Want to see Jeanette MacDonald’s “old lady” Miss Morrison “Maytime” dress in color?
Ever wonder what happened to the dress that Jeanette wore as the elderly “Miss Morrison” in the movie Maytime?
It is not one that has shown up at MGM costume auctions. But thanks to Darryl Winston‘s sharp eye, we know that this dress was recycled for another MGM film, 1941’s Blossom in the Dust. This was a prestigious Technicolor film starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. The movie was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Color and Cinematography; it won for Best Art Direction.
This time the dress was worn by character actress Cecil Cunningham. 
Here’s a closer look at Jeanette wearing the dress and then Cecil Cunningham.
We don’t know the fate of the dress after that film or whether it was recycled for use in yet another MGM film.
Interestingly enough, Ms. Cunningham’s path crossed with Jeanette in some of their films. Cunningham had an uncredited part as a Society Woman in the “Impulses” segment of Paramount on Parade (a 1930 film from which Jeanette’s scene was cut). Cunningham also was an uncredited Laundress in Love Me Tonight (1932), the Governor’s wife in New Moon (1940), Mrs. Herbert Fairmind in I Married an Angel, and Mme. Larga in Cairo (1942). Her height was noted as 5’8″ but remember that that 5’5″ Jeanette was padded and wore heavy weights to better portray the old woman.
Thanks, Darryl!
Here’s a black-and-white still from the movie showing Cecil Cunningham in the dress along with Felix Bressart and Greer Garson.
It is unusual for a Hollywood star to come forward and publicly support the Jeanette MacDonald-Nelson Eddy love affair…as Joanne Woodward has done in recent years.
PS: Back in the day, Debbie Reynolds and Jane Withers were the only two Hollywood stars pushing for a permanent Hollywood museum. They put endless money, work, love and care into preserving the film industry’s heritage and memorabilia. (Ms. Withers told me that the only reason she continued to work in the 1970s and ’80s was to pay for all the storage units housing her collection.) Both women finally had to give up on the idea. Debbie Reynolds auctioned off much of her extensive collection in 2011. She is to be commended for trying so hard for so many years to preserve a precious chunk of 20th century American history.