Sweethearts (1938)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

W.S. Van Dyke

Writers:

Fred De Gresac (book) &
Harry B. Smith (book) ...

Release Date:

22 December 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Musical

Tagline:

Exquisite music . . . sparkling romance for the King and Queen of song !

Plot:

A musical comedy duo in their 6th year on Broadway receive an offer to perform in Hollywood making films...

Plot Keywords:

Broadway | Hollywood | Variety | Singer | One Word Title

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins

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
Herman Bing	...	Oscar Engel
George Barbier	...	Benjamin Silver
Reginald Gardiner	...	Norman Trumpett
Fay Holden	...	Hannah the Dresser
Allyn Joslyn	...	Dink Rogers
Lucile Watson	...	Mrs. Marlowe
Gene Lockhart	...	Augustus
Kathleen Lockhart	...	Aunt Amelia
Berton Churchill	...	Sheridan Lane

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #4619)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

This is MGM's first film to feature a different lion roaring in the logo, by the name of Tanner. This lion appeared at the beginning of MGM's Technicolor feature films and cartoons.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Waltons: The Hawk (#6.1)" (1977)

Soundtrack:

THE MESSAGE TO THE VIOLET

Broadway to Hollywood in glorious colour

A high-budget offering for MGM stars Nelson Eddy and Jeanette Macdonald, and the studio's first film to be released in Technicolor (Maytime had been started but not completed in this process), centres on a lovey-dovey couple who have worked for years in a Broadway success and are offered the chance to work in Hollywood. How do their theatre collaborators stop them going there?

Unusually for films featuring the Singing Sweethearts, this one has a sparky and funny script (largely by Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell) from which it benefits. Not many songs have survived from the Broadway production of the real 'Sweethearts' (sadly, the omissions include 'The Cricket on the Hearth', which was really quite a sweet song), and others have been added to flesh out the Hollywood fantasy. Perhaps the best numbers are 'Pretty as a Picture' and 'On Parade'.

In support are Frank Morgan ('the Wizard of Oz'), Ray Bolger (not used anywhere near enough), and the poor man's Eddy and Macdonald, Douglas MacPhail and Betty Jaynes, who suffer from a total lack of charisma. The leads themselves are fine and do with the more meaty than usual material. Perhaps their more slushy collaborations such as 'Rose Marie' and 'Maytime' are better overall, but 'Sweethearts' is definitely worth a look.