Naughty Marietta
Encyclopedia
Naughty Marietta is a 1935 film based on the operetta of the same name
by Victor Herbert
: Jeanette MacDonald
stars as a vivacious Princess who trades places with her maid Marietta in order to avoid an arranged marriage. Instead, she sails for New Orleans and is rescued from pirates by Captain Richard Warrington (Nelson Eddy
), with whom she falls in love.
Five of Victor Herbert's most famous songs come from the score of Naughty Marietta, with words by lyricist Rida Johnson Young:
Additional lyrics for several of Herbert's songs were penned for the movie by Gus Kahn
.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026768/soundtrack The songs "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life" and "I'm Falling in Love With Someone" were used in the Broadway adaptation of Thoroughly Modern Millie
. The film was written by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett
, John Lee Mahin
and Rida Johnson Young
.
Enroute to New Orleans, the casquette girls discuss what type of man they want to marry, and "Marietta" shocks the other girls by stating that she does not intend to get married to anyone. Shortly after this discussion, the ship is boarded by pirates who kill the entire crew and take the girls ashore – along with the goods the ship was carrying.
When the pirates finish sharing out the bounty among themselves, they turn their attention to the girls. Just then, singing is heard ("Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!"). The pirates comment that it is the mercenaries and they rush around to extinguish 'torches' and the fire so that they won't be noticed. However "Marietta" takes one of the lit 'torches' and runs towards the sound of the singing, crying out "help, help" – and this leads to a fight between the mercenaries and the pirates, which the mercenaries win. The surviving pirates escape in canoes.
There are further songs from the mercenaries, including their leader, Captain Richard Warrington, singing "Neath a Southern Moon" to Marietta. Although Marietta and Captain Warrington are attracted to each other, problems arise, including Captain Warrington declaring that he does not intend to get married.
When Captain Warrington and his men take the casquette girls to New Orleans by boats, they are welcomed by the Governor of New Orleans (who is accompanied by his wife), and the casquette girls are then taken to the convent where they are to stay until they meet the men who will become their husbands. When some men approach Marietta, she comments that she does not want to marry any of them. The Governor and his wife, accompanied by Captain Warrington, now arrive and the Governor comments that he feels sure he has seen Marietta before in Paris, but Marietta convinces him that he is wrong about this. Marietta pretends to be a courtesan
and is sent away in disgrace to live in a house by herself. Captain Warrington takes over the duties of the French soldiers who are escorting her to her new home. At the house, an uncomfortable Marietta tries in vain to get rid of Captain Warrington, who is persisting in staying there – when Marietta states that she will call the police to throw Warrington out, the Captain tells her that he is the police. Just then, there is the welcome interruption of the sound of singing from a group of strolling gypsies who are advertising their Marionette
Theater. The daughter of the gypsy leader (Rodolpho) then sings, and Warrington joins in the singing ("Italian Street Song"). Stung by a comment from Warrington that she (Marietta) would not be able to sing as well as Rodolpho's daughter, Marietta also joins in the singing. A short time later, there is a knock at the door, and three Frenchmen are standing outside, asking to see Marietta. While Warrington is getting rid of the three would-be 'lovers' of the beautiful "courtesan", Marietta escapes from the house and can't be found.
The following day, Captain Warrington discovers that Marietta is working at the Marionette Theater, where she is a success. While performing, Marietta becomes aware that Captain Warrington is in the audience and, when he visits her dressing room, following the performance, Marietta tells him that his presence there is 'most unwelcome' – when the Captain asks her if he would be welcome 'somewhere else', Marietta says "yes". When Marietta leaves the Marionette Theater to have some lunch, Captain Warrington joins her, commenting "Here I am – welcome me". Marietta is very amused at this and is unable to suppress a smile. They become friends when Captain Warrington comments that Marietta can trust him, because he will 'keep her out in the open from now on'. While Marietta and Warrington are eating lunch together, there is an announcement of an award for information leading to Marietta's whereabouts. Marietta is once again rescued from her situation by Captain Warrington, who takes Marietta away by boat. Captain Warrington wonders who Marietta really is – saying that at least he knows that Marietta is not what she said she was. Marietta comments that she is just 'someone from somewhere'. It is during this time that Marietta and Captain Warrington discover that they are falling in love with each other ("Im Falling in Love with Someone"). When Captain Warrington asks Marietta to sing the song back to him, she says that she has a song she knows better. Leaving the boat to walk to Warrington's headquarters, they are accosted by French soldiers and Marietta's true identity of Princess Marie is revealed. Captain Warrington is stunned about this and attempts to stop the French soldiers taking Marietta away.
