tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post2028139936691938983..comments2024-03-27T21:42:56.131-05:00Comments on 1001plus: America's Singing SweetheartsSJHoneywellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-76261968025470928362016-11-22T10:47:31.829-06:002016-11-22T10:47:31.829-06:00In my family, the opposite was true. My mother reg...In my family, the opposite was true. My mother regularly made fun of Eddy/MacDonald films and singing.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-85816830929571239932016-11-18T11:04:02.924-06:002016-11-18T11:04:02.924-06:00As to liking her singing, it probably helps a lot ...As to liking her singing, it probably helps a lot if you grew up with it. My father was mostly a country music fan. But for some reason, he also liked Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, so we would listen to 8-track tapes of their greatest songs. A lot.<br /><br />My father also liked The Student Prince quite a bit.Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17921029597363212734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-4156888814626495922016-06-28T22:10:26.480-05:002016-06-28T22:10:26.480-05:00The puppet show is a fun scene, I agree. It precee...The puppet show is a fun scene, I agree. It preceeds the scene where Jeanette MacDonald finally falls for Nelson Eddy outside of the theater, so it also works as a nice lead-in for the romance that follows. <br /><br />Now, if I could just learn to like her singing, we'd be in complete agreement. When she's doing light comedy, I think she's one of the best there was. SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-58412092361677612862016-06-28T18:11:04.134-05:002016-06-28T18:11:04.134-05:00I love Jeannette MacDonald so much! All of her mov...I love Jeannette MacDonald so much! All of her movies have at least one really awesome scene that makes up for the rest of it, no matter how much time I spent looking at the clock to see how much time there is left. I love <b>Rose-Marie</b>, and <b>San Francisco</b> is mostly very compelling. (Despite being an atheist, I cried at the end of <b>San Francisco</b> the first time I saw it.)<br /><br />Even though I'm not such a big fan of <b>The Firefly</b>, I love "The Donkey Song." <br /><br />(And I've seen them all numerous times because my dad loves Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy so much.)<br /><br /><b>Naughty Marietta</b> gets lots of points for the scene where Jeanette is in the puppet show! That is hilarious, and when I see it, I always manage to get through the rest of the film (some of which I find rather tedious) because I know the puppet show is coming up.<br /><br />It is a major crime of Old Hollywood that they never filmed an opulent, big-budget opera just for Jeanette MacDonald. They experimented with <b>A Midsummer Night's Dream</b> in 1935 (which I love) and it's criminal that they didn't produce something like <b>Carmen</b> for Jeanette MacDonald. Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17921029597363212734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-12887204234900012782016-06-24T10:53:32.970-05:002016-06-24T10:53:32.970-05:00I agree completley on the singing, obviously. I ge...I agree completley on the singing, obviously. I get why there are people who like it because it's not specifically bad--it's just not something I like. <br /><br />We'll disagree on Eddy, though. I think he's got the same comic sensibilities that MacDonald did--they make a good pair for each other. I find him less bland than, say, Leslie Howard or Franchot Tone. <br /><br />That said, I'm not spending any time tracking down their other seven pairings.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-92018426968190711042016-06-24T10:50:26.711-05:002016-06-24T10:50:26.711-05:00The duo of Frank Morgan and Elsa Lanchester is a b...The duo of Frank Morgan and Elsa Lanchester is a big plus in the film's favor, both were such unique performers, but that operatic score is something that keeps me from revisiting any MacDonald/Eddy film.<br /><br />I like Jeannette she was a pleasing presence in all her films with a sly sense of fun. The problem is that even when she sang contemporary songs her voice retained that high pitched shrillness unlike the other major soprano of the time Deanna Durbin who was able to switch to a more modulated warmer tone. <br /><br />I'm with your mother on Nelson Eddy. I find his rich baritone voice easier to take and he's attractive in his way even if he looks like he was carved from cream cheese but he's such a vanilla presence on film.<br /><br />This isn't a bad film but when they started trilling I found something to do in another room until they were done.joel65913https://www.blogger.com/profile/14526657073681774683noreply@blogger.com