Rosalie (1937 film)

Rosalie is a 1937 American musical film directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starring Eleanor Powell, Nelson Eddy and Frank Morgan. An adaptation of the 1928 stage musical of the same name, the film was released in December 1937. The film follows the story of the musical, but replaces most of the Broadway score with new songs by Cole Porter. The story involves the romantic entanglements of a princess in disguise and a West Point cadet.

Plot
Dick Thorpe (Nelson Eddy) is a football star for the Army, and Rosalie (Eleanor Powell), a Vassar student who is also a princess (Princess Rosalie of Romanza) in disguise, watches a football game. They are attracted to each other and agree to meet in her country in Europe. When Dick flies into her country, he is greeted as a hero by the king (Frank Morgan) and finds Rosalie is engaged to marry Prince Paul (Tom Rutherford), who actually is in love with Brenda (Ilona Massey). Dick, not knowing of Prince Paul's affections, leaves the country. The king and his family are forced to leave their troubled country, and Dick and Rosalie are finally reunited at West Point.

Cast

 * Nelson Eddy as Dick Thorpe
 * Eleanor Powell as Rosalie
 * Frank Morgan as King
 * Edna May Oliver as Queen
 * Ray Bolger as Bill Delroy
 * Ilona Massey as Brenda
 * Billy Gilbert as Oloff
 * Reginald Owen as Chancellor
 * Tom Rutherford as Prince Paul
 * Clay Clement as Captain Banner
 * Virginia Grey as Mary Callahan
 * George Zucco as General Maroff
 * Oscar O'Shea as Mr. Callahan
 * Jerry Colonna as Joseph
 * Janet Beecher as Miss Baker
 * Tommy Bond as Mickey the Mascot

Reception
On December 31, 1937, Frank Nugent reviewed the film for The New York Times: “Deploying its formidable phalanxes of talent…in one of the most pretentious demonstrations of sheer mass and weight since the last Navy games, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer brings forth…"Rosalie"…. Eleanor Powell tap dances… among sets entirely divorced from reality, Nelson Eddy sings as well and as inopportunely as could be imagined, and expensive secondary people…try to compensate with personal mannerisms for all the bright things the dialogue and action fail to say or do… Ray Bolger bolges, sometimes amusingly, sometimes not. Frank Morgan, a ventriloquist-king, trots out the whole inventory of Morganantics. Edna May Oliver is more severely regal than any reigning queen would dare to be nowadays. Billy Gilbert is reduced to his most cataclysmic sneezes. Miss Powell dances, smiles, sings… is brought in on the top of a cake, while Mr. Eddy, meanwhile, sings, flies a plane across the Atlantic, returns to West Point..sings, looks handsome in a cadet uniform, and at last marries Miss Powell at a wedding comparable in size and attendance to the last Olympic meet. All this is not to deny to "Rosalie" the purely economic distinction of being a great deal of show for the money; it is, in fact, too much show,.. In sheer length, breadth, weight and thickness, it is wearying, and even if all of it were good (which it isn't) still, there might be some point in protesting at such an unholy surfeit.”

In 2005, music historians William H. Young and Nancy K. Young observed that the film "resembles the frothy operettas then so much in vogue, which means that Rosalie lacks much of a plot ... he [Porter] managed to compose the memorable 'In the Still of the Night' and 'Who Knows?'."

The reviewer at allmovie.com calls the film an "overproduced musical extravaganza", and noted, "The flimsy plot all but collapses under the weight of Gibbons' enormous sets and dance director David Gould's ditto choreography."

The film was popular, earning $1,946,000 domestically and $933,000 foreign, but because of its high cost, incurred a loss of $175,000.

Production
MGM's top tap dancer at the time, Eleanor Powell, was cast as the princess opposite Nelson Eddy as cadet Dick Thorpe (Lieutenant Richard Fay in the stage musical). Frank Morgan reprised his Broadway role as King Fredrick (King Cyril in the stage version). Also appearing in the film were Ray Bolger (Bill Delroy), Edna May Oliver (the queen), Ilona Massey (Brenda), Tom Rutherford (Prince Paul), and Reginald Owen (Chancellor). William Anthony McGuire was the producer, with direction by W. S. Van Dyke, cinematography by Oliver Marsh, art direction by Cedric Gibbons, and choreography by Albertina Rasch. Marjorie Lane dubbed the singing voice for Powell. The dance director for the "Cadet routines" was Dave Gould.

To capitalize upon Powell's renown as a dancer, the film was retooled to allow her several showcase musical numbers, one of which is the title number with Powell dancing on top of a giant drum, one of the largest musical sequences ever filmed. Songs included "Who Knows?", "I've a Strange New Rhythm in My Heart", "Rosalie", "In the Still of the Night", and "Spring Love Is in the Air." An excerpt from this scene is included in That's Entertainment! (1974).

Songs

 * 1) "Who Knows?" - Dick
 * 2) "I've a Strange New Rhythm in My Heart" - Rosalie
 * 3) "Rosalie" - Dick
 * 4) "Why Should I Care?" - King Frederic
 * 5) "Spring Love is in the Air" - Brenda
 * 6) "Close" [instrumental]
 * 7) "In the Still of the Night" - Dick
 * 8) "It's All Over But the Shouting" - Dick
 * 9) "To Love or Not to Love" - Dick