Sweethearts - Warner Archive Collection

Unless you're a classic film fanatic like me (and unless, like me, you have a mother who is a mega-fan and began showing you their movies when you were a kid), you probably aren't familiar with Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. Aside from a couple of passing glances in the That's Entertainment! movies, Hollywood's premier singing team hasn't received a whole lot of love over the past half century. The pair made eight enormously successful movies between 1935 and 1942 and cracked the year-end box office top ten a couple of times, but after their highbrow operatic warbling fell out of favor with audiences, MacDonald and Eddy gradually fell into obscurity. Home video largely ignored them; it took forever for their films to come out on DVD, and I was beginning to wonder whether any of their movies would ever merit a Blu-ray release.

Well, at last, Warner Archive has dusted off one of their pictures, restored it to perfection, and now presents it in a glorious high-def edition. Sweethearts isn't their best movie (that honor goes to either Naughty Marietta, Rose Marie, or Maytime), but it certainly is their prettiest. MGM held MacDonald and Eddy in such high esteem, the studio entrusted them with its first full-length Technicolor film. Little expense was spared on the project, which features lavish musical numbers, top-notch production values, gorgeous costumes, and sumptuous cinematography. The plot may be thin, but the script by the acerbic Dorothy Parker and her husband Alan Campbell sparkles with wit, allowing Sweethearts to breeze merrily along.

The music of Sweethearts comes from Victor Herbert's 1913 operetta, but the backstage story was crafted specifically for the film. Broadway stars Gwen Marlowe (MacDonald) and Ernest Lane (Eddy), who are also married, are celebrating a six-year run in the hit musical Sweethearts, and the show's gleeful producer Felix Lehman (Frank Morgan), composer Oscar Engel (Herman Bing), and librettist Leo Kronk (Mischa Auer) hope it will never close. Their money-making enterprise, however, is threatened by the arrival of slick Hollywood talent scout Norman Trumpett (Reginald Gardiner), who wants to sign the popular pair to a movie contract.

Fed up by all the demands on their time, Felix's manipulative machinations, and loads of family interference, Gwen and Ernest impulsively accept Norman's offer and look forward to a glamorous, leisurely life in the California sun. Their decision prompts the apoplectic Felix, Oscar, and Leo to hatch a plot to foil the deal. Believing Hollywood only wants Gwen and Ernest as a package, the trio conspires to break the couple up by leading Gwen to believe Ernest is having an affair with their personal secretary Kay Jordan (Florence Rice). Gwen takes the bait, goes ballistic, and turns everyone's lives upside down.

Sweethearts was the fifth MacDonald-Eddy picture, but the first to showcase the stars in a truly contemporary environment. Both adapt well to the change and the Technicolor photography enhances the modern vibe. MacDonald, at times, seems to channel screwball actress Carole Lombard in her spirited portrayal of a stage diva, while Eddy, free of cumbersome period costumes and military uniforms, seems more relaxed and carefree than in their other films. Their singing, of course, is sublime. Eddy's baritone especially resonates, but the purity of MacDonald's soprano is a thing of beauty as well. Whether duetting or singing solo, both performers prove why they captivated the public for so many years...and made my mother (who turns 100 next month and still reveres them) a lifelong fan.

The supporting cast is a hoot and enlivens the proceedings with their zany antics. Morgan leads the charge with a typically frenetic, scatterbrained performance. The bombastic Bing, the always sly and adroit Auer, and the sneering Gardiner also score big points, while Ray Bolger supplies some tiptop tap dancing and Lucile Watson, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart, and child actor Terry Kilburn (fresh from his turn as Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol) serve up more hilarity as Gwen and Ernest's eccentric family members.

W.S. Van Dyke directed four of the eight MacDonald-Eddy films (Robert Z. Leonard helmed the other four), but is never given enough credit for the duo's success. Known as "one-take Woody," Van Dyke's efficiency often overshadowed his artistry, which is on full display in Sweethearts. Directing MGM's first Technicolor feature was likely no easy task, but Van Dyke delivers a polished product that brims with vitality, creativity, and the kind of joie de vivre only Golden Age Hollywood musicals can produce.

Hopefully, Warner Archive has more MacDonald-Eddy movies in the Blu-ray pipeline, because the duo deserves their proper due after all these years. Until then, though, we can appreciate Sweethearts, which is buoyant, tuneful, boisterous, and - as Jeanette and Nelson sing in the film - "pretty as a picture."

