However you look at it, McDonald and Eddy were never given star treatment at MGM. They were a freak accident that jelled, and Louis B. Mayer didn't know what to do with them. You keep waiting for McDonald and Eddy to break out into something memorable like they did in "Naughty Marietta", but it never comes. Maybe it takes a little longer to associate yourself with the songs from Rose Marie, but likely the songs are just too unapproachable to "mainstream" audiences -- light opera not being something you hear every day.
MGM would not find appropriate vehicles for these stars because Louis B. Mayer got involved in their personal lives, dooming their professional alliance to a scattering of films which could have been dramatically improved with the right assistance. Instead, the McDonald-Eddy movies were put on the second burner and were deliberately sabotaged. Still, this could not put out the flame. It begs the overarching question: If MGM had really made a McDonald/Eddy musical, and pulled out all the stops -- what would we have today from Hollywood's Golden Age?
McDonald and Eddy deserved star treatment and a powerful no-holds barred musical vehicle. So did we.
MGM would not find appropriate vehicles for these stars because Louis B. Mayer got involved in their personal lives, dooming their professional alliance to a scattering of films which could have been dramatically improved with the right assistance. Instead, the McDonald-Eddy movies were put on the second burner and were deliberately sabotaged. Still, this could not put out the flame. It begs the overarching question: If MGM had really made a McDonald/Eddy musical, and pulled out all the stops -- what would we have today from Hollywood's Golden Age?
McDonald and Eddy deserved star treatment and a powerful no-holds barred musical vehicle. So did we.