This is one of the more difficult films to grade. Plagued by editing that makes an already strange story even more disjointed, "I Married an Angel" is an ambitious project that deserves points just for its audacity.
The bulk of the story is a dream sequence. As such, it is not subject to limitations of reality or reason. Count Palaffi (Nelson Eddy), the dreamer, is visited by an angel who intends to marry him. His unconscious mind tries to resolve the difficulties that could result from such a spirit-mortal pairing. These scenes are, like dreams, whimsical and sometimes irrational. Non sequiturs abound.
The film is fortunate to feature a couple of standards by Rodgers and Hart. It also includes many beautiful women and some wonderful fashions, though in B&W. Jeanette MacDonald, as the angel, is the highlight of the film. She demonstrates a variety of talents, including jitterbugging and some comedic turns that remind one of Gracie Allen. On the other hand, her voice is not ideally suited to some more modern (less classical) tunes.
Great production values and stages filled with performers cannot totally save this film. Jeanette appears to have a ball, but Nelson seems awkwardly out of place. The early scenes nearly convinced me to stop watching, but its campiness and the pure chutzpah of its ambitions partially won me over.
The bulk of the story is a dream sequence. As such, it is not subject to limitations of reality or reason. Count Palaffi (Nelson Eddy), the dreamer, is visited by an angel who intends to marry him. His unconscious mind tries to resolve the difficulties that could result from such a spirit-mortal pairing. These scenes are, like dreams, whimsical and sometimes irrational. Non sequiturs abound.
The film is fortunate to feature a couple of standards by Rodgers and Hart. It also includes many beautiful women and some wonderful fashions, though in B&W. Jeanette MacDonald, as the angel, is the highlight of the film. She demonstrates a variety of talents, including jitterbugging and some comedic turns that remind one of Gracie Allen. On the other hand, her voice is not ideally suited to some more modern (less classical) tunes.
Great production values and stages filled with performers cannot totally save this film. Jeanette appears to have a ball, but Nelson seems awkwardly out of place. The early scenes nearly convinced me to stop watching, but its campiness and the pure chutzpah of its ambitions partially won me over.