Product Details

• Actors: Nelson Eddy, Eleanor Powell, Frank Morgan, Edna May Oliver, Ray Bolger
• Directors: W.S. Van Dyke
• Writers: William Anthony McGuire, Guy Bolton
• Producers: William Anthony McGuire
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Warner)
• VHS Release Date: February 24, 1995
• Run Time: 123 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301978404
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,226 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "Rosalie" glistens in Black/White, January 9, 2002

By	"maryn2" (Hampton, NH United States) - See all my reviews

"Rosalie" is a shimmering escapist movie that glistens - even in black and white. Production numbers are exceptional, with reminders throughout the story of a fantasy decade of lacy satins, patent leather buckled tap shoes, and gossamer nights.

No magical chemistry here between the lead players, as in MacDonald/Eddy films before and after, but a very pleasant 1930s love story between a West Point football hero, Dick Thorpe (Nelson Eddy) and an incognito Princess attending Vassar, Rosalie (Eleanor Powell).

The harmonious blending of Nelson's distinctive voice and Eleanor's brilliant dancing is what makes this movie succeed. Cole Porter's music doesn't hurt, either. The story line has the two falling in love after the big Army/Navy football game, where Thorpe scores as gridiron hero but wants to score with Rosalie. He has no clue she is a princess in the kingdom of Romanza, a tiny hamlet in Eastern Europe. Rosalie has fun teasing him along and she invites him to her country's springtime celebration. He accepts and trouble starts.

The Queen, Edna May Oliver, disputes Thorpe's interest in Rosalie, having decided on a royal marriage for her daughter. The King, Ralph Morgan, is his usual scatter-brained self, (as in Oz) not entirely in charge of any situation. Those two playing Rosalie's parents is a stretch, they could have easily been her grandparents. But in '30s movie history, all parents looked like grandparents, a sign of that culture.

Also of that culture, the "Hail Good Fellow" mentality does no harm to this well-
worn theme of rich girl/poor boy. Eleanor's uncommon kind of beauty - enhanced
with a curt speaking voice and eyes twinkling throughout as if withholding a secret - matches well with Nelson's out-of-doors but drawing-room smooth, atypical
good looks. No manifest intimacy between the two, but hey...it is only a movie,
after all, and definitely worth seeing...at least once.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Romance in Romanza, April 8, 2005

By	John D. Shepard "shep716" (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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If you like musicals and are Young at Heart, you will fall in love with the beautiful Eleanor Powell and be mesmerized by her athletic prowess. Throw in Cole Porter's elegant, rhythmic music and you're hooked. Forget a complicated plot; if that's what you seek, find a Russian play. For the gals, there's that handsome baritone, the inimitable Nelson Eddy. You cannot lose.

"Rosalie" is among the best, most uplifting of Ms. Powell's movies. She was a lush, radiant 25 when she made this movie and a consummate athlete in peak form and probably the best female tap dancer of all time. After God made her, He threw away the mold. (See her ballet -- of sorts -- in Broadway Melody of 1936;
Double WOW.) Normally I oppose cloning humans; for her, I'd make an exception.

West Point Footbal Hero Dick Thorpe falls in love with a pretty Vassar girl who is secretly a princess (Eleanor Powell)in the tiny Baltic kingdom of Romanza. Her evil mum wants a forced marriage for her to a semi-royal who is not in love with Rosalie.
Thorpe, not knowing this, serenades her, flys to meet her in Romanza only to find she is now betrothed to another. Love wins out, of course and there's GREAT dancing and music, and I DO mean great. Yes, there's corn and her father-king is more than a little batty, but that's a small price to pay for the best dancing legs you'll ever see. Sinatra was right!

The ONLY question to ask is WHY this is not in DVD. Can we picket Turner?

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great musical with good transfer, July 8, 2006

By	John M. Clement - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a typical Hollywood remake of a 1928 Broadway musical. They threw out the original score, some of the dialog, and got a new score from Cole Porter. The original was a Romberg Operetta with ballet which had a decent run. The Hollywood version was a hit with the new jazzy score and services of the new star Elenor Powell, and the slightly wooden Nelson Eddy. The secondary characters are all excellent with Ray Bolger, Edna May Oliver, Frank Morgan, Clay Clement and others. Of the original cast only Frank Morgan and Clay Clement survive in the Hollywood version.

The country of Romanza is supposedly located in the Balkans, but the costuming does not resemble any Balkan costumes that I have seen. They are a fun pastiche of Russian, Hungarian, Tirolean, and generic Gypsy costumes. The large dance sequences feature music stolen from various composers including Borodin. The mixture is unbelievable, but lots of fun.

Those were the days when black & white could be used to great effect. The movie sparkles. This was exactly what the public needed during the great depression and Hollywood dished it out liberally. The transfer to VHS is low noise with good resolution. On hopes that they will use the sophisticated software now available to remove the dirt and scratches when they transfer the film to DVD.

One wonders what the original Broadway score was like, as it featured Romberg and P.G. Woodehouse as well as the Gershwins.