Rose-Marie (1936)

Opera singer (Marie de Flor) seeks out fugitive brother in the Canadian wilderness. During her trek, she meets a Canadian mountie (Sgt. Bruce) who is also searching for her brother. Romance... See full summary »

Director:

W.S. Van Dyke

Writers:

Frances Goodrich (screen play), Albert Hackett (screen play),

Stars:

Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Reginald Owen

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jeanette MacDonald	...	Marie de Flor
Nelson Eddy	...	Sgt. Bruce
Reginald Owen	...	Myerson
Allan Jones	...	Romeo
James Stewart	...	John Flower
Alan Mowbray	...	Premier
Gilda Gray	...	Belle
George Regas	...	Boniface
Robert Greig	...	Hotel Manager
Una O'Connor	...	Anna
Lucien Littlefield	...	Storekeeper
David Niven	...	Teddy (as David Nivens)
Herman Bing	...	Mr. Daniells

Storyline

Opera singer (Marie de Flor) seeks out fugitive brother in the Canadian wilderness. During her trek, she meets a Canadian mountie (Sgt. Bruce) who is also searching for her brother. Romance ensues, resulting in several love duets between the two.

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Plot Keywords:

canada | mounted police officer | sergeant | operetta | hyphen in title | 

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Taglines:

Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy in the most famous film of their careers! (re-release)

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Genres:

Musical | Romance | Adventure | Drama | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 January 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Indian Love Call

Filming Locations:

South Lake Tahoe, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As publicity for this movie, MGM offered $2,000 to the first woman that year to name their twin daughters Rose and Marie. The prize went to Mrs. Esker R. Owens of Fort Smith, Arizona.

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Goofs

When the Sgt. returns to the room to find Rose Marie gone, he wakes the manager for entry, when the manager enters the room he has a noticeably different night shirt on than before he entered, one has vertical stripes the other horizontal.

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Quotes

Marie de Flor: That's the worst orchestra and the worst conductor I've ever sung with!
[To the tenor]
Marie de Flor: And what was the idea of holding every high A longer than I did?!?

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Connections

Featured in Great Performances: James Stewart: A Wonderful Life (1987)

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Soundtracks

"Totem Tom-Tom"
(1924) (uncredited)
Music by Rudolf Friml
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto A. Harbach
Sung by chorus

User Reviews

Singing in the Canadian Woods

There have been three versions of Rose Marie done for the screen, a silent 1927 version and on in 1954 as well as this one. And not one of them had the same plot and not one of them repeated the same plot as the original stage version in 1923. Not that it matters because this version with Jeanette and Nelson sets the standard.

One thing I did object to is that a whole lot of the Rudolf Friml- Otto Harbach-Oscar Hammerstein II score was jettisoned. Some very nice songs were left out. Only The Mountie Song, Rose Marie, and Indian Love Call were retained. Totem Tom Tom which is done as a dance number actually has words. Because Jeanette is an opera singer in this one, arias from Tosca and Romeo and Juliet were included. And Friml and MGM house composer Herbert Stothart wrote a couple of other melodies with Gus Kahn doing lyrics. Nice, but not the real score.

In this version Jeanette is an opera singer who receives word in Montreal that her younger brother is a fugitive after killing a man. She goes to him, but on the way gets sidetracked by Mountie Nelson Eddy. He just happens to be the guy they've assigned to get the brother. I don't think I have to give any more of the plot away.

Jeanette and Nelson are in good voice and MGM splurged a little by going on location and not using any back lot sets to show the Canadian wilderness. I'm willing to bet that Rose Marie may have been the most expensive of their eight films to produce.

Three future stars got exposure in Rose Marie. Allan Jones who Jeanette would co-star with the following year in The Firefly sung the opera numbers with her. David Niven has a brief role as a stage door Johnny ready to declare his undying love for the diva. And James Stewart plays her fugitive younger brother.

Of course Jimmy Stewart was able to do this before he became typecast as all American good guy Jimmy Stewart. Three years later MGM could never have cast him this way. But his performance was definitely a big break for bigger and better roles.

Because of this film Nelson Eddy got his trademark. After he left films and concert singing and did nightclubs towards the end of his life, Nelson would always make a grand entrance replete in white tie, tuxedo, and a Mountie hat. Nelson Eddy was one of the kindest and most generous of performers in giving of himself to his public, but he least of all took his movie career image seriously. In fact he always maintained he was a singer first and film was just a medium to give his singing career more visibility.

But if you want to hear some golden voices doing some classic songs like they don't write any more than I can't recommend Rose Marie strongly enough.