolen kisses, unfortunate spouses, passionate trysts, and all the rest, told with rather purple prose that is almost comical. I'm not necessarily saying that the book is fiction, but it reads like it is.

The chief problem for me is that I found far too much of the book to be seriously unsubstantiated. Most of the more incredible information supposedly comes from many letters written by Nelson Eddy's mother, Isabel, or are taken from her unpublished memoirs. Apparently Isabel quoted at length from her son's diary, putting long, long sections in her letters and her memoirs. Well, maybe ...

It's somewhat amusing that there's been a mild Internet war amongst MacDonald-Eddy fans, some of whom think the book is a load of crap and others who swear by it, even its most dubious passages.

I don't know anything about Gene Raymond's private life, but I do know that if the book is true, he wouldn't be the first gay or bisexual man to be married to a famous movie star. We all know that affairs are very commonplace in Hollywood (and elsewhere). And Eddy and MacDonald could indeed have had secret feelings for one another. But after reading all 450 pages of this eventually laborious tome, I have to say my mind is not made up.

The funny thing is that I have always thought of MacDonald and Eddy as being relatively sexless, so the notion that they carried on this torrid, long-standing, on and off, horribly tortured love affair seems mildly comical, although if even half of the book is true I 'd have to say their relationship caused them much more misery than joy. What's worse, both of them come off as drama queens who only made everything worse. According to the book, Eddy also wanted to date a 15-year-old girl and flirted with Scientology. Oy vey!

Oh, along the way there are notes about the films they made together or apart and there is some interesting information there. The book has a not very revealing introduction by a man who claims to be Eddy's illegitimate son (sometimes his first name is spelled "Jon," other times "John"). The author, Sharon Rich, was a Eddy/MacDonald fan club president.

Verdict:  Your call. Just as exhausting as it is seemingly exhaustive. **.  

I MARRIED AN ANGEL

Sexless? Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald

I MARRIED AN ANGEL (1942). Director: W. S. Van Dyke.

In Budapest the irresponsible playboy and supposed banker, Willy (Nelson Eddy), is about to celebrate his 35th birthday with a masquerade ball. His disapproving associate, whom he calls "Whiskers" (Reginald Owen of The Good Fairy), thinks it's time Willy were married, and arranges for his shy secretary Anna (Jeannette MacDonald) to be invited to the party. His other, sexier secretary Marika (Mona Maris), suggests Anna go dressed as an angel, primarily to make fun of her. Willy doesn't know quite what to make of Anna, but later he dreams of an actual angel named Brigitta, who looks just like Anna, descending from heaven to marry him. But there are complications. I Married an Angel was based on a Rodgers and Hart musical, and it undoubtedly worked much better on the stage where its satirical aspects could be expressed with a degree of sophistication. Reworked as a vehicle for the essentially sexless duo Eddy and MacDonald, it simply comes off as weird and generally unmemorable. The picture picks up in the latter half, especially during a scene when Brigtta makes one tactless remark to her guests after another, assuming honesty is the best policy (but even this has a certain ugliness to it, as the targets are singled out for their age and appearance). MacDonald does become sexy in a nightclub scene, after Brigitta has fallen under the influence of a devilish baron (Douglass Dumbrille) and works her way scintillatingly through the crowd. I've no doubt most of the Rodgers and Hart songs were eliminated, but we still get the lovely title tune, the amusing "Willy Marry Me," and a snappy duet-dance between MacDonald and Binnie Barnes [Three Smart Girls] where the latter counsels the former to keep a "Twinkle in Your Eye." Wright and Forrest contributed one or two numbers as well. Unfortunately, both MacDonald [The Cat and the Fiddle] and Eddy [Phantom of the Opera] have a tendency to over-sing everything, clubbing the songs into submission. Their acting is fine, however, with MacDonald (although too old for the role of a virginal secretary) being as adept as the shy young woman warily approaching her boss at the party as she is as the semi-malicious character in the nightclub sequence. Owen, Maris and Barnes are fine, but Edward Everett Horton is wasted. Esther Dale and Gertrude Hoffman make their mark in smaller roles. At one point Eddy stands on a balcony and watches scenes of "Brigtta" inexplicably performing in such operas as Carmen -- making one wonder if the actress was hoping to be tapped by the Met. This was the last -- and probably least -- collaboration of the famous duo.

Verdict: Rodgers and Hart deserved better than this. **.

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Claude Rains

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1943), Director: Arthur Lubin.

Handsome Technicolor version of the silent classic stars the great Claude Rains as Erique Claudin, who loves the pretty singer Christine (Susanna Foster), paying for her lessons in secret, but has a tragic and fateful misunderstanding with a music publisher that results in the latter's death and Claudin getting a face full of corrosive acid. Thereafter he haunts the Paris Opera in a cloak and mask committing murders to advance the career of Christine. Nelson Eddy, in fine voice, plays lead baritone and love interest, Anatole. Edgar Barrier has what is probably his best and biggest part in movies as Inspector Doubert, who not only investigates the murders but is Anatole's rival for Christine. Fritz Feld, Fritz Lieber, and Steven Geray all have supporting roles and all are good. The horror aspects of the story are fairly muted with the exception of a well-executed scene with the chandelier crashing into the audience; Lubin was hardly the best choice for director. Still the film is good to look at, Rains is as excellent as ever [Barrier and the others are also more than acceptable], and there's some wonderful music and singing. The French opera [actually a German opera sung in French] is the third act of Flowtow's Martha. The Russian opera was cobbled together from Tchiakovsky's 4th symphony even though there were plenty of Russian operas, including Tchiakovsky's, to choose from.Very attractive settings.

Verdict: Not all it could have been but quite entertaining. ***.