Rose Marie (1954)

The mere mention of "operetta" is enough to send some viewers into fits of giggling and snorting, and with Rose Marie it's not really hard to see why. The story is so much nonsense, the serious dialogue is stilted, there's a general sense of the overblown throughout, and when these people burst into song, they really burst into song. This semi-remake of the 1936 version also suffers because Ann Blyth is simply not Jeanette MacDonald. Blyth sings well (though not as well as her predecessor), but she simply lacks the charm, appeal, and "oomph" that MacDonald brought to her operetta roles. Howard Keel, on the other hand, is a definite improvement over the wooden Nelson Eddy; even so, he's still no firebrand. Worse, the two leads lack chemistry. Their shortcomings are compensated somewhat by the comic antics of the brilliant Bert Lahr and the always amusing Marjorie Main, but these amiable clowns are given short shrift in terms of screen time. Of course, the main reason for the film -- those lush, soaring Rudolf Friml melodies -- are a very definite asset, as is the Cinemascope lensing, especially on those too-rare occasions when the film leaves the soundstage for some beautiful location work. Added together, the pluses manage to outweigh the negatives, making Rose Marie just good enough to pass. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide