A NEW TEAM

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 26, 30 July 1938, Page 7

A NEW TEAM

ROMANCE IN ROMANZA

A delightful light-hearted romance, in which singing, dancing, adventure, and comedy all have their part, > is "Rosalie," now showing at the Majestic Theatre. The film is particularly noteworthy for the grand) scale fo its settings and ballets, and for the surprising success of its unusual leading combination. Nelson Eddy and Eleanor Powell. „., The success of the Nelson EddyJeannette Mac Donald combination has been such that the film-goer looked j forward to seeing these two in a long series of eight opera roles. Fortunately, perhaps, the producers realised that too much of a good thing did not always produce the best of results. The first fruits of the change was the brilliant and long to be remembered "Firefly," in which Jeannette Mac Donald and Allan Jones were co-starred. This was still light opera, however. The crucial step was the breaking of this light opera tradition. "Rosalie,' in which the famous Eddy baritone is matched with / Eleanor Powell's talent as a high-speed tap dancer, is the result. The experiment is a complete success, and the result is a piquant, improbable, swift-moving comedy-drama in a modern, though at times Ruritorian, setting. . Eleanor Powell portrays the part of Princess Rosalie, of the tiny Balkan kingdom of Romanza, who is receiving the finishing touches to her education at Vasser University, in the United States. She is incognito, having bet her father, the King, that she could remain in the United States for two years without Walter Winchell finding out about

it. Her hero is Dick Thorpe, who, while attending the West Point Academy, attains great renown as a football half-back. Dick is attracted to Rosalie chiefly because she refuses to be swept away by his greatness. She |is recalled home, but makes an apI pointmeht to meet him on a feast day >in her kingdom. Not knowing she is a princeses (who ever heard of a princess tap dancing and singing jazz?) he proceeds to fly the Atlantic to keep the appointment. On his arrival he meets the King (Frank Morgan), the Queen (Edna May Oliver), the princess's fiance (Billy Gilbert), and the girl with whom the fiance is really in love (Ilona Massey). A discovery of Rosalie's royal descent causes Dick to fly the Atlantic again, but this time the. other way. It takes a revolution and a State visit to America to set things right again. Nelson Eddy has never been in better voice, and the songs, written-by Cole Porter, are among the best light numbers he has sung. Eleanor Powell is very convincing as the princess, and at the same time contrives to take part in a number of spectacular dance sequences, the settings of which rival in splendour anything that has hitherto been seen on the screen. The comic squad almost steal the show, howver. Frank Morgan is at his inimitable best as the jovial King, who persists in trying any number of amusements to rid himself of the monotony of kingship. His current rage is a "Charlie McCarthy" ventriloquial figure, which also scores a hit as a first-class actor. As the Queen, Edna May Oliver gives her opinion as to how frigid queenly dignity should be. Ray Bolger as Dick's henchman Bill Delroy, is perhaps a little too simple-minded, but no one seems to care about that.

The supports include newsreels, & fine historical mystery concerning the

fate of Joachim Murrieta, the bandit, and a Pete Smith featurette, "Surf Heroes," showing how the surf patrols save lives in the United States.