Singing Mounties and High Notes in Rose-Marie (1936)

If you aren't into people randomly bursting into song while hiking through the woods, you should probably skip this one. It is definitely for people who miss when movies were sincere and maybe a little bit silly.

Jeanette MacDonald plays an opera singer who goes into the Canadian wilderness to find her brother. The brother is played by a very young James Stewart, which is honestly weird to see.

He is a fugitive on the run, and she is trying to save him before the law catches up. Then she meets Nelson Eddy, who is a Mountie.

He is also looking for her brother, but she doesn't know that yet. They spend a lot of time singing at each other in the great outdoors.

Indian Love Call is the big song here. It is the one where they do the "oo-oo-oo-oo" thing that everyone used to parody.

It is actually kind of catchy in a way that gets stuck in your head for days. I found myself humming it while making coffee this morning, which was annoying.

The scenery looks great for 1936. It feels big and open, even if some of the rocks look a bit like they are made of painted plaster.

Nelson Eddy is... very stiff. He stands like he has swallowed a flagpole and forgot to take it out.

But his voice is incredible. He sounds like he could knock a tree over just by hitting a high note in that red uniform.

Jeanette MacDonald is much more expressive. Sometimes she is a bit too much, with the wide eyes and the constant gasping for air.

There is a scene where she is trying to act "tough" in a local bar. It is hilarious because she clearly has never been in a dive bar in her entire life.

She wears these fancy clothes that somehow stay perfectly clean in the dirt. I wish my laundry looked that good after a ten-minute walk.

Wait, let's talk about Jimmy Stewart again. He is only in it for a few minutes, mostly looking sweaty and panicked.

He looks like a scared kid. It's a far cry from the roles he played in things like Redemption or his later classics, but you can see that nervous energy starting to form.

The plot moves along at a decent clip. It doesn't feel as long as it actually is, which is a blessing for an old musical.

Some of the "scary" moments with the outlaws feel a bit tame now. Like, they are supposed to be dangerous, but they still seem mostly polite.

I noticed one extra in the background of a campfire scene who looked bored out of his mind. He was just staring at the ground while everyone else was wailing away at the moon.

The ending is a bit of a tear-jerker. Or it tries to be, if you can get past the theatricality of it all.

It is a strange movie to watch today. It is from a time when the "Singing Sweethearts" were the biggest stars on the planet.

Now, it feels like a relic from a different planet. But a nice planet where problems are solved by harmonizing.

Just don't expect a lot of realism. The horses seem more sensible than the humans half the time. 🐴

Also, the way Nelson Eddy wears that hat is impressive. It never moves, even when he's trekking through the brush.

Is it glued on? I kept waiting for a gust of wind to take it, but it stayed perfectly level.

Anyway, it is worth a look if you want something cozy and loud. Just be prepared for those high notes to rattle your speakers a little bit.