ROSALIE

US, 1937, 123 minutes, Black and white.
Nelson Eddy, Eleanor Powell, Frank Morgan, Edna May Oliver, Ray Bolger, Ilona Massey, Billy Gilbert, Reginald Owen, Tom Rutherford, Clay Clement, Virginia Grey, George Zucco, Jerry Colonna.
Directed by W.S. van Dyke.

Rosalie is not the easiest of films to watch these days. It is a long musical concoction, a vehicle for Nelson Eddy who had proved himself very popular with the musicals co-starring Jeanette Mc Donald. He is a good screen presence – though much older than the West Point cadet that he is portraying here. The film is also a vehicle for Eleanor Powell who had appeared in Born to Dance and was to make a name for herself as MGM’s star tap-dancer. She gets some opportunities to show her skills here.

The film is a mixture of the US of the 1930s, training at West Point, the military, the beginnings of aviation, the pomp and ceremony of West Point and its officers. However, it draws on the popular stories of The Prisoner of Zenda and imaginary small countries of Europe with monarchies, this time the aptly named Romanca. Frank Morgan, dithering more than he did as the Wizard of Oz, is the reluctant king with an eye for the ladies as well as chatting continually to the puppet that he has constructed. Edna May Oliver does her thing as his rather upright wife (and one can see that Eleanor Powell in some ways resembles Edna May Oliver with her long face). Ray Bolger is interesting to see, two years prior to the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz. He does the bumbling second lead quite well – though his dialogue is rather tiresome. Ilona Massey had come from Europe and was to star with Nelson Eddy in Balalaika and later with the Marx Brothers in Love Happy. The film also has a number of MGM regulars.

The film was directed by W.S. van Dyke, prolific director of the 30s and 40s who could turn his attention to any genre.

The film seems quite laboured in its presentation of the romance, the complications. Eleanor Powell’s character is rather abrasive, rather sarcastic towards Nelson Eddy who is genuinely in love with her. It takes the whole film to sort out this antagonism.

The score was written by Cole Porter, a number of his songs which have not continued except for In the Still of the Night which became a classic.

The film offers quite a number of song opportunities for Nelson Eddy, the dance sequences for Eleanor Powell – and a lavish celebration in the kingdom of Romanca which resembles the lavish sets for most MGM musicals of the time as well as Broadway shows. There are echoes of The Great Ziegfeld in the final wedding number.