Naughty Marietta (1935) - W. S. Van Dyke 

Wow, all 12 of 'em are now done, and by that I mean all the best picture nominees from 1935, the second and last year that 12 films were put in contention. Naughty Marietta was a historical marvel, the first pairing of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, a duo who would become the most popular singing couple in all of film. Sure today their films are largely forgotten as their operatic style of singing has fallen far out of favor, but in the mid-thirties these two were golden. Naughty Marietta is a decent film. MacDonald plays Marietta as a mixture of her own aristocratic beauty with Chevallier's rebellious charm, as if her character had learned something from their earlier romance. Sure it is another excuse for large pageantry, but what makes the film endearing, at least to audiences of the day is that the leads are from two separate worlds, but can find a common ground. They can only be together in America, and despite being royalty, MacDonald willingly throws away her title, prestige and all the luxury that comes with it. The songs are alright, with everything building up to the final duet, which is of course their symbolic sexual intercourse. I have heard good things about one of the duo's later musicals, but I'll stick to this one as a point of historical importance, and of course for my own research purposes.

*Naughty Marietta was nominated for best picture. It won Douglas Shearer another one of many Oscars for Best Sound.