"Smilin' Through" was the only film that Jeanette MacDonald made with her husband, Gene Raymond. He looked so similar to her usual co-star Nelson Eddy that they were often mistaken for one another. Raymond did play leading roles in many 1930s films, but was not a musical star like Nelson Eddy. This film, a remake of a 1932 B/W starring Norma Shearer but this time featuring MacDonald's glorious singing, is an intriguing melodrama in the best sense of the word, and it probably would have been more famous if it did not debut on December 7, 1941. The US movie-going public had other things on their minds that day (and for nearly four years to come). A lush color musical with pacifist overtones was not among them.
Review of Smilin' Through