At the Governor's Palace, the Governor shows Marietta 'the King's mandate' and comments that Don Carlos must be a most loving suitor to have followed her to New Orleans. He also comments that a ball will be given in Marietta's 'honour'. The Governor's wife then enters the room and comments that she is horrified at Marietta's adventures and asks Marietta to confide in her and
let her be 'mother' because she was an older woman.
It is night and Marietta is dressed for the ball. Julie, who has heard that Marietta is really a princess, comes to Marietta's room, asking to see Marietta because 'she knows me'. Marietta welcomes her and Julie is able to tell Marietta that Captain Warrington had been ordered to leave New Orleans that day, but had not gone – and that he was intending to come to the
ball. Marietta is delighted at this. However, her uncle comes to her room and mentions that 'if Warrington attempted to see her again, he would be arrested for treason and shot'. Frightened for the man she loves, Marietta asks Julie to go to Captain Warrington and stop him from coming to the ball – however, they realise is too late when they hear Warrington and his men singing ("Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!").
Inside the ballroom, Marietta's uncle is dancing with the Governor's wife – while the Governor is dancing with Marietta. When Captain Warrington walks into the room, the Governor stops dancing with Marietta and tries to get Warrington to leave in order to save Warrington's life. After the Captain dances with Marietta, she tells him that she will sing 'her' song to him the following evening. When Warrington is leaving the house, Marietta sings her song – and Warrington joins in singing a duet with her ("Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life"). At this time, Marietta's uncle knocks on her door, demanding she leave with them on the ship back to France. She and the Captain remain indignant and escape out the balcony stairway. They are captured by two guards, who are actually the Captain's mercenaries in disguise. Meanwhile, her Uncle and his guards are able to break in through the locked door and appear at the balcony demanding the arrest of the Captain and Marietta. Having been deceived, the uncle returns into the house and the Captain and Marietta escape into the Western frontier, apparently living happily together.
. Douglas Shearer
won the Academy Award for Sound
for his work on the picture. In 2003, was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
by the Library of Congress
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Both "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life" and "Falling in Love With Someone" are used in the musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie."
Naughty Marietta (operetta)
Naughty Marietta is an operetta in two acts, with libretto by Rida Johnson Young and music by Victor Herbert. Set in New Orleans in 1780, it tells how Captain Richard Warrington is commissioned to unmask and capture a notorious French pirate calling himself "Bras Priqué" – and how he is helped and...
by Victor Herbert
Victor Herbert
Victor August Herbert was an Irish-born, German-raised American composer, cellist and conductor. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I...
: Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy...
stars as a vivacious Princess who trades places with her maid Marietta in order to avoid an arranged marriage. Instead, she sails for New Orleans and is rescued from pirates by Captain Richard Warrington (Nelson Eddy
Nelson Eddy
Nelson Ackerman Eddy was an American singer and actor who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs. A classically trained baritone, he is best remembered for the eight films in which he costarred...
), with whom she falls in love.
Five of Victor Herbert's most famous songs come from the score of Naughty Marietta, with words by lyricist Rida Johnson Young:
- Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life
- Italian Street SongItalian Street Song"Italian Street Song" is a popular song written by Victor Herbert and Rida Johnson Young in 1910.The song was written for and introduced in the operetta Naughty Marietta, which originally opened in Syracuse, New York on October 24, 1910....
- Neath the Southern Moon
- I'm Falling in Love With Someone
- Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! (Along the Highway)
Additional lyrics for several of Herbert's songs were penned for the movie by Gus Kahn
Gus Kahn
Gustav Gerson Kahn was a musician, songwriter and lyricist.-Biography:Kahn was born in Koblenz, Germany in 1886. The family emigrated from there to the United States and moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1890...
.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026768/soundtrack The songs "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life" and "I'm Falling in Love With Someone" were used in the Broadway adaptation of Thoroughly Modern Millie
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Thoroughly Modern Millie is a 1967 American musical film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay by Richard Morris focuses on a naive young woman who finds herself in the midst of a series of madcap adventures when she sets her sights on marrying her wealthy boss.The...
. The film was written by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett
Albert Hackett
Albert Maurice Hackett was an American dramatist and screenwriter most noted for his collaborations with his partner and wife Frances Goodrich.-Early years:...
, John Lee Mahin
John Lee Mahin
John Lee Mahin was a prolific screenwriter and producer. He was the son of John Lee Mahin, Sr. , a Chicago newspaper and advertising man, and Julia Graham Snitzler....
and Rida Johnson Young
Rida Johnson Young
Rida Johnson Young was an American playwright, songwriter and librettist. In her career, Young wrote over thirty plays and musicals, and over 500 songs. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970...
.
Cast
- Princess Marie de Namour de la Bonfain (Marietta Franini) – Jeanette MacDonaldJeanette MacDonaldJeanette MacDonald was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy...
