TheLittleSongbird If you love the collaborations of Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald you will like New Moon very much. All of them are immensely fun to watch, though their best is between this and Maytime. It is not without imperfections, the script can get very corny(though the "men are more lenient than goats" and "anger can make you very charming mademoiselle...exchange" are nice), and while with a certain innocence and charm the story is very creaky, though we can honestly say by now that in operetta the story has never been the strongest component. However the production values are a pleasure to look at, New Moon is crisply shot and boasts beautiful costumes and sets. The score is whimsical and lush, while the songs are just wonderful with marvellously witty lyrics. Standing out in particular are One Kiss, Lover Come Back to Me, Stout-Hearted Men and especially Wanting You. The songs are very nicely staged in the film, Stout-Hearted Men are full of lively gusto that is immense fun to watch while Wanting You is kept simply and is both adorable and touching. New Moon is solidly directed and doesn't feel like a bore at all, despite the script and the story not being the absolute best they could have been. The supporting cast are uniformly good, but it is Nelson and Jeanette MacDonald that make the film so worthwhile. They work beautifully together, and sing and act with great energy and appealing tones. MacDonald is always charming, and has always been the better actress, though Eddy is actually much more comfortable than he was in Naughty Marietta(the best I've seen him though is Chocolate Soldier with Rise Stevens). While both sound great, Eddy is in particularly wonderful voice, his rich, warm masculine tones have always been more preferable to MacDonald's still sweet if slightly thin and trebly voice. Both have moments to shine, they are great in their duets Wanting You and Lover Come Back to Me, but MacDonald is very touching in One Kiss and Eddy literally goes for it, attacking with such liveliness and gusto, in Stout-Hearted Men. Overall, a very nice film, maybe not for all tastes but for Eddy-MacDonald fans it's a treat. 8/10 Bethany Cox

MartinHafer Wow...talk about the phrase "either you love 'em or you hate 'em"! Folks either adore the singing of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy or they wonder WHY anyone would want to see their films. I assume the latter is the vast majority, but I have noticed that their fans are VERY vociferous in their support for the duo. In light of this, I must admit up front that I never have been a fan of their films--consider this as you read my review.The plot is very unusual. It's set in the time period shortly before the French Revolution. Jeanette and Nelson are both on a ship bound for the colony in Louisiana. However, she is traveling as a rich and pampered lady, while Nelson is a prisoner who is being sent as a bond servant. He holds a secret, though, as he arranged to be arrested and deported--though exactly why you'll need to wait and see.When the two meet on the ship, she mistakenly thinks he's an officer on the ship and there is, naturally, some instant chemistry between them. Later, when she is in her home in the colony, he comes to her room--and she assumes it's because he's pretending to be a servant. However, he really is a servant and it seems like their burgeoning love is not to be.As a servant, Nelson is perfect. He makes the party Jeanette plans a fabulous evening--so perfect and wonderful that Jeanette is worried--as this makes her care all the more for him. The guests marvel at the party and its immaculate planning--and apparently only one nobleman had ever thrown such a perfect party. Back in France, the Duc de Villiers was apparently that man...and in reality, Nelson IS this Duke! By the end of the evening, Jeanette finds herself kissing her servant--which simply is NOT done--though she doesn't realize that he is of very noble birth (a Duke is second to a Prince in the line for succession). And before the romance can go any further, another ship (a ship of the Duke's) arrives--with supplies for an uprising against royal authority. So, it's time to put a hold on to the snogging--though, of course, there IS time to sing some rousing songs!! Oddly, later Jeanette is on a ship bound for France when it's captured by pirates led by...yup, Nelson Eddy! However, their excursion around the Caribbean is cut short when the pirate ship is caught in a storm and the boat wrecks next to an uncharted island. Will the two would-be lovers survive? Will they somehow find love on a Gilligan's Island-like setting? Tune in and see for yourself.Overall, it's a mixed bag. While I hated most of the songs (sorry, an operetta isn't my idea of fun), the characters and plot were fun...trivial fun, but fun nonetheless. I couldn't hate the film--though I expected to. What makes this even more unusual is that the film was included in Harry Medved's book "The Fifty Worst Movies of All Time"--a dubious distinction that it truly did not deserve. Sure, the singing is old fashioned an hokey, but Nelson and Jeanette make a nice couple and I was particularly impressed by Eddy's acting--he seemed to have a good role, whereas Jeanette's often called for her to act petulant and moody--not an enviable part to say the least. According to the Duke, she is "...a spoiled and foolish little aristocrat"--as I said, not a particularly enviable role for her as it was rather one-dimensional.For lovers of the team, the movie (as all theirs) is a 10. For teens and people who hate classic films, a 2. For me, who loves classic films but felt compelled to fast-forward through some of the tedious songs, I think a 5 is fair. Without the songs and a very slight rewrite on Jeanette's character, it would have no doubt scored much higher.

mayo2338 Particle physicists, cosmologists, and philosophers are not of one mind respecting whether our universe be eternal or not. The poet who noted that a thing of beauty is a joy forever seems to have made an eternally valid observation. New Moon features a duet by Jeannette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy of "LOVER COME BACK..."

saustin Saw this on Friday,13 December 1940 in Birmingham,a wonderful escape from the intense bombing. Eddy comes again in very fine voice,but not quite up to the standard of "Naughty Marietta," the first of the duo's film operettas. He has obviously gained significant weight: for example, he navigates with difficulty the gunwale of a ship which his comrades and he are attacking with strangely no casualties. The hit song in this operetta,which would not,I think,benefit from color because most of its takes are either at night or interiors, is "Wanting You",which the duo pulls off quite nicely.However,his emotional reactions during this piece,although adequate at the embrace,appear rather automatic,and do not compare with Allan Jones' tenderness in "Tomorrow is another day" (Day at Races,1937) or even the Red Shadow's pouring out his heart in the dated 1929 "Desert Song".His acting skills leave something to be desired:he turns his back on Jeanette during her vocal response,and shows deficiencies in emotional reaction. There is a marked antiquatedness in the dialog as in Jeanettes"I'll try my powers" when asked to sing "Paris" at the film's beginning, or her "Spare your minions!" when offered help in the captured ship. At times they are distinctly looking their ages.He is no longer the angular, gangling young Captain Warrington (lean and muscular) of "Naughty Marietta",but considerably "filled out." All the same,this is delightful escapist musical romance,with pirates, secret police,the French Revolution,sailing gunboats,Caribbean Islands,moonlight and beaches etc. I would strongly recommend this as a video played through an equalizer and amplifier perhaps with a sub-woofer,since the MGM musical recording is extremely good for the time.Romberg's operetta is not as classic as Herbert's "Naughty Marietta" and something is lost from the stage version with all its colorful choruses,reprises,but this is made up for in action and motion not practicable on the stage.