Rosalie | |
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![]() 1937 lobby card | |
Directed by | W. S. Van Dyke |
Written by | William Anthony McGuire |
Based on | Rosalie 1928 play by Guy Bolton |
Produced by | William Anthony McGuire |
Starring | Eleanor Powell Nelson Eddy Frank Morgan |
Cinematography | Oliver T. Marsh |
Edited by | Blanche Sewell |
Music by | Cole Porter |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Loew's Inc. |
Release date |
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Running time | 122 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Rosalie is a 1937 American musical film directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starring Eleanor Powell, Nelson Eddy and Frank Morgan. An adaptation of the 1928 stage musical of the same name, the film was released in December 1937. [1] The film follows the story of the musical, but replaces most of the Broadway score with new songs by Cole Porter. The story involves the romantic entanglements of a princess in disguise and a West Point cadet.
Dick Thorpe (Nelson Eddy) is a football star for the Army, and Rosalie (Eleanor Powell), a Vassar student who is also a princess (Princess Rosalie of Romanza) in disguise, watches a football game. They are attracted to each other and agree to meet in her country in Europe. When Dick flies into her country, he is greeted as a hero by the king (Frank Morgan) and finds Rosalie is engaged to marry Prince Paul (Tom Rutherford), who actually is in love with Brenda (Ilona Massey). Dick, not knowing of Prince Paul's affections, leaves the country. The king and his family are forced to leave their troubled country, and Dick and Rosalie are finally reunited at West Point.
MGM's top tap dancer at the time, Eleanor Powell, was cast as the princess opposite Nelson Eddy as cadet Dick Thorpe (Lieutenant Richard Fay in the stage musical). Frank Morgan reprised his Broadway role as King Fredrick (King Cyril in the stage version). Also appearing in the film were Ray Bolger (Bill Delroy), Edna May Oliver (the queen), Ilona Massey (Brenda), Tom Rutherford (Prince Paul), and Reginald Owen (Chancellor). [2] [3] William Anthony McGuire was the producer, with direction by W. S. Van Dyke, cinematography by Oliver Marsh, art direction by Cedric Gibbons, and choreography by Albertina Rasch. [1] [3] Marjorie Lane dubbed the singing voice for Powell. The dance director for the "Cadet routines" was Dave Gould. [4]
To capitalize upon Powell's renown as a dancer, the film was retooled to allow her several showcase musical numbers, one of which is the title number with Powell dancing on top of a giant drum, one of the largest musical sequences ever filmed. [5] Songs included "Who Knows?", "I've a Strange New Rhythm in My Heart", "Rosalie", "In the Still of the Night", and "Spring Love Is in the Air." [2] An excerpt from this scene is included in That's Entertainment! (1974). [6]
The film "resembles the frothy operettas then so much in vogue, which means that Rosalie lacks much of a plot ... he [Porter] managed to compose the memorable 'In the Still of the Night' and 'Who Knows?'." [7]
The reviewer at allmovie.com called the film an "overproduced musical extravaganza", and noted, "The flimsy plot all but collapses under the weight of Gibbons' enormous sets and dance director David Gould's ditto choreography." [8]
Naughty Marietta is a 1935 American musical romance film based on the 1910 operetta of the same name by Victor Herbert. Jeanette MacDonald stars as a princess who flees an arranged marriage. She sails for New Orleans and is rescued from pirates by Captain Richard Warrington.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1948.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1937.
Raymond Wallace Bolger was an American actor, dancer, singer, vaudevillian and stage performer who started in the silent-film era.
Eleanor Torrey Powell was an American dancer and actress. Best remembered for her tap dance numbers in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s, she was one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's top dancing stars during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Powell appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and most prominently, in a series of movie musical vehicles tailored especially to showcase her dance talents, including Born to Dance (1936), Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937), Rosalie (1937), and Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940). She retired from films in the mid-1940s and settled into a career on television hosting a Christian children's show, but resurfaced for the occasional specialty dance scene in films such as Thousands Cheer and eventually headlined a successful nightclub act in Las Vegas. She died from cancer at 69 years of age. Powell is known as one of the most versatile and powerful female dancers of the Hollywood studio era.
