Customer Reviews

Rosalie [Import]

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"Rosalie" is a shimmering escapist movie that glistens - even in black and white. Production numbers are exceptional, with reminders throughout the story of a fantasy decade of lacy satins, patent leather buckled tap shoes, and gossamer nights.

No magical chemistry here between the lead players, as in MacDonald/Eddy films before and after, but a very pleasant 1930s love story between a West Point football hero, Dick Thorpe (Nelson Eddy) and an incognito Princess attending Vassar, Rosalie (Eleanor Powell).

The harmonious blending of Nelson's distinctive voice and Eleanor's brilliant dancing is what makes this movie succeed. Cole Porter's music doesn't hurt, either. The story line has the two falling in love after the big Army/Navy football game, where Thorpe scores as gridiron hero but wants to score with Rosalie. He has no clue she is a princess in the kingdom of Romanza, a tiny hamlet in Eastern Europe. Rosalie has fun teasing him along and she invites him to her country's springtime celebration. He accepts and trouble starts.

The Queen, Edna May Oliver, disputes Thorpe's interest in Rosalie, having decided on a royal marriage for her daughter. The King, Ralph Morgan, is his usual scatter-brained self, (as in Oz) not entirely in charge of any situation. Those two playing Rosalie's parents is a stretch, they could have easily been her grandparents. But in '30s movie history, all parents looked like grandparents, a sign of that culture.

Also of that culture, the "Hail Good Fellow" mentality does no harm to this well-
worn theme of rich girl/poor boy. Eleanor's uncommon kind of beauty - enhanced
with a curt speaking voice and eyes twinkling throughout as if withholding a secret - matches well with Nelson's out-of-doors but drawing-room smooth, atypical
good looks. No manifest intimacy between the two, but hey...it is only a movie,
after all, and definitely worth seeing...at least once.

The scintillating Eleanor Powell dances to Nelson Eddy's tune in ROSALIE, a musical comedy laced with romance, intrigue and some of Cole Porter's greatest hits, including "In The Still Of The Night".

When West Point football hero Dick Thorpe (Nelson Eddy) meets pretty Vassar student Rosalie (Eleanor Powell), he falls head over heels in love. She invites him to her homeland, the European kingdom of Romanza. He has no idea her parents are the King and Queen (Frank Morgan and Edna May Oliver), and that she is the Princess, betrothed to the son of the Chancellor.

A rich and lively blend of music and romance and period charm, ROSALIE also features Illona Massey and Ray Bolger.