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How sad is this?

Better Late Then Never

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Just a couple of years too early for this kind of romantic fantasy extravaganza to benefit from Technicolor photography, its splendid black and white photography and editing interrupt a formula romantic fantasy tale about a professional performer forced to make choices about lifestyle vs career priorities. The interruption comes at the midpoint of this long film as the only portion credited to the operetta composer Siegmund Romberg. Jeanette Macdonald and Nelson Eddy, romantically photographed amidst fantasy blossoms and rippling water,deliver a haunting, ethereal love duet which evokes one's tears of memory and lives forever in our hears. The rest of the film, constituting its first and second halves, features such familiar stars of the era as John Barrymore and Herman Bing joining Jeanette Macdonald and Nelson Eddy at their absolute best with good musical interludes, good theme material about the angst of a future, present and past professional performing career, and a well spun tale which holds your interest.

1937's "Maytime" is one of the best musical/dramas in the Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy collaboration. The plot line is relatively simple: Jeanette is an up-and-coming Parisian opera star who is originally from America. She agrees to marry her mentor and manager, played by John Barrymore, more out of respect for him than outright love. Love comes in the form of fellow-American Nelson Eddy. He's a talented singer in his own right, and the two meet by chance in a seedy café and strike up a friendship which soon turns to true romance. Alas, their affair is nipped in the bud due to Jeanette's prior commitment to Barrymore. Their marriage is a sour one, however, and when Jeanette and Johnny take a cruise to New York, she encounters Nelson once more. This time he's an opera star himself and the former lovers renew their previous spark during a rehearsal for a joint venture. Barrymore, watching from the wings, observes their interplay and is incensed. After confronting his wife about Mr. Eddy and learning the truth first-hand, he decides to kill the fellow. Poor Nelson ends up with a bullet through his heart and grieving Jeanette retires from the stage. Barrymore ends up on the gallows, but that scene is thankfully omitted. The story is told in flashback as Jeanette is now an old woman and closing in on her own death. While advising a young girl not to throw away her one chance on love, she relates her tragic life. The surprise ending of this film is one of the all-time greats and will bring tears to your eyes. It is so well-done and emotionally satisfying, that it makes up for anything else the film may lack.Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald were two of the most talented and charismatic figures ever to grace the film and recording industry. Their vocal and acting performances in this movie are among the best ever filmed. As for their real life romance, MacDonald once said that she must have had "rocks in her head" for never marrying Eddy. Obviously, she meant it. "Maytime" is highly recommended and absolutely one-of-a-kind film making.

I'm watching this for the first time, on TCM. I've always been a huge fan of Lehar's "The Merry Widow," and it's a treat seeing Maurice Chevalier in his prime! That being said, however, the reason I came to IMDb just now was that the ballroom that the first big dance scene took place in looked awfully familiar! (The ballroom with lots of columns.) I think it's the same room that was used in GWTW when Scarlett was widowed and she wound up dancing with Rhett in public at the CSA fundraiser. So I came here to see whether or not they were both produced at the same studio - MGM. They were, so I think I'm probably right. (Also, the upstairs bedroom in "Maytime" looks very much like one of the bedrooms in GWTW, and the table area of that first ballroom in "Maytime" reminds me of the restaurant where Rhett and Scarlett ate dinner while on their honeymoon in New Orleans. I'll be curious whether anyone else has noticed these similarities of locations. Thanks!P.S. To the people who complained that this movie isn't available on DVD, I saw some paid ads at the bottom of IMDb's page for this film on DVD. But I didn't check them out.

Of all of Nelson Eddy and Jeanette Macdonald's movies, this one stands out as having such a variety of beautiful music. There are opera songs taken from many operas as well as "ordinary" songs. You may not remember any of the opera songs but the title song, "Maytime," will never leave your musical memory once you hear it.Sometimes it's hard to "suspend disbelief" and not look at "actors" and "technique," but it's easy with this one. Nelson is very believable as the rollicking American with the gorgeous baritone voice and of course, Jeannette MacDonald in the role of a famous opera singer is totally on target.You keep rooting for them to get together and honestly, you won't know until the very end! Sentimentalists--watch this wonderful movie.