Nelson Ackerman Eddy was an American actor and baritone singer who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs. A classically trained baritone, he is best remembered for the eight films in which he costarred with soprano Jeanette MacDonald. He was one of the first "crossover" stars, a superstar appealing both to shrieking bobby soxers and opera purists, and in his heyday, he was the highest paid singer in the world.
That's Entertainment! is a 1974 American compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to celebrate the studio's 50th anniversary. The success of the retrospective prompted a 1976 sequel, the related 1985 film That's Dancing!, and a third installment in 1994.
That's Entertainment! III is a 1994 American documentary film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to celebrate the studio's 70th anniversary. It was the third in a series of retrospectives that began with the first That's Entertainment! (1974) and That's Entertainment, Part II (1976). Although posters and home video packaging use the title without an exclamation mark, the actual on-screen title of the film uses it.
Broadway Melody of 1940 is a 1940 MGM film musical starring Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell and George Murphy. It was directed by Norman Taurog and features music by Cole Porter, including "Begin the Beguine".
Broadway Melody of 1938 is a 1937 American musical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film is essentially a backstage musical revue, featuring high-budget sets and cinematography in the MGM musical tradition. The film stars Eleanor Powell and Robert Taylor and features Buddy Ebsen, George Murphy, Judy Garland, Sophie Tucker, Raymond Walburn, Robert Benchley and Binnie Barnes.
AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars is the American Film Institute's list ranking the top 25 male and 25 female greatest screen legends of American film history and is the second list of the AFI 100 Years... series.
Born to Dance is an American musical film starring Eleanor Powell and James Stewart, directed by Roy Del Ruth and released in 1936 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The score was composed by Cole Porter.
Rosalie is a musical with music by George Gershwin and Sigmund Romberg, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and P.G. Wodehouse, and book by William Anthony McGuire and Guy Bolton. The story tells of a princess from a faraway land who comes to America and falls in love with a West Point Lieutenant.
Queen High is the title of an American pre-Code musical comedy film, produced by Paramount Pictures in 1930. Based upon the 1926 stage musical Queen High that Buddy DeSylva, Lewis Gensler, and Laurence Schwab had adapted from Edward Peple's 1914 farce A Pair of Sixes. The storyline loosely concerns a rivalry between two businessmen that results in a game of poker. Whoever loses the game becomes the winner's servant for a year.
Gold Diggers of 1935 is an American musical film directed and choreographed by Busby Berkeley, and starring Dick Powell, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria Stuart and Alice Brady. Winifred Shaw, Hugh Herbert and Glenda Farrell are also featured. The songs were written by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics). The film is best known for its famous "Lullaby of Broadway" production number. That song also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Ilona Massey was a Hungarian-American film, stage and radio performer.
Sweethearts is a 1938 American Technicolor musical romance film directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. The screenplay, by Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell, uses the “play within a play” device: a Broadway production of the 1913 Victor Herbert operetta is the setting for another pair of sweethearts, the stars of the show. It was the first color film for Nelson or Jeanette. It was their first film together without uniforms or period costumes.
Albertina Rasch was a naturalized American dancer, company director, and choreographer.
Balalaika is a 1939 American musical romance film based on the 1936 London stage musical of the same name. Produced by Lawrence Weingarten and directed by Reinhold Schunzel, it starred Nelson Eddy and Ilona Massey.
Northwest Outpost is a 1947 American musical film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Nelson Eddy, Ilona Massey and Joseph Schildkraut. The film was Eddy's last, and is an operetta film like his previous starring roles. He was persuaded to make it by Republic Pictures because Rudolf Friml was writing the score. It was well received by critics and had a strong box office performance.