Customer Reviews

Sweethearts (1938) [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Sweethearts", would have to be along with the classic "Maytime", my absolute favourite of all the MacDonald/Eddy Operetta teamings at MGM. Blessed with this unforgettable team at their absolute peak, a breathtaking technicolour production, and veteran director W.S. Van Dyke in fine form, "Sweethearts", make most memorable viewing for all lovers of this team's work. It had the added bonus of presenting this popular team in a slight variation on their usual screen persona's with the usual sweetness and light at times being joined by some amusing tart dialogue and situations that showed these two performers in a different and very agreeable manner. Both performers respond to this partial change of pace with delightfully fresh and energetic deliveries that where most welcome extensions on their previous work together.

By 1938 Jeanette MacDonald in particular was anxious to at least partially escape the constant teamings that she had with Nelson Eddy. This didn't result from any personal dislike of Eddy but was simply her need to expand her dramatic range and put some variety into who she worked with. While their Box Office draw together at this time made a breaking up of the team unthinkable MGM decided to go all out with their new production of the 1913 play by Victor Herbert and make it unique for the MacDonald/Eddy team. A lavish budget was set which included the use of three strip technicolour which greatly enhanced the look and feel of the production and showed audiences for the first time the beauty of Jeanette MacDonald's colouring and Nelson Eddy's often overlooked masculine charm. It was the couple's first modern dress picture as well which considerably freed up their performances, in particular that of Nelson Eddy who was often accused of looking very stiff in his earlier period costumes. MGM also took the innovative step of hiring famed writer of wit Dorothy Parker and husband Alan Campbell to add a little spice to the proceedings in "Sweethearts", which resulted in the team positively shining under the lively dialogue and amusing situations far removed from their usual prim exchanges. "Sweethearts", chronicles the trials of famed husband and wife operetta team Gwen Marlowe (MacDonald) and Ernest Lane (Eddy) who as the film begins are celebrating their sixth anniversary as the sweethearts of America performing non stop in the top Broadway smash "Sweethearts". Unbeknown to the adoring public however Gwen and Ernest are tearing their hair out from the constant grind of the same show week in week out and of the unrelenting demands on what little leisure time they have to do radio broadcasts, personal appearances etc. When an aggressive Hollywood producer Norman Trumpett (Reginald Gardiner) makes an effort to lure the tired couple away with the promise of artistic and financial rewards in Hollywood the race is on by the Broadway show's manager Felix Lehman (Frank Morgan), to do whatever is possible to hold the couple in New York. Fed up with the constant demands on their time both jump at the offer to enjoy the California sun. The very amusing schemes to keep them from excepting the Hollywood offer however almost breaks up the couple with Gwen believing the Ernest is having an affair with their personal assistant Kay Jordan (Florence Rice). After seperating however the couple realise how much they do miss each others company and artistic give and take and see that they really are the sweethearts of popular public opinion and decide to stay together in the Broadway show.

Vintage MacDonald/Eddy material perhaps, but delivered with some of the wry observations about actors and producers and the "lure" of Hollywood in general one would come to expect from the witty pen of Dorothy Parker. Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy rarely have been in finer form than in this outing and the rapid fire direction of the famed Woody "One Take" Van Dyke is ideal for the fast moving and at times amusingly cynical storyline. The couple are given ample opportunity in between their verbal hijinks to deliver some of the superb operetta moments that one would come to expect in their work with the tile tune "Sweethearts" and "My Little Grey Home in the West" being standouts superbly staged. Being the "A" class production it was and starring one of Louis B. Mayer's favourite leading ladies "Sweethearts" glows in every department from lavish costumes, staging of incredibly elaborate production numbers to the beautiful colour photography which took out that year's special Academy Award for colour cinematography.

For any lovers of operettas and of the Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy teamings, "Sweethearts", is a treat that reveals some of their best work together. Their spicy dialogue and contemporary characters and settings show them in a refreshing new light and expands the range of what we have come to regard as their typical screen personas. Backed up by the MGM expertise you need not be a huge opera fan to appreciate this film. I cherish it as the magnificent effort in all aspects of film making that it undoubtedly is and see it as a sterling example of what the big Hollywood studios were capable of achieving at their peak. I am sure you will enjoy Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy working with the magical dialogue of Dorothy Parker in their delightful modern operetta "Sweethearts".

