Rose Marie was originally a Broadway play, opening in 1924, and an earlier silent film version was made in 1928 under the same title with Joan Crawford and James Murray in the leading roles. The 1936 version, however, places a heavy focus on music, containing many opera numbers, including the introduction of the now-classic "Indian Love Call".
The 1936 version ws directed by W.S. Van Dyke (who also direct Jimmy in After the Thin Man & It's A Wonderful World) and was an even bigger hit for MacDonald & Eddy than their last picture together. It is about an opera star, Marie de Flor (MacDonald) who discovers her brother, John Flower (Stewart), has killed a policeman and is hiding out in the Canadian Wilderness. She decides to go look for him, and during her trek, she meets Sergeant Bruce (Eddy) who is also searching for her brother. Robbed and dumped by her guide, Marie begins singing in a saloon to make money. The sergeant helps her find her way through the woods, knowing full well she is trying to find her brother. The two then fall in love, but Sergeant Bruce will not let that keep him from his duty. Shortly after Marie finds John, the sergeant appears and takes him into custody. Marie is disgusted with the policeman and returns to opera, where she soon suffers a nervous breakdown. Sergeant Bruce comes to see her, and they are reunited by love.
While Jimmy only appears in the film for around 30 minutes, he recieved good reviews for his performance. reviewres thought he was "appealig as the wayward brother, saddened and contrite in his crime and humbled by the devotion of his sister.".
One interesting thing to note about this film is that it features two future big-name stars in small roles. Jimmy, and David Niven who plays the dressing room visitor-admirer of jeanette MacDonald.
Currently, this movie is not available on DVD, but was released on VHS. TCM plays it quite often as well. I think it's a decent movie, but I'd only recommend it to die-hard Jimmy fans, as it is definitely a showcase for MacDonald & Eddy.
The next film review will be for Jimmy's next role and first co-starring role in Next Time We Love.
