Jeanette MacDonald
- Episode aired Nov 12, 1952
- 30m
IMDb RATING
5.2/10
11
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This WASN'T her (tangled) life
The power of the Hollywood studios was never more clearly demonstrated than when Louis B. Mayer ordered Jeanette MacDonald to marry closet-gay Gene Raymond, and saved Nelson Eddy from charges of attempted murder of Raymond for assaulting her during one of her eight abortive pregnancies by Eddy, her regular co-star and love of her life. (By the time Rock Hudson got the same treatment, he was paired off, not with a star, but with an obscure lesbian secretary.)
You could not guess any of this from the anodyne version of the story presented here in one of the very first TV episodes of This Is Your Life. On one level, it is a nostalgic peep at the commercial broadcasting scene of its day (1952), with a lot more than just 'a word from our sponsor'. Try counting the number of times you hear 'Hazel Bishop', along with repeated appearances of the well-kept lady who more-or-less claimed to have invented lipstick. Also, the notion of an 'unrehearsed' show is so obviously false that the whole effect rattles a bit, with presenter (and originator) Ralph Edwards apparently having to cover-over with rather desperate enthusiasm. But perhaps we shouldn't sneer too much at the first faltering steps in what turned out to be a staggeringly successful creative concept, still going strong seventy years in.
Rather oddly, this early format traces the career backwards from the present day to childhood; later they would see the advantage of tracing it forwards. And instead of the film-clips we're used to, we have to settle for stills, perhaps because the technology wasn't up to it, though it is odd not to see a glimpse of Maurice Chevalier, with whom MacDonald had shot to stardom in 1929, saving Paramount's bacon in the wake of the Wall Street crash (though the two of them did not actually get on). Sure enough, Eddy bursts in 'unexpectedly' in mid-song, before shaking hands with Raymond, as though they were best buddies, instead of reluctant neighbours in the same block in Beverley Hills.
You could not guess any of this from the anodyne version of the story presented here in one of the very first TV episodes of This Is Your Life. On one level, it is a nostalgic peep at the commercial broadcasting scene of its day (1952), with a lot more than just 'a word from our sponsor'. Try counting the number of times you hear 'Hazel Bishop', along with repeated appearances of the well-kept lady who more-or-less claimed to have invented lipstick. Also, the notion of an 'unrehearsed' show is so obviously false that the whole effect rattles a bit, with presenter (and originator) Ralph Edwards apparently having to cover-over with rather desperate enthusiasm. But perhaps we shouldn't sneer too much at the first faltering steps in what turned out to be a staggeringly successful creative concept, still going strong seventy years in.
Rather oddly, this early format traces the career backwards from the present day to childhood; later they would see the advantage of tracing it forwards. And instead of the film-clips we're used to, we have to settle for stills, perhaps because the technology wasn't up to it, though it is odd not to see a glimpse of Maurice Chevalier, with whom MacDonald had shot to stardom in 1929, saving Paramount's bacon in the wake of the Wall Street crash (though the two of them did not actually get on). Sure enough, Eddy bursts in 'unexpectedly' in mid-song, before shaking hands with Raymond, as though they were best buddies, instead of reluctant neighbours in the same block in Beverley Hills.
- Goingbegging
- Feb 23, 2021
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- Release date
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- Also known as
- This Is Your Life, Jeanette MacDonald
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime30 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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