Maytime (1937 film)
| Maytime | |
|---|---|
Original film poster
|
|
| Directed by | Robert Z. Leonard |
| Produced by | Robert Z. Leonard Hunt Stromberg Gregor Rabinovitch (uncredited) |
| Written by |
Noel Langley Claudine West (treatment) |
| Based on |
Maytime 1917 operetta by Rida Johnson Young |
| Starring |
Jeanette MacDonald Nelson Eddy John Barrymore |
| Music by |
Herbert Stothart Edward Ward |
| Cinematography | Oliver T. Marsh |
| Edited by | Conrad A. Nervig |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
132 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,126,000 |
| Box office | $2,183,000 (Domestic earnings) $1,823,000 (Foreign earnings) |
Maytime is a 1937 American musical romantic drama film distributed by MGM. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard and stars 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 Noël 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.
At a small town May Day celebration, elderly Miss Morrison (Jeanette MacDonald) tries to console her young friend Kip (Tom Brown), whose sweetheart Barbara (Lynne Carver) has been offered a job on the operatic stage. Later, Barbara goes for comfort to Miss Morrison, who reveals that years ago she was the internationally famous opera diva Marcia Mornay. Miss Morrison then relates her story: Marcia, a young American singer in Paris, is guided to success by famed but stern voice teacher Nicolai Nazaroff (John Barrymore), who introduces her at the court of Louis Napoleon.
That night, Nicolai proposes to Marcia and she accepts, even though they both know that she is not in love with him. Later, feeling restless, Marcia takes a ride, and is stranded in the Latin Quarter when her driver's horse runs away. In a tavern, she meets American student Paul Allison (Nelson Eddy), who is also a singer, but not as ambitious as Marcia. Though they are attracted to each other, she at first refuses to see him again out of loyalty to Nicolai, but soon promises to lunch with him the next day. They enjoy their lunch together, but Marcia again says that they can no longer see each other and leaves. Paul then steals tickets to see her perform in the opera Les Huguenots that evening, and after he is thrown out of his seat by the manager, he goes to her dressing room and only leaves when she promises to join him at St. Cloud for a May Day celebration. During the celebration, Paul tells her he loves her, but she says that she owes Nicolai too much and could never break a promise to him. They then part after vowing always to remember their day together.
...
Wikipedia