Nice mention of “Naughty Marietta”

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by Steven Uhles, Augusta Chronicle

It’s rare that there isn’t some princess action happening at my house. I am the father of a 4-year-old, and, like so many children of her gender and age, she has a thing for princesses. For the most part, this manifests itself in the expected Disney ways, with a well-worn copy of Cinderella getting a lot of DVD play. It’s also a current career choice, although in all fairness, it receives stiff competition from dentistry and rock star.

Still, give the girl a tiara, flouncy gown and a ball to wear them to, and she’ll be happy.

So, in honor of the little Princess Uhles, I’d like to present the following list of princess films, nary a one produced by the Mouse House. That would be too easy.

ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953): Although it might be argued that Gregory Peck is playing Cary Grant in this film, there are charm and chemistry between him as an American newsman in Rome and Audrey Hepburn as a princess on the lam.

THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1940): This special effects spectacular has aged much better than the later Disney version. Sabu stars as the thief; Conrad Veidt chews scenery as the villain Jaffar; and, in the all-important princess role, the rarely seen June Duprez, who retired from film in the late 1940s.

THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1937): Part swashbuckler, part romantic comedy and part Prince and the Pauper rehash, this immensely enjoyable movie about a prince pretender and the royal to whom he is falsely engaged is the very lightest sort of Saturday matinee treat. Ronald Colman stars as both the real and pretender prince, and the lovely Madeleine Carroll stars as Princess Flavia, who begins to uncover the truth behind the deception.

THE SWAN (1956): MGM celebrated the engagement of Grace Kelly to Monaco’s Prince Rainier by resurrecting an old script about a young princess in love for the soon-to-be-royal actress to star in. This is neither Ms. Kelly’s finest role nor film, but given the historical perspective that surrounds it, it’s a lot of fun.

NAUGHTY MARIETTA (1935): In this Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy vehicle, the princess in question hops a slow boat to New Orleans to escape an undesired marriage. In the Big Easy, she finds herself falling for the mercenary who saved her from pirates. Awkward. In true MacDonald/Eddy fashion, all problems are resolved with the aid of a heartfelt ballad, in this case the classic Sweet Mystery of Life .

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Nelson Eddy mentioned as one of 18 famous people who died onstage…

Would you  die for your career? Many entertainers passed away while doing what they do best. Some died on stage, some on the screen, they ensured their legacy will live on.

“Dimebag” Darryl Abbot – Murdered December 9, 2004 when an overzealous Pantera fan shot him onstage while he was  performing with his new band, Damageplan.
Guiseppe Sinopoli – Died of a heart attack in Berlin while conducting an orchestra in 2001.
Grover Washington, Jr. – Died on the set of “The Saturday Early Show” of a heart attack in 1999.
Mark Sandman – The lead  singer of Morphine had a heart attack and died onstage on July 5, 1999.
Johnny “Guitar” Watson – Had a  heart attack onstage in Yokohama in 1996.
Redd Foxx – Suffered a heart attack while  filming for his sitcom in 1991.
Steve Irwin – “Crocodile  Hunter” who died after getting too close to a stingray while filming in 2006.
Owen Hart – Professional Wrestler who died in a stunt gone wrong in 1999.
Tiny Tim – Had a heart attack and died onstage in Minneapolis in 1996.
Brandon Lee – Died after after a prop gun misfired while filming “The Crow” in 1993.
Jon- Erik Hexum – Died while clowning around on the set of “Cover Up” when he put a prop gun to his head and pulled the trigger.
Vic Morrow – Killed along with two children while filming “The Twilight Zone” move in 1982.
Irene Ryan – The former star of the “Beverly Hillbillies” died of a stroke while giving a theater performance in 1973.
Nelson Eddy – Died of a stroke while on stage in Miami in 1967.
Leonard Warren – Died onstage at the Metroplitan Opera House in 1960.
Tyrone Powers – Died while fencing on the set of his movie “Solomon and Sheba” in 1958.
Johnny Ace – A blues singer who lost a game of Russian Roulette onstage in 1954.
Moliere – The  famed French playwright died onstage while performing

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Oh, dear! “Entertainment Weekly” mag mentions Nelson Eddy…in an Adam Sandler movie review!

While I’m usually glad to see the names of Nelson Eddy or Jeanette MacDonald mentioned in the current press, the mention in the movie review for Adam Sandler’s “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” pokes fun at the Mountie image:

(Entertainment Weekly) — Back in his Monty Python days, Michael Palin triumphed as a violence-prone barber who hates cutting hair and dreams of becoming a lumberjack — a lumberjack who dresses in women’s clothing.

Zohan

In “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan,” Adam Sandler plays an Israeli commando who becomes a New York hairstylist.


The constantly surprising sketch brimmed with anarchic references to “Psycho,” mother-and-son psychology, cross-dressing, 1930s movie musicals featuring manly Nelson Eddy as a crooning Royal Canadian Mountie, British on-the-surface propriety and conservatism, British beneath-the-surface kinkiness, and the increasing presence of sexual content on television in the swinging 1960s — all in a fluid seven minutes…

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