Maytime (1937) :
Brief Review -
Jeanette MacDonald is sensational in the soapy story of Prima Donna's tragedy. Maytime is not an unknown story. You might have seen the same story in hundreds of love stories till date. Maytime is a love triangle with typical conflicts and a predictable climax, yet it absorbs you with its cliched emotional appeal. Nicolai takes nobody-knows-girl Marcia Mornay and makes a successful prima donna out of her. To repay his debts, he asks her to marry him, and Marcia too has no objection. The same night, she meets an emerging singer, Paul Allison, who entertains her and takes her out of her boring life of opera. Now this part is too corny, as Paul keeps insisting on seeing her more while Marcia keeps her marriage a secret. She could have simply told him about Nicolai, and things would have ended long ago. "I shouldn't have let this happen," she says later, but it's too late. Paul and Marcia fall in love but have to part ways so that Marcia can fulfil her promise to Nicolai. After 7 years of a successful singing career and an unhappy marriage life, Marcia and Paul are reunited again. Will Nicolai let her go? Maytime has stereotyped characters, and that was needed since the film was never intended to be smart. It was all about being a simple Romantic musical drama with some real opera numbers. Opera lovers would enjoy them, but others wouldn't. Jeanette MacDonald is sensational as the Prima Donna. She looks breathtaking. John Barrymore is no evil; he is just too disciplined, and I loved his performance more than Nelson Eddy's. Many of Robert Z. Leonard's musicals from the 30s have been popular, and some have repeat value. Maytime may lack that repeat value due to its run-of-the-mill storyline and long runtime, but it certainly entertains on the first watch. It's just that we have had many similar stories, so we may not remember anything from here except a few numbers.
RATING - 6/10*
By - #samthebestest.
Jeanette MacDonald is sensational in the soapy story of Prima Donna's tragedy. Maytime is not an unknown story. You might have seen the same story in hundreds of love stories till date. Maytime is a love triangle with typical conflicts and a predictable climax, yet it absorbs you with its cliched emotional appeal. Nicolai takes nobody-knows-girl Marcia Mornay and makes a successful prima donna out of her. To repay his debts, he asks her to marry him, and Marcia too has no objection. The same night, she meets an emerging singer, Paul Allison, who entertains her and takes her out of her boring life of opera. Now this part is too corny, as Paul keeps insisting on seeing her more while Marcia keeps her marriage a secret. She could have simply told him about Nicolai, and things would have ended long ago. "I shouldn't have let this happen," she says later, but it's too late. Paul and Marcia fall in love but have to part ways so that Marcia can fulfil her promise to Nicolai. After 7 years of a successful singing career and an unhappy marriage life, Marcia and Paul are reunited again. Will Nicolai let her go? Maytime has stereotyped characters, and that was needed since the film was never intended to be smart. It was all about being a simple Romantic musical drama with some real opera numbers. Opera lovers would enjoy them, but others wouldn't. Jeanette MacDonald is sensational as the Prima Donna. She looks breathtaking. John Barrymore is no evil; he is just too disciplined, and I loved his performance more than Nelson Eddy's. Many of Robert Z. Leonard's musicals from the 30s have been popular, and some have repeat value. Maytime may lack that repeat value due to its run-of-the-mill storyline and long runtime, but it certainly entertains on the first watch. It's just that we have had many similar stories, so we may not remember anything from here except a few numbers.
RATING - 6/10*
By - #samthebestest.