“NAUGHTY MARIETTA”

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 199, 20 May 1944, Page 8

“NAUGHTY MARIETTA”

It must have been about 1934 that I sat squarely behind a post (and thankful enough to get the seat in the box-office crush) at St. James Theatre and looked admiringly on the new Nelson Eddy and the resurrected Jeanette MacDonald in “Naughty Marietta.” Miss MacDonald had had a tremendous vogue In the earlier days of talkies, with Jack Buchanan in “Monte Carlo,” with Maurice Chevalier (now on the Allies list of war guilty) in “The Love Parade.” But her stocks dwindled, to return with a firm gilt-edge in “Naughty Marietta.” And now the cycle Is complete. The technicoloured, singing duo of Eddy and MacDonald went from success to success—“ Hose Marie.” “Bitter Sweet." "Sweethearts.” And finally, after nearly 10 years they made their final film together, the Indifferent, poorly-received “I Married an AngeL” Now the two have gone their different ways—Eddy to another studio. Universal, where he has made an amazing comeback in “The Phantom of the Opera” (due for release in Wellington soon) and Miss MacDonald to tour the concert circuit of the United States. I must confess that, unlike a thousand other ’filmgoers, I haven't had a second look at “Naughty Marietta” (Opera House), but I can still recall Eddy’s magnificent singing of “Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life,” a song that has been plugged at least a million times from the world’s radio stations since. There was the nice sugary story of the girl who took her servant’s place and found herself in all sorts of romantic and adventurous situations round New Orleans in the earlier days of American history. Like another M.G.M. stalwart, “The Great Waltz,” “Naughty Marietta” seems to be able to command its audiences even aftef the umpteenth revival. .