"The rose speaks of love silently in a language known only to the heart."
The Gallery presents….
…the many faces of
“Rose Marie”
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Rose Marie (1924)… …the original operetta, ran on Broadway for 557 performances and prompted a revival the very next year. Composed by Rudolph Friml and Herbert Stothart with book and lyrics by Otto Harback and Oscar Hammerstein II, it starred Mary Ellis in the title role and Dennis King as the man she loved. Set in Canada, Rose Marie was a hotel singer in love with a trapper falsely accused of murder. To save his life, she promises herself to the man who framed him. |
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Rose Marie (1928) MGM took the operetta, deleted the music and created a silent drama from what was left. Canadian mountie Sergeant Malone and influential French Canadian Etienne Doray are both in love with Rose Marie played by Joan Crawford. But she loves trapper Jim Kenyon who is unjustly accused of murdering an Indian. To help him, she promises to marry Doray. After saving Rose Marie’s life when her canoe capsizes, Jim hunts for the real killer Black Bastien who escapes after also killing Malone. |
Born: March 23rd, 1905 in San Antonio, Texas |
 Joan Crawford/Rose Marie |
| Born: February 8th, 1901 in New York City, New York Died: July 11th, 1936 in New York City, New York at age 35 Cause of death: drowning Marriages: One to actress Marion Sayers from 1932 until his death. No children. Remarks: Jimmy made 35 films before his untimely death and two of them were in versions of “Rose Marie”. However, his small part in the 1934 version was uncredited and unnoticed. Jimmy went from leading man and movie star to panhandler and death in 12 short years. His most outstanding work was his fifth role as John “Johnny” Sims in “The Crowd” also released in 1928. |
 James Murray/Jim Kenyon |
| Born: January 4th, 1877 in Spennymoor, Durham, England Died: September 9th, 1951 in London, England at 74 Cause of death: not listed Marriages: Two, both ending in divorce. The first to actress Beatrice Bird lasted 5 years and produced one child. The second to Sylvia Andrew also produced one child. Remarks: Often billed as T. H. Gowland, Gibson was best known for his strong leading role in Erich Von Stroheim’s “Blind Husbands” (1919 and the villain McTeague in “Greed” (1923) He returned to England shortly after doing this film and ended his career doing British films. |
Gibson Gowland/ Black Bastien |
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Rose Marie (1936) …..filmed on location at Lake Tahoe Once again, it becomes an operetta but MGM has now tailored the story to fit their popular star, Jeanette MacDonald and their new sensation, Nelson Eddy. Opera singer Marie de Flor is searching for her escaped convict brother in the Canadian Rockies in tandem with Sergeant Bruce of the RCMP. Along the trail they fall in love but their romance takes a bad turn when Bruce arrests her brother. The shock leaves Marie emotionally wounded until the man she loves finds her again. |
| Born: June 18th, 1903 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Died: January 14th, 1965 in Houston, Texas at 62 Real name: Jeanette Anna MacDonald Cause of death: complications from heart disease Marriages: One to actor Gene Raymond that lasted until her death. But her love affair with Nelson Eddy also lasted until she died. Remarks: This was Jeanette’s second picture with Nelson Eddy and it was even a bigger hit with audiences than their first “Naughty Marietta”. It was at Lake Tahoe during the filming that Jeanette and Nelson first pledged their love. For more of that story see the Baritone’s Corner, beginning with issue #24. |
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| Born: June 29th, 1901 in Providence, Rhode Island Died: March 7th, 1967 in Miami, Florida Cause of death: massive stroke Real name: Nelson Ackerman Eddy Marriages: One to Ann Denitz Franklin that lasted until his death. However, his love for Jeanette MacDonald lasted until the day he died. Remarks: The making of this second movie with Jeanette was Nelson’s first venture into the world of location filming. His off-screen romance with Jeanette also blossomed in the romantic Lake Tahoe setting. But before the filming was over things would take a tragic turn. The rest of the story? It begins with issue #24 and will conclude in the autumn issue. issue. |
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Rose Marie and her mountie!
