Bitter Sweet

19401940
PassedPassed
1h 34m

A woman runs away with her music teacher in order to escape an arranged marriage, but they struggle to make ends meet.A woman runs away with her music teacher in order to escape an arranged marriage, but they struggle to make ends meet.A woman runs away with her music teacher in order to escape an arranged marriage, but they struggle to make ends meet.

5.9/10

512

Director
- W.S. Van Dyke
Writers
- Noël Coward(original play)
- Lesser Samuels(screen play)
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 2 nominations total

Ian Hunter and Jeanette MacDonald in Bitter Sweet (1940)

Edward Ashley and Jeanette MacDonald in Bitter Sweet (1940)

George Sanders and Jeanette MacDonald in Bitter Sweet (1940)

In order to avoid an arranged marriage with a man she doesn't love, Sarah Millick runs off to Vienna with her music teacher, Carl Linden, whom she does love. They are married. In Vienna, they struggle to make a living by making music. Carl writes an operetta and tries to get it produced. They are helped along by Viennese Baron, but his intentions are not honorable. He kills Carl in a sword fight. A big producer does put on the operetta, with Sari in the lead -- but without her husband, it is a bittersweet victory. —John Oswalt <jao@jao.com>

husband wife relationship romantic rivalry homosexual subtext remake operetta 4 more

Taglines
- Technicolor's Greatest Spectacle!
Genres
Certificate
- Passed
Parents guide
- Add content advisory

Trivia
Except for a few shots where she was doubled by Audrey Scott, Jeanette MacDonald did most of her own horseback riding.

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.

Crazy credits
Opening credits are shown on a sewing sampler.

Connections
Featured in The Miracle of Sound (1940)

Soundtracks
I'll See You Again
(1929) (uncredited)
Written by Noël Coward
Sung by Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy

Top review

7/10

Jeanette and Eddy, those sweethearts again

An obvious attempt to rework the studio hit Maytime and to an extent it works. The plot though slight, is not common as it actually tries to follow the trials and tribulations of a starving artistic couple, at least for the first hour. A few classic songs with those famous operatic voices is unleashed occasionally and the comedy is obvious but prudent. George Sanders as the heavy is very good and if not for his voice is almost unrecognizable. This movie contains a grand musical finale with technicolor used to its palest, so to speak with dancers following and trailing Jeanette as she dashes around the stage. Not great, not serious, not intelligent but pleasing, fun and touching.

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