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Bitter Sweet (1940)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
8 November 1940 (USA)
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Tagline:
A musical triumph! more
Plot:
In order to avoid an arranged marriage with a man she doesn't love, Sarah Millick runs off to Vienna with her music teacher...
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Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars.
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NewsDesk:
(4 articles)
Updates: Top 50 Hottest Young Actors - Rising Stars!
(From The Movie Fanatic. 30 September 2009, 11:19 AM, PDT)
Updates: Top 50 Hottest Young Actors - Rising Stars!
(From The Movie Fanatic. 30 September 2009, 11:19 AM, PDT)
(From The Movie Fanatic. 30 September 2009, 11:19 AM, PDT)
Updates: Top 50 Hottest Young Actors - Rising Stars!
(From The Movie Fanatic. 30 September 2009, 11:19 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Jeanette and Nelson sing on an empty stomach...
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Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Jeanette MacDonald | ... | Sarah Millick | |
| Nelson Eddy | ... | Carl Linden | |
| George Sanders | ... | Baron Von Tranisch | |
| Ian Hunter | ... | Lord Shayne | |
| Felix Bressart | ... | Max | |
| Edward Ashley | ... | Harry Daventry | |
| Lynne Carver | ... | Dolly | |
| Diana Lewis | ... | Jane | |
| Curt Bois | ... | Ernst | |
| Fay Holden | ... | Mrs. Millick | |
| Sig Ruman | ... | Herr Schlick (as Sig Rumann) | |
| Janet Beecher | ... | Lady Daventry | |
| Charles Judels | ... | Herr Wyler | |
| Veda Ann Borg | ... | Manon | |
| Herman Bing | ... | Market Keeper |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
94 min
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Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Except for a few shots where she was doubled by Audrey Scott, Jeanette MacDonald did most of her own horseback riding.
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Quotes:
Sarah Millick, later Sari Linden:
[over a very sparse dinner] Oh well, maybe it's all for the best. I hear more people die from overeating than from any other cause.
Carl Linden: I bet we'll be immortal, then. I hate Herr Weiller.
Sarah Millick, later Sari Linden: I hate the market keeper.
Carl Linden: I hate the landlord.
Sarah Millick, later Sari Linden: That's not fair, *I* was going to hate the landlord. *You* hate Herr Weiller again.
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Carl Linden: I bet we'll be immortal, then. I hate Herr Weiller.
Sarah Millick, later Sari Linden: I hate the market keeper.
Carl Linden: I hate the landlord.
Sarah Millick, later Sari Linden: That's not fair, *I* was going to hate the landlord. *You* hate Herr Weiller again.
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Movie Connections:
Featured in The Miracle of Sound (1940)
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Soundtrack:
I'll See You Again
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FAQ
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As starving artists living in a Viennese garret, MacDonald and Eddy certainly seem perfectly capable of singing their full-bodied songs with as much spirit as anyone would on a healthy diet of food. So much of the plot line of BITTER SWEET sounds like a recap of MAYTIME that it's unnerving to think that even with all of the opulent Technicolor on display here, they couldn't come up with a film that at least compared favorably to that B&W classic.
Once again, Jeanette has to lose her lover (this time in a duel, which must be one of the briefest duels ever fought over a lady), and then, still pining for him, she manages to get one of his operas produced in time to conclude the movie with "I'll See You Again" while the disembodied voice of Eddy joins her in song. Ah, sweet mystery of life! Noel Coward, who wrote the original BITTER SWEET on which this is based, fumed and fussed when he saw what MGM had done to his stage work. He swore that from then on he would never let Hollywood touch one of his works.
Well, I suppose he was justified. JEANETTE MacDONALD and NELSON EDDY are in their prime and sing beautifully, but none of it really comes to life. She's bubbling over with enthusiasm and he looks mighty uncomfortable most of the time, particularly in that brief duel with GEORGE SANDERS (as a wicked Baron) that lasts no more than five seconds.
Fans of the singing duo will probably enjoy the lavish sets for the big production number and it's all filmed in gorgeous Technicolor--but that's about it. Take it or leave it.