I guess in Hollywood's mind, when an angel commits the pleasures of the flesh (if that is possible), then they are going to loose their wings. And in the case of Jeanette MacDonald's angel here, she looses her wings twice: one a cardboard costume piece, the other one a feathered version which appears to be the real thing. MacDonald is a secretary in the bank run by wealthy Nelson Eddy who is invited to his birthday party and given a cheap looking costume obviously meant to embarrass her for giving fresh flowers to him every day by his jealous head secretary. She makes an awkward entrance to hoards of laughter by the snobbish ladies all decked out in their finery, but her innocence is bound to capture the handsome Eddy who for some reason dreams of her appearing to him as a real angel rather than the more sophisticated females who made fun of the lady.
The opening of the party sequence is highlighted by a lavish "Ziegeld Follies" style production number where all of the wanna-be brides of the very single Eddy sing and dance in order to get his attention. Then, his sister (an outrageous Binnie Barnes) makes her entrance, and you see where the film intends to move into tongue-in-cheek in the dream sequence. This is fluff of the highest nature, and MGM goes overboard to give its war weary audiences something to sink their eyes into so they can forget about the issues of the day.
An angel cannot tell a lie, we hear, and MacDonald's is no different than any other every day ordinary angel. "My husband and I are arguing over whether or not this dress makes me look fat", a stout party guest tells her. "The dress doesn't make you look fat. You are fat.", she tells the guest, turning the woman's smile into a shocked sneer. That's just the beginning as she reveals certain infidelities and other secrets that only an angel would know. This gains the amusement of one of Eddy's biggest stockholders (Douglas Dumbrille) and sets up the film for its only really serious plot as Eddy and MacDonald are separated as his bank is put in jeopardy by Dumbrille's threats to destroy him.
Probably the lightest in atmosphere for the MacDonald/Eddy pairings, this is an underrated finale to their 7 year teaming. The chance to hear MacDonald singing a bit from "Carmen" is the highlight of a sequence where Eddy witnesses MacDonald heading all over the world with the scoundrel Dumbrille and realizes just what she has come to mean to him. W.S. Van Dyke, as with previous entries in the series, presents a lavish atmosphere, yet made more lighthearted with the comical storyline that is all fluff and yet delicious to look at.
The opening of the party sequence is highlighted by a lavish "Ziegeld Follies" style production number where all of the wanna-be brides of the very single Eddy sing and dance in order to get his attention. Then, his sister (an outrageous Binnie Barnes) makes her entrance, and you see where the film intends to move into tongue-in-cheek in the dream sequence. This is fluff of the highest nature, and MGM goes overboard to give its war weary audiences something to sink their eyes into so they can forget about the issues of the day.
An angel cannot tell a lie, we hear, and MacDonald's is no different than any other every day ordinary angel. "My husband and I are arguing over whether or not this dress makes me look fat", a stout party guest tells her. "The dress doesn't make you look fat. You are fat.", she tells the guest, turning the woman's smile into a shocked sneer. That's just the beginning as she reveals certain infidelities and other secrets that only an angel would know. This gains the amusement of one of Eddy's biggest stockholders (Douglas Dumbrille) and sets up the film for its only really serious plot as Eddy and MacDonald are separated as his bank is put in jeopardy by Dumbrille's threats to destroy him.
Probably the lightest in atmosphere for the MacDonald/Eddy pairings, this is an underrated finale to their 7 year teaming. The chance to hear MacDonald singing a bit from "Carmen" is the highlight of a sequence where Eddy witnesses MacDonald heading all over the world with the scoundrel Dumbrille and realizes just what she has come to mean to him. W.S. Van Dyke, as with previous entries in the series, presents a lavish atmosphere, yet made more lighthearted with the comical storyline that is all fluff and yet delicious to look at.