| Born: May 20th, 1908 in Indiana, Pennsylvania Died: July 2nd, 1997 in Los Angeles, California at 89 Cause of death: cardiac arrest due to a pulmonary embolism Real name: James Maitland Stewart Marriages: One to Gloria Hatrick McLean that lasted 45 years until Gloria’s death in 1994. They had 2 daughters. Remarks: This was only Jimmy’s third movie but only the first of four villains he would ever play in his career. For 2/3rds of this picture, he was only a “Wanted for Murder” poster with his big scene coming just before the finale. On location Jimmy roomed with director Woody Van Dyke who asked him to play the accordion so the director could get some sleep! |
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| Born: August 5th, 1887 in Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, England Died: November 5th, 1972 in Boise, Idaho at age 85 Cause of death: heart attack Real name: John Reginald Owen Marriages: Three, two ending in divorce. The first to actress Lydia Bilbrook lasted 5 years. His second to a stage actress ended in 1956 and produced 2 children. That same year he married Barbara Haveman and that marriage lasted until his death in 1972. Remarks: Best known for his role as Dr. Watson in the 1930s series of“Sherlock Holmes” with Basil Rathbone, Owen was a veteran character actor of the period. In the role of Marie de Flor’s harassed manager, he was one of the important additions to the new storyline. Owen said later the Jeanette was his favorite among all the leading ladies he ever worked with. He was writing his autobiography when he died. |
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Rose Marie (1954) This version was closer to the original operetta “but not as much fun as the 1936 film” (Leonard Maltin). Testy orphan Rose Marie Le Maitre becomes the ward of Canadian mountie Sergeant Malone who falls in love with her. But on the way to “learn to be lady” Rose Marie meets and falls in love with trapper Jim Duval. Duval is having a dispute with an Indian chief and ends up charged with his murder. Malone finally clears Duval but loses his lady in the bargain. |
Born: August 16th, 1928 in Mount Kisco, New York She is 78 Remarks: Ann began her career on the Broadway stage debuting in Lillian Hellman’s “Watch on the Rhine” (1941) before Universal snapped her up for their crop of B-musicals. But her big film break came when Warners optioned her for the daughter role in “Mildred Pierce” in 1945. She was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress for that |
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| Born: April 13th, 1919 in Gillespie, Illinois Died: November 7th, 2004 in Palm Desert, California at 85 Cause of death: colon cancer Real Name: Harold Clifford Leek Marriages: Three, two ending in divorce. His children. His third to Judy Keel lasted 34 years until his death. They had one child. Remarks: Like the other two stars in this film, Keel sang his role without any trouble. He had a strong baritone voice and MGM gave him featured roles in many of their musicals during the 1950s and 1960s (see the Gallery in Issue #33). |
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Rose Marie and the mountie!
| Born: January 9th, 1915 in Buenos Aires, Argentina Died: October 8th, 1982 in Los Angeles, California Cause of death: pancreatic cancer at age 67 Marriages: Four, three ending in divorce and three to actresses. The first to actress Perla Mux (1940-1944) produced 1 daughter…the second to Lydia Barachi ( 1946-1952) added daughter #2 and the third to actress Arlene Dahl (1954-1960) resulted in his only son, Lorenzo. His marriage to actress/swimmer Ester Williams in 1969 lasted until his death. They had no children. Remarks: Lamas had been a actor, award-winning swimmer and athlete in his native Argentina. When MGM found that he also had a rich, baritone voice it became an added bonus. But his voice was only used in two musicals, the other being the 1952 version of “The Merry Widow”. From that time on he became one of MGM’s “Latin Lovers” forever immortalized later by Billy Crystal’s exaggerated “ You look mah-velous”. |
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Also outstanding in the cast…..
 Marjorie Main as "Lady Jane" |
 Bert Lahr as Barney McCorkle |
 The Judy Garland Rose |