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Sweethearts arrives on Blu-ray packaged in a standard case. Video codec is 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 and audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono. Once the disc is inserted into the player, the static menu without music immediately pops up; no previews or promos precede it.

I keep running out of superlatives. Warner Archive delivers and delivers and delivers on its classic movie transfers, but one area where the label is head and shoulders above everyone else is Technicolor. I don't know how they do it, but their Technicolor transfers are in a class of their own and Sweethearts is the latest title to join the ranks. The first full-length Technicolor picture MGM ever produced looks at least as good it surely did upon its premiere 87 years ago, thanks to a brand new HD master struck from a 4K scan of the Technicolor master positives. The 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer boasts exceptional clarity and contrast and just enough grain to faithfully honor the breathtaking cinematography of Allen M. Davey and Oliver T. Marsh, both of whom won honorary Oscars for Sweethearts's color photography. (Sadly, Marsh would die three years later at the tender age of 49 and Davey would pass away in 1946 at age 51.)

And color is what this transfer is all about. Every rainbow hue is represented. From primaries to pastels, each one excites the senses, yet never looks over-saturated. The gradations of green, purple, yellow, and blue are both subtle and striking and the bold reds truly pop. (It's obvious that showing off Technicolor's splendor was at the forefront of the filmmakers' minds as they mounted Sweethearts.) Blacks are inky, the bright whites never bloom, and flesh tones appear natural (if you can ignore the insane amount of rouge applied to MacDonald's cheeks) and remain stable throughout.

Close-ups are appropriately glamorous (although the sharpness does accentuate some lines around MacDonald's eyes), the numerous and ambitious process shots that comprise a striking montage late in the film are clean, and any print damage has been painstakingly erased. Early three-strip Technicolor is tricky to properly restore, but the technical team at Warner Archive has done a magnificent job bringing it back to life. This is truly a humdinger of a transfer!

Sweethearts earned an Oscar nod for Best Sound Recording and this remastered DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track honors its pedigree, delivering truly exceptional sound. Factor in that the audio is almost 90 years old and chock full of operetta numbers and the presentation is even more impressive. Fidelity is quite good, with a wide dynamic scale handling all of MacDonald's high Cs and Eddy's robust baritone without any distortion. The lush, Oscar-nominated orchestrations by Herbert Stothart also fare well and Bolger's tapping is crisp. All the dialogue and song lyrics are easy to comprehend and no age-related surface noise muddies the mix.

Several vintage supplements add luster to this high-quality release.

• Pre-Recording Session Material (18 minutes) - It's extras like these that set Warner Archive apart from other labels. Several takes of various songs are included, providing a feel for what it was like to be in the recording studio with MacDonald and Eddy.
• Radio Adaptation (30 minutes) - Eight years after Sweethearts premiered and four years after MacDonald and Eddy departed from MGM, the pair reunited for this 1946 radio adaptation. The fact that there isn't very much plot in Sweethearts allows this severely truncated adaptation to remain relatively faithful to the film.
• Vintage Short Excerpt: Pirate Party on Catalina Isle (SD, 3 minutes) - I'm not sure why only a portion of this two-reel Technicolor short is included (is it possible that's all the footage that remains?), but it's a treat to spot cameos of some of Hollywood's biggest stars in this bit of silliness from 1935. Cary Grant, Randolph Scott, Errol Flynn, Lili Damita, and a young Mickey Rooney are a few of the famous faces that briefly pop up on screen.
• Vintage Cartoon: Count Me Out (HD, 7 minutes) - This 1938 Looney Tunes short features the voice talents of Mel Blanc and Tex Avery in the tale of a man who hopes to gain confidence and virility by learning how to box.
• Vintage Cartoon: Love and Curses (HD, 8 minutes) - Another 1938 Looney Tunes short, this cartoon salutes "the Gay '90s" as it chronicles a couple's encounter with a dastardly villain.
• Theatrical Trailer (SD, 4 minutes)

Sweethearts gives Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy a chance to kick up their heels in a contemporary comedy and sing some beautiful Victor Herbert melodies. Wrapped up in a sumptuous Technicolor bow, this delightful production has been lovingly restored by Warner Archive. A brand new 4K scan of the Technicolor master positives, remastered audio, and several vintage supplements make this a sweetheart release of a long-neglected classic. Highly Recommended.
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