| November 3, 2002 Back To Chat | ||
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"Nelson Chat." Beth Kenobi : hi all Alicefaye3 : Hey there Beth Kenobi : what is this week's topic? GarlandGrl : Okay, question for one who knows little about this, did he have a great deal of the dialogue intact in the screenplay? Did he write the screen play? Dugan EK : Molnar also wrote Liliom, filmed several times and adapted into Carousel. And One,Two,Three adapted to a Cagney anti-communist (!) film, and The Bride Wore Red. Dozens of hit plays made into films. GarlandGrl : That was supposed to be from one... Dugan EK : One, Two, Three was also a 1930's Barrymore film -- MamaLion27 : I know the plays and the movies but little to nothing about Molnar himself. Dugan EK : He was a fascinating man. Spent his final years in New York. Married to a famous actress. They lived in hotels several blocks apart, got together for dinner each evening. MamaLion27 : That must have been an interesting arrangement. Alicefaye3 : Who was the actress? Dugan EK : His speciality is a socko opening -- within 30 seconds you are totally hooked in the action. Dugan EK : I'm trying to remember -- the name Bella Darvi comes to mind, but I'd have to look it up. Alicefaye3 : Bella Darvi....I thought she was DFZ's girlfriend... Dugan EK : It is not her lack of fame but my poor memory. Okay, I'll go look it up. Alicefaye3 : So did anyone have an answer to Ginny's questions? Dugan EK : Close but no cigar. It was LILI Darvas, stage actress. Dugan EK : Ginny, who is the "he" in your question? Nelson? Or Molnar? GarlandGrl : Molnar MamaLion27 : I wondered..Bella killed herself at 43. Dugan EK : Ah -- this is fascinating. I got a 1911 English translation of the original Hungarian play in my researches on Chocolate Soldier. This translation bore little resemblance to the famous and now-classic Lunt/Fontanne script. Either th Dugan EK : Either the early translation was a dog's dinner, or the Theatre Guild did a massive rewrite. I suspect something in between. Chocolate Soldier uses page for page dialogue from the Theatre Guild stage play and the Lunt/Fontanne film Dugan EK : version. GarlandGrl : Ahhh, okay... GarlandGrl : Christine's question: How were the reviews for CS? Dugan EK : The early English translation was SO bad that I can't imagine it having much relationship to Molnar's original hit play. He was a brilliant playwright. I've several volumes of his plays -- nearly all thrilling. Dugan EK : In my book, I cite Bosley Crowther, NY Times who made clear he didn't like Nelson Eddy in general, but he loved him in this filmand the film itself. Dugan EK : Archer Winston of the NY Post liked the film -- two approvals from top NY critics. So I think "the critics" liked it. I couldn't find any negative reviews. MamaLion27 : Variety liked both Rise and nelson. They said the dual characterization was "alive with humor". GarlandGrl : Another question from miss Christine: Why did MGM skimp on the budget and publicity for the film? MamaLion27 : Jimmy fidler said ' a great singer proves he's become a fine actor." I don't know wheter Hopper and Parsons said anything. MamaLion27 : Please excuse my sticky shift key! Alicefaye3 : I think Nelson was fantastic in this movie...although I'm not a Winchell or Hopper... GarlandGrl : Yeah me too! This is my favorite film of Nelson's without Jeanette... Alicefaye3 : Mine too! MamaLion27 : I think by this time the studio was in the midst of a shake-up. Dugan EK : Production values on CS could be better. The dance sequences are very feeble. Beth Kenobi : It was my favorite as well without Jeanette. I loved those two together and always wished they had made another film together GarlandGrl : Well yeah, but Nelson is adorable... the way he handles the dialogue is priceless in my humble opinion and I think he works quite well with Rise. Alicefaye3 : I agree....but how could she look at other men when she was married to Nelson? lol DIXC has entered the room. GarlandGrl : Found ya, Dick! Sorry if you were on a bit and I didn't see you before. MamaLion27 : Nelson handled that double role beautifully. It showed his versatility better than anything else he had done. (but I agree with Maria..how could she look at anyone else?) DIXC : We were out to dinner. Got here just now and late. DIXC : :-) GarlandGrl : Glad to have you with us... :-) GarlandGrl : Speaking of the versatility, the last question from Christine is: Why did this not result in better and more mature roles for him? Dugan EK : But she is only pretending interest in other men because she feels she will only keep his attention if he is jealous. MamaLion27 : I wish someone would have asked MGM that very question! GarlandGrl : Yeah, well... my answer to Christine's question would be that MGM didn't see a profit... Dugan EK : I think we will agree that Nelson wasn't the type of performer who could be tossed into any old film. Special vehicles had to be prepared, tailored to his talents. MGM was getting less and less eager to do this for a variety of reas Dugan EK : reasons. Look at what happened to Garbo and Shearer about the same time. GarlandGrl : The cost was 1,061,000 and it lost 169,000... in every Jeanette/Nelson film, there was a gain. Alicefaye3 : So of course MGM wouldn't rush into putting him into another movie that wouldn't make $$$ GarlandGrl : Of course... that's all approximate and then the stats don't really add up correctly (Mr. Mannix's fault, not mine :-D) Dugan EK : The filmgoing scene was changing. Many social forces involved. GarlandGrl : It made a total of... 1,554,000 GarlandGrl : Yeah, that's reflected in the selling point... ::Sigh:: Dugan EK : Ginny, I'm surprised it was so expensive to