- Captain Richard Warrington – Nelson EddyNelson EddyNelson Ackerman Eddy was an American singer and actor who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs. A classically trained baritone, he is best remembered for the eight films in which he costarred...
- Governor Gaspard d'Annard – Frank MorganFrank MorganFrank Morgan was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of the title character in the film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
- Madame d'Annard – Elsa LanchesterElsa LanchesterElsa Sullivan Lanchester was an English-American character actress with a long career in theatre, film and television....
- Prince de Namour de la Bonfain (Uncle to Princess Marie) – Douglas DumbrilleDouglass DumbrilleDouglass Dumbrille was a Canadian actor and one of the Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood.-Life and career:...
- Herr Schuman – Joseph Cawthorne
- Julie – Cecilia ParkerCecilia ParkerCecilia Parker was a Canadian-born American film actress.-Early life and career:Born in Fort William, Ontario, she was brought to southern California as a child by her mother, Mrs. Naudy Anna Parker. Her father was an English soldier. Parker graduated from the Convent of the Immaculate Heart in...
- Don Carlos de Braganza – Walter KingsfordWalter KingsfordWalter Kingsford was a British stage, film and television actor born in Redhill, Surrey, England. He was born Walter Pearce and had several sisters...
- Frau Schuman – Greta MeyerGreta MeyerGreta Meyer was a German actress in motion pictures beginning in the silent film era. She performed for almost seventy years...
- Rudolpho – Akim TamiroffAkim TamiroffAkim Mikhailovich Tamiroff was an Armenian actor. He won the first Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.Tamiroff was born in Tiflis, Russian Empire , of Armenian ethnicity. He trained at the Moscow Art Theatre drama school. He arrived in the U.S. in 1923 on a tour with a troupe of actors...
- Abraham "Abe" – Harold HuberHarold HuberHarold Huber was an American actor who appeared on film, radio and television.-Early life:Huber was born Harold Joseph Huberman in the Bronx to Joseph Huberman and "Mammie" Glassberg, Jewish immigrants from Imperial Russia, who had arrived in the United States as infants. His father was the...
- Ezekial "Zeke" Cramer – Edward BrophyEdward BrophyEdward S. Brophy was an American character actor, voice artist, and comedian. Small of build, balding, and raucous-voiced, he was known for portraying gangsters, both serious and comic.-Career:...
- Servant to Princess Marie's uncle (the real Marietta Franini) – Helen ShipmanHelen ShipmanHelen Shipman was an American singer, dancer and actress who starred in various Broadway musicals and musical comedies and who also acted in movies.-Early life and career:...
Plot summary
To avoid a forced marriage with Don Carlos, an elderly Spanish duke, the beautiful and vivacious Princess Marie masquerades as her uncle's former servant, Marietta, to escape from France on a ship with casquette girls who are traveling to New Orleans to marry colonists (planters, farmers and soldiers etc.). On board ship, Marietta becomes friends with Julie, a young and pretty casquet girl whom the Princess also befriends.Enroute to New Orleans, the casquette girls discuss what type of man they want to marry, and "Marietta" shocks the other girls by stating that she does not intend to get married to anyone. Shortly after this discussion, the ship is boarded by pirates who kill the entire crew and take the girls ashore – along with the goods the ship was carrying.
When the pirates finish sharing out the bounty among themselves, they turn their attention to the girls. Just then, singing is heard ("Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!"). The pirates comment that it is the mercenaries and they rush around to extinguish 'torches' and the fire so that they won't be noticed. However "Marietta" takes one of the lit 'torches' and runs towards the sound of the singing, crying out "help, help" – and this leads to a fight between the mercenaries and the pirates, which the mercenaries win. The surviving pirates escape in canoes.
There are further songs from the mercenaries, including their leader, Captain Richard Warrington, singing "Neath a Southern Moon" to Marietta. Although Marietta and Captain Warrington are attracted to each other, problems arise, including Captain Warrington declaring that he does not intend to get married.
When Captain Warrington and his men take the casquette girls to New Orleans by boats, they are welcomed by the Governor of New Orleans (who is accompanied by his wife), and the casquette girls are then taken to the convent where they are to stay until they meet the men who will become their husbands. When some men approach Marietta, she comments that she does not want to marry any of them. The Governor and his wife, accompanied by Captain Warrington, now arrive and the Governor comments that he feels sure he has seen Marietta before in Paris, but Marietta convinces him that he is wrong about this. Marietta pretends to be a courtesan
Courtesan
A courtesan was originally a female courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
and is sent away in disgrace to live in a house by herself. Captain Warrington takes over the duties of the French soldiers who are escorting her to her new home. At the house, an uncomfortable Marietta tries in vain to get rid of Captain Warrington, who is persisting in staying there – when Marietta states that she will call the police to throw Warrington out, the Captain tells her that he is the police. Just then, there is the welcome interruption of the sound of singing from a group of strolling gypsies who are advertising their Marionette
Marionette
A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms...
