SWEETHEARTS

Sweethearts


(aka Victor Herbert's Sweethearts)

MGM, 1938, Color, 120 minutes, ***½

Released December, 1938



The time-worn stage chestnut is a "play within a film" for this frothy Jeanette MacDonald / Nelson Eddy musical comedy written by Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell. MacDonald and Eddy play a married acting couple who plan to leave Broadway for Hollywood, but impresario Frank Morgan plots to stop them. With Ray Bolger, Florence Rice, Mischa Auer.



Probably the funniest film made by Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. All the musical numbers are beautifully staged, but my favorites are the visually stunning MacDonald and Bolger's "Wooden Shoes" and, of course, MacDonald and Eddy's "Sweethearts." Don't miss this one!



The film begins with the statement, "In our screen play certain dramatic liberties have been taken with the operetta 'Sweethearts'. We depict the scenes from the operetta as though it were a recent production currently presented by a wholly fictitious producer Felix Lehman and as composed and written by two wholly imaginary persons Oscar Engel and Leo Kronk whereas the stage operetta 'Sweethearts' was actually written and produced on the stage about 1913, Victor Herbert composing the music and Fred de Gresac, Robert B. Smith and Harry B. Smith writing the book and lyrics."



Produced by: Hunt Stromberg

Directed by: W. S. Van Dyke II

Based on the Operetta "Sweethearts"

Book and Lyrics by Fred de Gresac, Harry B. Smith and Robert B. Smith

Music by Victor Herbert

Screen Play: Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell

Musical Adaptation by: Herbert Stothart

Immortal Melodies: Victor Herbert

Special Lyrics: Bob Wright and Chet Forrest

Dances and Ensembles: Albertina Rasch

Musical Presentation: Merrill Pye

Art Director: Cedric Gibbons

Associate: Joseph Wright

Set Decorations by: Edwin B. Willis

Gowns by: Adrian

Recording Director: Douglas Shearer

Photographed by: Oliver T. Marsh

Technicolor Photography by:Allen Davey

Montage Effects by: Slavko Vorkapich

Photographed in Technicolor

Technicolor Color Director: Natalie Kalmus

Associate: Henri Jaffa

Film Editor: Robert J. Kern



Awards: Nominated for Academy Awards for Best Score (Herbert Stothart) and Best Sound Recording (Douglas Shearer)



Cast: Jeanette MacDonald [Gwen Marlowe], Nelson Eddy [Ernest Lane], Frank Morgan [Felix Lehman], Ray Bolger [Hans, the Dancer], Florence Rice [Kay Jordan], Mischa Auer [Leo Kronk], Fay Holden [Hannah the Dresser], Terry Kilburn [Gwen's Brother], Betty Jaynes [Una Wilson], Douglas McPhail [Harvey Horton], Reginald Gardiner [Norman Trumpett], Herman Bing [Oscar Engel], Allyn Joslyn [Dink Rogers], Raymond Walburn [Orlando Lane], Lucile Watson [Mrs. Marlowe], George Barbier [Benjamin Silver], Kathleen Lockhart [Aunt Amelia Lane], Gene Lockhart [Augustus Marlowe], Berton Churchill [Sheridan Lane], Olin Howlin [Appleby, the Box Office Man], Gerald Hamer [Harry], Marvin Jones [Boy in Lobby], Dorothy Gray [His Girl Friend], Emory Parnell [Fire Inspector], Maude Turner Gordon [Dowager], Jack George [Violinist], Roger Converse [Usher], Reid Kilpatrick [Radio Announcer], Wilson Benge [2nd Valet to Ernest], George Ernest [1st Call Boy], Billy McCullough [2nd Call Boy], Lee Phelps [Doorman at St. Regis], Pat Gleason [Reporter], Ralph Malone [Reporter], David Kerman, Jack Gardner [Reporters], Ralph W. Berry, Rollin B. Berry [Lawyer Twins], Chester L. Berolund, Leo Berolund [Lawyer Twins], Mira McKinney, Barbara Pepper, Marjorie "Babe" Kane, Grace Hayle [Telephone Operators], Hal K. Dawson [Morty], Forrester Harvey [Tailor's Assistant], Gayne Whitman [Commentator], Margaret Irving [Madame], Irving Bacon [Assistant Director], Jimmy Conlin [Property Man], Dick Rich, Bruce Mitchell, Ralph Sanford [Stage Hands], James Flavin [Theater Doorman], Richard Tucker, Edwin Stanley, Edward Earle, Brent Sargent [Men in Lobby], Betty Ross Clarke, Dorothy Christy, Suzanne Kaaren, Lulu Mae Bohrman [Women in Lobby], Hal Cooke, Jenifer Gray [Mr. Silver's Secretaries], Fred Santley [Music Vendor], Don Barclay [Taxi Driver from Bridgeport], A. S. Byron [Policeman], James Farley [Carriage Starter], George Cooper, Frank Mills [Electricians], Mary Howard, Joan Barclay, Sharon Lewis, Vivian Reid, Lucille Browne, Valerie Day, Ethelreda Leopold [Chorus Girls], Lester Dorr [Dance Director], Anne Wigton [Saleswoman], Dalies Frantz [Pianist for "Badinage"], Paul Marquardt [Conductor of Marine Band], Paul Kerby [Orchestra Conductor], Joe Devlin [New York Taxi Driver], Toby Wing [Telephone Operator], Cyril Ring [Waiter]



Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:08] Wooden Shoes (sung and danced by Ray Bolger, Jeanette MacDonald and Chorus); [0:14] Every Lover Must Meet His Fate (sung by Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald); [0:24] Happy Day (sung and danced by Chorus); [0:25] Sweethearts (sung by Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald); [0:28] Sweethearts / Auld Lang Syne (sung by Nelson Eddy, Jeanette MacDonald and Audience); [0:41] Pretty as a Picture (sung and danced by Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy and Chorus); [0:47] The Game of Love (sung by Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald); [0:55] The Message of the Violet (from "The Prince of Pilsen") (sung by Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy and Gene Lockhart); [0:56] Keep It Dark (from "The Prince of Pilsen") (sung and danced by Nelson Eddy, Jeannette MacDonald, Gene Lockhart, Lucile Watson, Berton Churchill and Kathleen Lockhart); [1:07] Badinage (sung by Jeanette MacDonald); [1:10] On Parade (sung by Nelson Eddy and Mens Chorus); [1:13] Every Lover Must Meet His Fate / Sweethearts (reprised by Nelson Eddy, Jeanette MacDonald and Chorus); [1:21] Little Grey Home in the West (sung by Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald); [1:43] Montage / medley of "Sweethearts" and other musicals (sung by Jeannette MacDonald and Douglas McPhail, Betty Jaynes and Nelson Eddy); [1:52] Finale: Sweethearts (with special lyrics sung by Nelson Eddy, Jeanette MacDonald and Chorus)