Based on the 1910 opera of the same name, Naughty Marietta is one of those films where the music has become more famous than the film itself. We find bits of it in films and television, including Young Frankenstein and Bananas, where the soundtrack was used to torture a political prisoner. The music is a major selling point for revisiting this film that is now more than ninety years old. The same cannot be said for the plot, which is cute but cliché. It does, however, bring together Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy for the first of eight musical films. This duo would become known as America’s Singing Sweethearts and would appear together in film nearly every year between 1935 and 1942.
It is easy to see why, too. These two not only had chemistry on screen but they also have powerful singing voices that complemented each other well. You can see this in action during a late scene at an engagement when Jeanette is invited to sing for the guests only to be joined mid-song by Nelson. The voices complement each other, and the heat of the moment is palpable. Studio executives at MGM saw and recognized this and made sure to capitalize on it as much as possible.
Jeanette is playing Princess Marie de Namour de la Bonfain, a young woman being forced into an arranged marriage to an elderly Spanish duke, Don Carlos (Walter Kingsford). To escape this fate, she masquerades as her uncle’s former servant, Marietta, who was planning on taking a ship to New Orleans as one of the casquette girls who travel to America to marry French colonists. The real Marietta stays behind to marry the man she loves but assumed she could never marry because both were very poor; Marie’s arrangement changes that. It doesn’t take long for Marie’s uncle to discover what has happened, and another ship is dispatched to New Orleans to capture her and return her to Don Carlos.
Marie, now known as Marietta, makes it clear early on in the voyage that she has no intention of marrying once they reach New Orleans, something that puzzles the other women since this is the whole point of the voyage. This trip, sponsored by the French government, is for that sole purpose only, and women who don’t marry are expected to be shipped back home in short order. Shortly before the ship is due to arrive at port, it is sieged by pirates, the crew killed, and the women taken captive. Through a combination of luck and Marietta’s actions, mercenaries, led by Captain Richard Warrington (Nelson Eddy), rout the pirates and rescue the women, taking them the rest of the way to New Orleans.
Once there, the women are welcomed by the governor, Gaspard d’Annard (Frank Morgan) and his wife (Elsa Lanchester), and Marietta is almost recognized by him from his time in France. Marietta reemphasizes that she doesn’t wish to marry but is reminded again that marriage is a condition for her trip there. Warrington reappears, finding her a place to stay while chasing off potential suitors. Shortly afterwards, a large reward is offered for information on her whereabouts. She disappears before he can approach her again, wishing to avoid him and any questions about her past, made up or otherwise. But this being a love story, it isn’t long before he finds her again, and she starts to give in to his charms. But the arrival of her uncle and Don Carlos puts Warrington’s safety in danger, and she must make a difficult decision that will determine both of their futures, either together or forever apart.
The film is called Naughty Marietta, but it doesn’t give us a clear indication why. Is she naughty for running away from an arranged marriage that she wants no part of? Is she naughty because she lies about who she is to get away? Or maybe it is in reference to the disreputable past she invents to avoid the governor’s probing questions about who she really is. A lot of this story was dropped in the translation from stage to film, and this was more clear in the earlier version.
Jeanette MacDonald is a real gem in this role. This is a far more interesting character than the opera singer she would play the following year in San Francisco. There is more for her to do here to establish a character than in that later film. Still, though, this is an underwritten character with a basic motivation that becomes the drive of the picture. She’s not a stereotypical spoiled little rich girl running away from her obligations. We see that in her opening scene when she is buying a puppy, then offers to buy a little girl one, too. This shows that she doesn’t just think about herself but is mindful of those around her as well.
It would be easy to judge her actions in regard to the real Marietta as being in her own self-interest, but that is judging her too harshly. She knows enough about Marietta to know that the woman traveling to New Orleans would be leaving behind the man she wants to marry in order to do it. This shows that she cares enough about those under her to learn about their lives outside of the palace. She may have used this information to achieve her own goals, but she also makes sure that Marietta gets what she really wants in return, too. This is not entirely a selfish act but one that is mutually beneficial to both women. It is important to understand this distinction in order to be fully on her side when she initially escapes.
We also see that she is actually drawn to Warrington when she first meets him. His singing among the men impresses her, but she is still in the state of mind that she is not going to get married, so, despite her attraction, she shuts it down and tries to push him away. Her way of doing so is overly dramatic and isn’t fooling anyone, least of all Warrington, but, in her mind, she must try. By the time we get to the finale, she is trying to make the sacrifice of agreeing to marry Don Carlos in order to spare Warrington’s life. This, of course, fails, too.
The ending of the film is not a conventional one. There is this stereotypical Hollywood fairy tale ending we come to expect where the two lovers get married and live happily ever after in the castle, all their dreams coming true. That doesn’t happen here. The life these two lovers choose will be a hard one, one full of plight and dangers. They get what they want, each other, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a happily ever after.
This film plays like the opera it is based on, including the highly precise and melodic musical performances. But it has been simplified to the point that it loses a lot of the flavor that the opera had. Some of that was inevitable; this is a pre-code film but it still had to adhere to certain rules to get made. Other things are removed just for the sake of time. This makes it a little weak in certain areas, pared down to the bare bones of the story. It’s an eminently watchable film, especially for the leads, but it isn’t a great representation of the source material.
Academy Award Nominations:
Outstanding Production: Hunt Stromberg
Best Sound Recording: Douglas Shearer (won)
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Release Date: March 29, 1935
Running Time: 103 Minutes
Not Rated
Starring: Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Frank Morgan, and Douglas Dumbrille
Directed by: Robert Z. Leonard and W.S. Van Dyke
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