Theater. The daughter of the gypsy leader (Rodolpho) then sings, and Warrington joins in the singing ("Italian Street Song"). Stung by a comment from Warrington that she (Marietta) would not be able to sing as well as Rodolpho's daughter, Marietta also joins in the singing. A short time later, there is a knock at the door, and three Frenchmen are standing outside, asking to see Marietta. While Warrington is getting rid of the three would-be 'lovers' of the beautiful "courtesan", Marietta escapes from the house and can't be found.
The following day, Captain Warrington discovers that Marietta is working at the Marionette Theater, where she is a success. While performing, Marietta becomes aware that Captain Warrington is in the audience and, when he visits her dressing room, following the performance, Marietta tells him that his presence there is 'most unwelcome' – when the Captain asks her if he would be welcome 'somewhere else', Marietta says "yes". When Marietta leaves the Marionette Theater to have some lunch, Captain Warrington joins her, commenting "Here I am – welcome me". Marietta is very amused at this and is unable to suppress a smile. They become friends when Captain Warrington comments that Marietta can trust him, because he will 'keep her out in the open from now on'. While Marietta and Warrington are eating lunch together, there is an announcement of an award for information leading to Marietta's whereabouts. Marietta is once again rescued from her situation by Captain Warrington, who takes Marietta away by boat. Captain Warrington wonders who Marietta really is – saying that at least he knows that Marietta is not what she said she was. Marietta comments that she is just 'someone from somewhere'. It is during this time that Marietta and Captain Warrington discover that they are falling in love with each other ("Im Falling in Love with Someone"). When Captain Warrington asks Marietta to sing the song back to him, she says that she has a song she knows better. Leaving the boat to walk to Warrington's headquarters, they are accosted by French soldiers and Marietta's true identity of Princess Marie is revealed. Captain Warrington is stunned about this and attempts to stop the French soldiers taking Marietta away.
At the Governor's Palace, the Governor shows Marietta 'the King's mandate' and comments that Don Carlos must be a most loving suitor to have followed her to New Orleans. He also comments that a ball will be given in Marietta's 'honour'. The Governor's wife then enters the room and comments that she is horrified at Marietta's adventures and asks Marietta to confide in her and
let her be 'mother' because she was an older woman.
It is night and Marietta is dressed for the ball. Julie, who has heard that Marietta is really a princess, comes to Marietta's room, asking to see Marietta because 'she knows me'. Marietta welcomes her and Julie is able to tell Marietta that Captain Warrington had been ordered to leave New Orleans that day, but had not gone – and that he was intending to come to the
ball. Marietta is delighted at this. However, her uncle comes to her room and mentions that 'if Warrington attempted to see her again, he would be arrested for treason and shot'. Frightened for the man she loves, Marietta asks Julie to go to Captain Warrington and stop him from coming to the ball – however, they realise is too late when they hear Warrington and his men singing ("Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!").
Inside the ballroom, Marietta's uncle is dancing with the Governor's wife – while the Governor is dancing with Marietta. When Captain Warrington walks into the room, the Governor stops dancing with Marietta and tries to get Warrington to leave in order to save Warrington's life. After the Captain dances with Marietta, she tells him that she will sing 'her' song to him the following evening. When Warrington is leaving the house, Marietta sings her song – and Warrington joins in singing a duet with her ("Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life"). At this time, Marietta's uncle knocks on her door, demanding she leave with them on the ship back to France. She and the Captain remain indignant and escape out the balcony stairway. They are captured by two guards, who are actually the Captain's mercenaries in disguise. Meanwhile, her Uncle and his guards are able to break in through the locked door and appear at the balcony demanding the arrest of the Captain and Marietta. Having been deceived, the uncle returns into the house and the Captain and Marietta escape into the Western frontier, apparently living happily together.
Awards
It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best PictureAcademy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
. Douglas Shearer
Douglas Shearer
Douglas G. Shearer was a Canadian-born pioneer sound designer and recording director who played a key role in the advancement of sound technology for motion pictures.-Early life and career:...
won the Academy Award for Sound
Academy Award for Sound
The Academy Award for Sound Mixing is an Academy Award that recognizes the finest or most euphonic sound mixing or recording, and is generally awarded to the production sound mixers and re-recording mixers of the winning film. Compare this award to the Academy Award for Sound Editing...
for his work on the picture. In 2003, was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
In popular culture
The song "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life" was used in Mel Brooks' 1974 comedy "Young Frankenstein," with parts of the refrain sung by the characters played by Madeline Kahn and Terri Garr.Both "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life" and "Falling in Love With Someone" are used in the musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie."
External links
- Naughty Marietta at Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy: A Tribute