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      Maytime

      Released Mar 26, 1937 2h 12m Musical List
      100% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 88% Audience Score 250+ Ratings The aging Marcia Mornay (Jeanette MacDonald) looks back on her long life and career as a renowned opera singer. As a young woman, she is trained by expert vocal teacher Nikolai Nazarov (John Barrymore). When Nikolai asks Marcia to marry him, she agrees to the wedding because, although she does not love her instructor, she is unwilling to break his heart. Just before her wedding, though, Marcia meets and falls in love with aspiring singer Paul Allison (Nelson Eddy). Read More Read Less

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      Maytime

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      Critics Reviews

      View All (5) Critics Reviews
      Ann Ross Maclean's Magazine The favorite operetta beautifully dressed up and prettier and fresher than ever. Aug 7, 2019 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Jul 18, 2005 Full Review Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) Beautifully designed MacDonald-Eddy vehicle with the bonus of John Barrymore. Rated: 4/5 Sep 4, 2004 Full Review TV Guide Rated: 4.5/5 Jul 30, 2003 Full Review Tim Dirks Filmsite Maytime (1937) is a beautiful, enchanting classic romantic musical from the 1930s. It is the third Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy operetta and often considered the best of their eight pairings. Rated: A+ Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

      View All (18) audience reviews
      A L A beautiful and romantic movie with entracing costumes, sets and makeup. The music is perfect. Eddy and MacDonald are obviously in love, while Barrymore is the posessive love-struck manager. An unforgettable classic. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member I loved it!!! Not a big time opera fan, although I love musicals like Phantom and Les Miserables, but this movie is nothing short of spectacular. Performances are stellar. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member For their third screen teaming MGM gave Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy the old Sigmund Romberg-Rida Johnson Young operetta Maytime which was originally on Broadway in 1919. They kept the libretto, but scrapped the entire score except for the famous Will You Remember duet which became one of Jeanette and Nelson's most beloved songs. In its place were some operatic arias and some public domain standards like Carry Me Back to Old Virginia and La Marsellaise. This served to make the musical part of the film tilted far more to Jeanette than Nelson. But the plot is one of the most romantic. The film opens with a heavily made up Jeanette living as an old maid in some small town. Both the neighbor's daughter and her sweetheart confide in her. The daughter has been given a chance to study music, but that would mean uprooting herself and going abroad. The boyfriend is in love and wants to marry her. Jeanette sighs and tells the daughter about her life that at one time she was a famous opera singer who's been living in obscurity by choice because she chose a career over true love. Of course we all know who her true love is. But she marries her manager John Barrymore and in the end Jeanette has cause to regret. The movie's message about marrying for love is an odd one indeed to come out of Hollywood. That's one place where a whole lot of people including the two stars of this film sacrificed a lot of personal happiness for careers. Actually in another film a year later, Jeanette and Nelson were a happily married singing team in Sweethearts. I guess the idea is you should marry for love, but if you're a singer hope your spouse can carry a tune. Will You Remember got a second go around in the Sigmund Romberg biographical film Deep In My Heart with Vic Damone and Jane Powell doing the honors. But it's not half as good as when Nelson and Jeanette sing it. John Barrymore turns in a fine performance as the rather tightly wrapped manager of MacDonald. For a man who was brought up in the bravura tradition of Victorian stage acting, Barrymore was capable of great subtlety in his screen roles. Watch his facial expressions, they tell you far more than any dialog will. Of course he out acts the two leads. The other supporting performance of note is Herman Bing as Nelson Eddy's sidekick/music teacher. Maybe if Jeanette had studied with him things would have turned out better. When the flashback sequence opens Jeanette and Barrymore are going to a palace ball where she sings for Emperor Louis Napoleon, Les Filles Des Cadiz. That sequence was later seen in Jeanette's later starring film Cairo where she plays a movie star stranded in Cairo. It was a most requested item in later concert performances. For romantics at heart and of all ages Maytime is a must see film for you. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member The best musical movie ever made! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review ashley h Maytime is an amazing film. It is about elderly Miss Morrison recounts her life as the once young and beautiful opera singer Marcia Morney. Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy give excellent performances. The screenplay is well written. Robert Z. Leonard did a great job directing this movie. I enjoyed watching this motion picture because of the drama and romance. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member The best of the MacDonald/Eddy musicals, this film was the worldwide box-office champion of 1937. MGM's lush photography adds to the romantic storyline and the presence of John Barrymore gives the film stature; the duo sings "Will You Remember? (Sweetheart)," among others songs, both popular and operatic. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Maytime

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis The aging Marcia Mornay (Jeanette MacDonald) looks back on her long life and career as a renowned opera singer. As a young woman, she is trained by expert vocal teacher Nikolai Nazarov (John Barrymore). When Nikolai asks Marcia to marry him, she agrees to the wedding because, although she does not love her instructor, she is unwilling to break his heart. Just before her wedding, though, Marcia meets and falls in love with aspiring singer Paul Allison (Nelson Eddy).
      Director
      Robert Z. Leonard
      Distributor
      Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
      Production Co
      Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
      Genre
      Musical
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Mar 26, 1937, Original
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Nov 17, 2016
      Runtime
      2h 12m
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