Sweethearts

Sweethearts with Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald.  The operetta "Sweethearts" has been performing on Broadway for six years and still sells out every performance.  The biggest worry for producer Felix Lehman (Frank Morgan) is that he won't be able to hang on to his two stars, Gwen Marlowe (MacDonald) and Ernest Lane (Eddy).  Gwen and Ernest were married on the night of their first performance of "Sweethearts" and their marriage is as strong as the show.  They are very tired, however, of the radio broadcasts, charity performances, etc. scheduled by Felix and their showbiz relatives that eat up all their free time, and with the popularity of "Sweethearts" there is no end in sight.  When Hollywood comes calling, falsely promising lots of leisure time, they decide to quit the stage.  To prevent this, Felix and his writing team plot to cause a marital rift between Gwen and Ernest.  This works all too well and the two stars give up on Hollywood and perform in two separate road shows of "Sweethearts", each opposite the other's old understudy.  Eventually the truth outs and the couple reunites.

This film was in color!  It was the first all color feature for MGM, which was apparently the last major studio on the Technicolor bandwagon.  I found it quite distracting.  Also interesting was that Dorothy Parker co-wrote the screenplay.  "Sweethearts" was a real operetta by Victor Herbert, albeit from 1913, and most of the songs in the movie were actually from that show.

Familiar faces:  Ray Bolger (Scarecrow) has one song and dance number in wooden shoes.Gene and Kathleen Lockhart play two of the relatives.

Cool Times Square shot from the movie