TCM October 2013 Schedule
Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy aren’t much in evidence this month on TCM! Here’s the only film on the schedule:
Monday, Oct 7, 7:45 AM (Eastern time): Dancing Lady.
Blog
Remembering Geraldine Janezic
Geradine Janezic, pictured above, was a longtime club member and fan. She passed away some time ago and her daughter Joy contacted me earlier this year, asking if we would like her scrapbook. She sent it along with this letter:
I remember meeting Gerry at a few club meetings, mostly in Ohio and the midwest area, and we stayed in touch with letters and an occasional phone call. She was a bubbly, enthusiastic person, always excited at hearing the latest Nelson and Jeanette news. I recall one particular meeting that Dorothy Dillard attended as a guest, after the initial publication of my book Sweethearts. Dorothy, my source of the Isabel Eddy letters, was from Detroit but attended several east coast meetings around that time. Back in their heyday, Dorothy of course attended many of Nelson’s and Jeanette’s concerts, club gatherings (as they followed the singers around on tour) and film screenings. Imagine their surprise when Dorothy recognized Gerry and vice versa, though it had been many years since they’d last seen each other! I was so happy to see that for them, the story had come full circle and they were able to openly discuss what had been forbidden to speak about in the fan clubs of their youth.
Joy sent us her mom’s scrapbook and I’m happy to say that there are some interesting photos and clippings in it that I have not previously seen. We will be photographing them and using them in upcoming magazines, so all will share in enjoying them.
I asked Joy to do a writeup about her mom and to email me a photo, which she kindly did. (See above.) Below is her email to me:
Hi Sharon,
Wrote a little about my mom, Geraldine Janezic.
Gerry was 12 years old when she heard Nelson Eddy on the radio for the first time. In her own words, she said “I fell madly in love with his voice!”
Staying to watch Naughty Marietta four times in a row at the theater, she became fascinated with their movies. As years went by, nothing made her happier than finding the movies scheduled on TCM. She would often write to different TV stations requesting that their movies be shown.
Even though she owned many on DVD, She’d still get up at the crack of dawn to watch on TV. She’d always say “I like knowing other people are watching the same time as me!”
Her love of the singing sweethearts continued throughout her life. When she received her first Mac/Eddy Today magazine, It was her dream come true. She was forever grateful for this wonderful tribute to them and truly treasured every issue.
As her daughter, I want to thank the club for making my mom’s world a happier place.
Sincerely,
Joy Rico
Thank you, Joy, for your thoughtfulness, and for sharing with our group. Our condolences and best wishes to you and your family.
Remembering Marilyn Edelman, one of our first Mac/Eddy members
I received an email a couple of months ago from Cory Edelman: “My Mother, Marilyn Edelman, was an original and long-time member of the Club and a devoted fan of Jeanette and Nelson. I am sorry to report that she passed away in February 2013.” In a later email, he added, “I’ve attached a recent photo of my Mom. It would be fine to note my Mom’s support of the Club since its inception and her unwavering appreciation of Jeanette and Nelson, her quest for any and all videos of their films and how she enjoyed watching them over and over, never tiring of their being to her the ideal romantic screen couple and of their great musical talents.”
Marilyn was one of our very first club members and for many years she attended our Los Angeles-area meetings. Even in later years, when she was unable to join us for events, we spoke on the phone many times. She always liked to catch up on the latest news and research findings.
Cory kindly donated her collection to us. We are always grateful for such thoughtfulness as complete sets of our magazines are – and will continue to be – donated to various film libraries and museums. Scrapbooks, photos and other memorabilia are so very useful and shared with all our members via the magazines, calendars, website photos, and plain research! Down the road, all of these items will end up in one or more larger donations on behalf of our Mac/Eddy Club. But in the meantime, the materials are shared in our group with those who love Jeanette and Nelson, as Marilyn did.
The very first scrapbook donation, by the way, came to us quite a few years ago from actress Phyllis Kirk, who was afraid her precious Jeanette and Nelson scrapbook would be thrown out by uncaring family members after her death, so she wanted it in safe hands while she was still living.
I want to thank Cory again, and offer him our condolences and best wishes.
Jeanette’s “old lady” Miss Morrison dress worn in “Madame Curie”
Above, Jeanette MacDonald as the old lady in the 1937 film, Maytime.
Thanks to Claudette, one of our Canadian members, for writing in! She caught a glimpse of Jeanette’s “Miss Morrison” dress worn in a third movie, Madame Curie (1943), starring Greer Garson. Coincidence or not, the other film it was used in was another Greer Garson film, Blossoms in the Dust (1941).
In Madame Curie, you can see the dress about two minutes into the film, at a party hosted by an elderly professor (played by Albert Bassermann). His onscreen granddaughters, two adorable young twin girls, attempt to serve Walter Pidgeon some coffee or tea, and a moment later the professor’s wife rushes over – in Jeanette’s dress. (Trivia note: the woman wearing the dress is Elsa Bassermann. She was married in real life to her onscreen professor husband, Albert Bassermann, probably better known to you as Van Meer in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 Foreign Correspondent.)
Screenshots of the dress in Marie Curie are shown below.
You can also see color photos of the dress from Blossoms in the Dust at this link.
Online auction September 26 of Nelson Eddy’s “Let Freedom Ring” pants
Nelson Eddy’s pants from the film Let Freedom Ring (1939) are up for auction.