On the sixth anniversary of the enormously successful Broadway revival of Victor Herbert's operetta SWEETHEARTS, the show's stars Gwen Marlowe and Ernest Lane (Jeanette & Nelson, respectively) are still very much in love, but are tired of working constantly and yearn for a vacation away from the pressures of Broadway. Amusing complications follow. SWEETHEARTS was M-G-M's first three-strip Technicolor film, and the first colour film for either MacDonald or Eddy. Originally, when the filming began on 17 June 1938, it was partially shot in black & white. After two days, the footage was scrapped and the production was interrupted: filming began to commence in Technicolor. Why? There were huge production problems on NORTHWEST PASSAGE, which was to be the first full-length Technicolor feature for M-G-M. Originally Jose Iturbi was to make his acting debut in the film, however - for reasons unclear - he's not in the final released product. Iturbi made his film debut later, in 1944. Reviews of the day commended the use of colour in the film (Jeanette's beautiful golden-red hair was particularly praised) and Oliver Marsh & Allen Davey won a special AA for their Technicolor cinematography.

Sweeping lyrical scores, brilliant technicolor and staccato pace set the backdrop for this love story between wife Gwen (Jeanette) and husband Ernest Lane(Nelson). As wildly popular stage performers, they live a perpetual honeymoon, on stage and off - a touch syrupy for some but delightful for romantics. That the movie lacks a story line is unimportant - the scores and lavish productions more than compensate in this opulent Victor Herbert musical. Outstanding is the couple's poignantly rendered harmony with "My Little Grey Home of the West". In that sequence, Nelson Eddy vividly projects a fiery affinity for Jeanette MacDonald that is actually palpable. The movie is well named.

After years of requests, petitions, and prayers, the MacDonald-Eddy musicals have finally come out on DVD. Metro Goldwyn Mayer's Singing Sweethearts are as fresh and lively as ever in their first Technicolor movie.
This filmed version of Victor Herbert's VERY loosely adapted operetta "Sweethearts" features Jeanette MacDonald as Gwen Marlowe and Nelson Eddy as her singing partner, Ernest Lane.
While I'm thrilled to get MacDonald and Eddy on DVD, I can't help but thinking that the color balance is a bit "off" on this transfer. It's very apparent in MacDonald's fashion montage scenes where the saturation of color seems to be too much. Perhaps this is just a glitch of early Technicolor, but it's not something that I remember being an issue in the VHS release of several decades ago. Also, the title screen of the Main Menu is a little drab, and both MacEddy movies feature this same computer-generated Main Menu. Too bad, because other MGM DVDs have been given more lavish treatment - see "The Women" for what I'm talking about.
The bonus features on the disk are a real treasure - but unfortunately there's no way to stop, pause or select chapters for these features. It's exciting to hear excerpts that have never before been released.
In all, it's a great release, but I do feel that Warner could have spent just a LITTLE more time on these remasters to make them everything that we MacDonald-Eddy fans have longed for.

Sweeping lyrical scores, brilliant technicolor and staccato pace set the backdrop for this love story between wife Gwen(Jeanette) and husband Ernest Lane(Nelson). As wildly popular stage performers, they live a perpetual honeymoon, on stage and off - a touch syrupy for some but delightful for romantics. That the movie lacks a story line is unimportant - the scores and lavish productions more than compensate in this opulent Victor Herbert musical. Outstanding is the couple's poignant harmony singing "My Little Grey Home in the West". In that sequence especially, Nelson projects a fiery affinity for Jeanette that is actually palpable. This movie is well named.

I've seen about everyone of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy's movies. This is one of my favorites. I'd give it ten stars if I could. It brings to it beautiful music, and a very sweet and charming story. They sing so divinly together as always.

THE COLOR IN THIS MOVIE IS BEUTIFUL!---IT IS SO BRILLIANT AND LIFELIKE CONSIDERING IT WAS EARLY IN ITS DEVELOPEMENT--ON A PAR WITH ANYTHING TO-DAY!--THE SETS ARE GORGEOUS AND THE DUETS INCOMPARABLE----A TRIP IN TIME TO A SIMPLER ERA!

In the same standards of a Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy film, this is one of their best works. Based on an operetta of Victor Herberts, not only is the music great but the plot and storyline are excellent. The plot concetrates on a theatre couple that is thinking of moving to Hollywood. The producers of the show think otherwise and devlop a plot to stop them, which makes the couple split up.

Really enjoyed "Sweethearts". Mac and Eddy seemed to have a real romance going on in this particular movie. I loved seeing a movie of them in tech. color. Nelson didn't seem "wooden' in this movie at all, in fact thought he seemed to act very natural. They always seem to have a chemistry together that they didn't have in other films with other co-stars.

I enjoyed this reminder of Cinematic technical advances over the years since 1938 when "Sweethearts" became the first of MGM's Technicolor features. Great music, spectacular sets, and colorful customs all add to this memorable movie.