Maytime (1937 film)

Maytime
Original film poster
Directed by	Robert Z. Leonard
Produced by	Robert Z. Leonard Hunt Stromberg
Written by	Noel Langley Rida Johnson Young (play)
Starring	Jeanette MacDonald Nelson Eddy John Barrymore
Music by	Herbert Stothart Edward Ward
Cinematography	Oliver T. Marsh
Editing by	Conrad A. Nervig
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	March 26, 1937 (1937-03-26)
Running time	132 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2,126,000[1]
Box office	$2,183,000 (Domestic earnings)[1] $1,823,000 (Foreign earnings)[1]

Maytime is a 1937 MGM musical romance, directed by Robert Z. Leonard, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. The screenplay was rewritten from the book for Sigmund Romberg's 1917 operetta Maytime by Rida Johnson Young, Romberg's librettist; however, only one musical number by Romberg was retained. The film's storyline greatly resembles that of Noel Coward's operetta Bitter Sweet, right down to the "frame story" surrounding the main plot. Three years later, MGM filmed a Technicolor version of Bitter Sweet, but altered the plot slightly so that audiences would not notice the similarities.

Plot summary

Cast

• Jeanette MacDonald as Marcia Mornay/Miss Morrison
• Nelson Eddy as Paul Allison
• John Barrymore as Nicolai Nazaroff
• Herman Bing as August Archipenco
• Tom Brown as Kip Stuart
• Lynne Carver as Barbara Roberts
• Rafaela Ottiano as Ellen
• Charles Judels as Cabby
• Paul Porcasi as Trentini
• Sig Ruman as Fanchon (as Sig Rumann)
• Walter Kingsford as Mr. Rudyard
• Guy Bates Post as Louis Napoleon

Awards

The film was nominated for two Academy Awards.^[2]

• Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring (nominated)
• Academy Award for Best Sound, Recording (Douglas Shearer) (nomitated)

Soundtrack

• Now It's the Month of Maying
  • Sung by chorus

• Will You Remember (Sweetheart)?
  • Music by Sigmund Romberg
  • Lyrics by Rida Johnson Young
  • Sung by Nelson Eddy

• Plantons da Vigne
  • Sung by Nelson Eddy

• Vive l'Opera
  • Music by Herbert Stothart
  • Lyrics by Bob Wright (as Robert Wright) and Chet Forrest (as George Forrest)
  • Sung by Nelson Eddy and chorus

• Ham and Eggs
  • Music by Herbert Stothart
  • Lyrics by Bob Wright (as Robert Wright) and Chet Forrest (as George Forrest)
  • Sung by Nelson Eddy and chorus

• Carry Me Back to Old Virginny
  • Written by James Allen Bland
  • Sung by Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald

• Santa Lucia
  • Sung by Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy and an uncredited singer

• Czaritza
  • (based on Symphony No. 5)
  • Composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  • Sung by Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy and chorus

• Les filles de Cadix
  • Written by Léo Delibes
  • Lyrics by Alfred de Musset
  • Sung by Jeanette MacDonald

• Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse
  • Written by Robert Planquette
  • Sung by Jeanette MacDonald and chorus

• Nobles seigneur, salut
  • from the opera Les Huguenots
  • Written by Giacomo Meyerbeer
  • Libretto by Eugène Scribe
  • Sung by Jeanette MacDonald and chorus

• Cavatine du Page "Une dame, noble et sage
  • from the opera Les Huguenots Act 1
  • Written by Giacomo Meyerbeer
  • Librette by Eugène Scribe
  • Sung by Jeanette MacDonald and chorus

• Lucia di Lammermoor
  • Written by Gaetano Donizetti

• William Tell
  • Written by Gioachino Rossini

• Tannhäuser
  • Written by Richard Wagner

• Tristan und Isolde
  • Written by Richard Wagner

• Faust
  • Written by Charles Gounod

External links

• Maytime at the Internet Movie Database
• Maytime at AllRovi
• Maytime at the TCM Movie Database
• Maytime at Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy: A Tribute

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Turk, Edward Baron "Hollywood Diva: A Biography of Jeanette MacDonald (University of California Press, 1998)"
2. ^ "The 10th Academy Awards (1938) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/10th-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-08-09.