(113 min) Released 1936-01-28
Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Stars: Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Reginald Owen
Chester Hale ... stager: totem pole dance
Musical | Romance | Adventure | Drama | Western
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028207/
Allan Jones sings a bit of opera with JM. They stage many scenes briefly; I long for more. In a very small part, David Niven (misspelled plural) earns his 9th film credit (5 uncredited.) Strange to see Robert Grieg in shabby clothes and hair askew; usually he's the natty butler, but here he's the manager of a rustic inn.
Jimmy Stewart plays the fugitive brother; his second film credit. Someone needed to tell him to let the camera see his face, even though the head-down approach does fit the character. I rather wished we learned more about the brother's fate. Marie's loyalty to him conflicts well with her attraction to his hunter, but is not mentioned after JS leaves the screen.
Most of the movie takes place in rustic Canada (filmed in California); we only see an automobile briefly in an early scene. Horses are the primary transport, hence the Western genre. Also, we see a gathering of Indian tribes, with a large ensemble dance number, attempting realistic tribal dancing, not stylized Hollywood interpretation. Then again, the credited dance director has ballet/Broadway/Ice Capades as his CV, including Reckless and A Night at the Opera (both '35), so maybe I'm being generous. After all, that giant drum doesn't seem so authentic.
This is the home of the Indian Love Call and the title song, among others. JM and NE have gorgeous voices. NE's "wooden" nature plays well for these stoic characters (the Union mercenary in Naughty Marietta, the Canadian Mountie here), and he does have a variety of facial expressions. JM is beautiful and acts up a storm.
So we have beautiful 1) scenery, 2) leading players, 3) music and 4) Native American dancing. What pushes this to an 8 is the use of Tosca: both musically and thematically. Cavaradosi's death scene blends well with the Indian Love Call reprise. And then JM acts the final scene VERY well.
I remember both Sweet Mystery of Life (from NM) and Indian Love Call being used elsewhere mockingly, in parody. But they both originated in sincere movies and were well-executed vocally and dramatically. Those parodies kept me from seeing these movies until now. That's a shame. Similar mocking of Frank Capra"corn" (and other such) has helped us become a cynical society that doesn't believe anyone can sustain sincerity. (I'll leave it to the reader to check the posting date with American history, and think what might have prompted that remark. I don't want to sully this post with real-life present-day names.)
MGM, dir. Van Dyke; 8
