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 Dustat this link.
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!
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 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!
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!
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.
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 🙂
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.
Jeanette MacDonald recommended that this recipe be served with her Baked Beans.
Jeanette MacDonald’s Hot Boston Brown Bread
2 cups sour milk
1/2 cup molasses
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 cup graham or whole wheat flour
1 cup rye flour
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup raisins
Combine dry ingredients. Mix together milk, molasses and raisins. Stir liquid ingredients into dry ingredients. Divide batter, pour into two buttered one-quart pudding molds filling 2/3 full. Cover tightly. Place in pan filled with boiling water (enough water to reach halfway up the mold.) Steam about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Add more water as needed to keep water at proper level. Remove molds from water. Undercover and set in 300 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 20-30 minutes to dry off. Remove from molds and serve hot with butter.
Updated August 2013! Maytime and other titles now available for instant streaming!
Here comes the next generation of high-tech!
At amazon.com you can now purchase and instantly download the last Jeanette MacDonald-Nelson Eddy MGM film, “I Married an Angel.” Amazon Instant Video allows you to download the movie to two devices.
There now are several ways to enable instant streaming right onto your television, as long as said gadget enables Amazon streaming. Or, with a proper HDMI cable – and depending on whether you download to a smart phone, an iPad or other kind of tablet (or laptop) you also have the option of plugging the cable in from your device into a television or monitor and watching it directly on your “big screen”!
Maytime is now also available and the direct link for it is here.
A few of the solo films are also available for instant download; you can see the updated list of everything that’s available at this link.