A closeup of the pants can be seen in the photo below, as well as the MGM label with a badly-faded name written on it, to show that these were worn by Nelson. But note that on the auction site, the photograph they show does not have Nelson in it!
The auction description: “Nelson Eddy worn trousers from 1939 western and musical film ”Let Freedom Ring”. Tweed trousers bear a Metro Goldwyn Mayer label sewn into the waistband, hand-marked with Eddy’s name. Approximate size 34. Yellowing to waistband interior, else near fine. With MGM wardrobe department tag and a COA from the Gene London Costume Collection.”
Here’s the link to the auction. Good luck to the winner; please email us if you get them!
Jeanette MacDonald’s dress from “The Sun Comes Up.”
Wonderful photo…and it came from a wonderful old-Hollywood blog, Classic Hollywood Beauties. You can see the original and more of Jeanette wearing it at this link.
“The Rosary” now available on Kindle!
The Rosary is the next of our books to be offered as a Kindle book. Of all the proposed projects Jeanette and Nelson considered using for their movie comeback in the late 1940s, The Rosary seems to be tailor-made for them. In our edition, you can read the original novel as well as an introductory chapter with photos and the correspondence that went back and forth between Jeanette and Nelson as they discussed the book and the possibility of their filming it. Also included is the sheet music from the original song and background information and more photos about the novel’s author.
We have the paperback edition on sale (click on the photo above). Plus now you can get and immediately download the ebook at this link. It’s at a low introductory price for those who want to read it on their kindles, iphones, ipads or other smartphones or tablets (you just need to download the free Kindle app). Or download the free Kindle reader on Amazon’s website and download the book to your computer and read it that way!
TCM schedule September 2013
This month on TCM there are no Mac/Eddy films together but at various times during the month they are airing this short subject: MGM Parade Show #22 (1955) Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald perform in a clip from “Maytime”; Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz introduce a clip from “Forever Darling.” Hosted by George Murphy.
On Monday, September 23, two of Jeanette’s films are screening:
6:00 AM eastern: Cairo (1942) (Please note that Nelson does indeed make a cameo appearance; his photo hangs in a movie theater lobby while Jeanette, Robert Young and Ethel Waters are talking!)
8:00 PM eastern: Love Me Tonight (1932)
Also, this month TCM is airing (on Monday and Tuesday evenings) the excellent multi-part documentary, “The Story of Film.” It’s a very interesting overview of the history of worldwide cinema and reminds me very much of my film history classes at UCLA back in the 1970s… What I am enjoying about this current series is that some of the little-known films referred to in the documentary are shown on TCM following the particular episode, which gives you a chance to see some film classics you might have missed before.
I have not seen this documentary before and don’t think it likely that they go into the Jeanette/Nelson films. But at least for the first few episodes dealing with the first few decades of Hollywood history, I think you might find it well worth watching. And who knows, we may learn a few things of interest!
We always knew it…now medical science backs it up!
Listening to music that you love (ie, Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy for folks on this site!) is good for the heart!
This weekend, newspapers around the country were referencing a study of patients with heart problems that showed the following, per MSN news:
It’s not your imagination when music makes you feel better.
A study of 74 heart disease patients seems to indicate that listening to music for at least 30 minutes per day can strengthen the heart and improve recovery. No need to suffer through Beethoven or Celine Dion if that’s not your thing, since all that matters is that the music makes the listener happy. That said, music that increases stress — say, hard-core rap or heavy metal — probably isn’t going to do as much good as opera, classical and other types of uplifting music, which is more likely to stimulate endorphins. Even healthy people can reap the coronary benefits from music, though, and as with heart disease sufferers, adding regular exercise to the mix is going to be a huge boost.
And from the London Telegraph:
The findings, presented at the European Society of Cardiology’s annual congress in Amsterdam, suggested that the release of key hormones while listening to music was behind the changes.
Prof Delijanin Ilic, the lead investigator, from the Institute of Cardiology, University of Nis, Serbia, said: “When we listen to music we like then endorphins are released from the brain and this improves our vascular health. There is no ‘best music’ for everyone – what matters is what the person likes and makes them happy.”
She said other studies examining the impact of music suggested there might be some types of music which were less good for the heart – with heavy metal more likely to raise stress levels, while opera, classical and other types of ‘joyful’ music were more likely to stimulate endorphins.
See? We always knew that our enjoyment of Jeanette and Nelson is good for us, has uplifted us and made us feel better. I can’t tell you how many emails and letters I’ve received over the years from people who experienced personal tragedy, illness or loss and found their way back to a normal life again by watching their films or listening to their music.
The study shows that in the best of all possible worlds, one would listen to their favorite music PLUS do some exercise.
So put on your favorite Mac/Eddy film or CD and get to it! And enjoy 🙂
Three new Mac/Eddy Today compilation books published!
For those of you who collect the early Mac/Eddy Today magazines, we are pre-releasing today the next three volumes. They will be shipping in early May 2014 and in honor of their being published, all the Mac/Eddy Today compilation books are on sale today.
This means that all the magazines are now available either still in original magazines or in the book compilations with their color covers; no more xerox copies needed to complete your collection!
You can click on each book cover above to see the new release. Or see all 15 volumes of books at this link.