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Bitter Sweet (1940) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.4/10   156 votes
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Up 47% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
W.S. Van Dyke
Writers:
Noel Coward (play)
Lesser Samuels (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Bitter Sweet on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
8 November 1940 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Musical | Romance more
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... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. more
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)
User Comments:
Jeanette and Nelson sing on an empty stomach... more (8 total)

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
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
94 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:
Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved
Company:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Except for a few shots where she was doubled by Audrey Scott, Jeanette MacDonald did most of her own horseback riding. more
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.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in The Miracle of Sound (1940) more
Soundtrack:
I'll See You Again more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful.
Jeanette and Nelson sing on an empty stomach..., 18 September 2006
5/10
Author: Neil Doyle from U.S.A.

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.

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