make. That was a lot of money then. And the film is cheap, cheap, cheap. Makes me wonder if someone cooked the books. When stars got too highly paid, MGM had always lopped them off and bro Dugan EK : brought up younger, cheaper performers. Look at poor John Gilbert. MamaLion27 : The culture of greed at the top. Dugan EK : Well -- if the studio didn't make money, it wouldn't exist for more than a month. Survival. DIXC : He showed he could act as well as sing in this film as he did fine in all his opera roles. GarlandGrl : Yeah, actually the cheapest film on the little chart I made for Nelson and Jeanette was The Cat and the Fiddle... and that's at $843,000 DIXC : But his role was in GREAT singing and those rolls were disapearing Dugan EK : I think Cat & Fiddle was cheapest because salaries were lowest at that point in the Depression. Dugan EK : Yes, Dick -- wartime was all jitter-bugging. The "opera ain't so bad" films came later. MamaLion27 : If Nelson wasn't a hit with the public, he would have been long gone. Instead he kept pulling in big audiences everywhere he went. DIXC : The great actors were not quality singers and they were more intewrested in those people later. Her carried the singing part as far as you could probably Dugan EK : He was like owning a race horse. It cost a lot of money to send him around the track. He might win. He might not. In hard times, we tend to not take risks. MamaLion27 : I think hecould have gone on in films for quite some time with the right roles. Dugan EK : Agree absolutely! DIXC : He was a singer first and his type of music was not often shown later. GarlandGrl : Yeah, and rarely heard now... I hope there is a nostalgic period again where people are going to look back to this and say -- why can't we have this kind of music in our lives? Dugan EK : I don't think of opera as "nostalgia" -- but then we have the San Francisco Opera here -- nonstop world class singers. DIXC : They made a mistake in not finding him more vehicles for his voice. MamaLion27 : Chocolate Soldier was evidence that Nelson could handle roles with more depth. GarlandGrl : Well yeah, I've been to the San Jose Opera... and I certainly don't think of it as Nostalgia, but most people my age don't consider it a thing to do for a night of entertainment. Dugan EK : Poor things!! GarlandGrl : That's what I mean :-D Dugan EK : Of course an evening of opera costs more than an evening of bowling. GarlandGrl : Most things are expensive these days... even bowling... DIXC : Only a Nelson could sell his type of movie. They lasted longer than for other opera people atemps in film. Alicefaye3 : Funny thing is....the opera is very popular around my area...especially with the people I work with. DIXC : That's the key. He would not be a Grant or Stewart etc, . All could not sing. GarlandGrl : Though... not as expensive as the SF Opera! :-) I've seen ticket prices... anyway, yes... Nelson was one of a kind. DIXC : ONE OF A KIND. You have got IT!!:-) MamaLion27 : Classical music and opera was stressed when I went to school. They no longer include it in most curriculums. GarlandGrl : Most schools don't even have music programs... only the special ones do. My Mother wanted to be a music teacher 20 years ago and gave up on that dream, because that's when all the cuts in music programs were starting. DIXC : He was a great singer who could act. Many great actors could not sing or had to in their film work or had someone else do their voice over MamaLion27 : So sad. We won't have students striving to be great singers anymore. Just grab a guitar and go! Alicefaye3 : Cuz...don't be surprised about classical music and opera not being included. Heck, most of the time WWII isn't included... MamaLion27 : Touche, cuz. Beth Kenobi : Mine has a music program, but once your past 8th grade it's an elective GarlandGrl : Anyway, back to Mr. Nelson :0) To close this up, what do you think of the songs... the film... everything in general? What aspects make this a good film to watch? DIXC : Risa sang so well with Nelson and the songs were wonderful with their talent! GarlandGrl : The Flea is perfection... and, and... I love the duets and the lines... MamaLion27 : It was a great movie! I can't say enough about the music and the dialogue. However, it wasn't my favorite of all Nelson's movies but that doesn't diminish it in my eyes at all. GarlandGrl : And Maria gets to hear Nelson say her name a lot... which must be nice... *becomes suddenly jealous* MamaLion27 : Forgot that. Great for Maria! DIXC : All of their films were great but it ranks tops with "New Moon" for me. Alicefaye3 : Woo hoo! I just love when he says my name.... Beth Kenobi : New Moon and Chocolete Soldier are my favorites too Beth Kenobi : Unfortunitly, You'll never hear him say Jessica....Wasn't a popular name back then I guess *sigh* I can only get Lou Bega (?) to say my name:-) Dugan EK : The only "flaw" with the film (besides those cheesy dance numbers) was that the censors insisted we know that his wife knew it was him. That is one of the charming things about The Guardsman. MamaLion27 : Dorothy doesn't roll off the tongue, either. DIXC : Have to leave now. Thanks for the nice time. Hope to hear from all next time. BYE.:-) DIXC has left the room. MamaLion27 : Bye Dick GarlandGrl : Bye Dick! I've got to get going as well, I have a story that should have been finished yesterday to finish ;-) We'll decide on the next topic soon... GarlandGrl : Bye!! Alicefaye3 : Night all! Thanks for the fun! GarlandGrl has left the room. MamaLion27 : I have to get back to work on that darn website. So so long. Beth Kenobi : bye MamaLion27 has left the room. Beth Kenobi : I'm going to save and then send out the transcript.
Posted May 17,2003 |