Smilin' Through (1941) User Reviews (15)

sentimental story

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 17 July 2010]

Jeanette MacDonald stars in "Smilin' Through," a 1941 remake of the Norma Shearer-Leslie Howard movie. Besides MacDonald, the film stars Brian Aherne and MacDonald's real-life husband, Gene Raymond.

MacDonald and Raymond play dual roles. Brian Aherne plays the lonely Sir John Carteret, whose wife, Moonyean (MacDonald) was killed at their wedding by a jealous suitor, Jeremy Wayne (Raymond). Each year, he goes to the spot where they were married and sees a vision of her. Cartaret takes in his young niece, who grows up as MacDonald and falls for Kenneth Wayne, Jeremy's son, also Raymond. The bitter Sir John implores her not to see Kenneth again. The story stretches into World War II.

MacDonald is just beautiful in this color film, and she's in great voice. Aherne was underrated in Hollywood, probably too similar to Errol Flynn, but he's very good as usual. It's a shame he never got a real breakthrough role. I've never been very impressed with Gene Raymond.

The story is sweet and sentimental, a real tear-jerker, with some lovely music sung by MacDonald. The period scenes and costumes are opulent. Worth seeing.

Through time, dimension, and space

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 25 March 2006]

It seems to be a general consensus on the board that this version is the inferior of the Norma Shearer-Leslie Howard-Fredric March version previously done by MGM a decade before. Without having seen that one, my guess is that is probably correct because those are all better players.

I was surprised to learn that originally Jeanette was given her choice of leading men as she was in San Francisco and picked Gable and Tracy for their parts. For Smilin' Through she originally had as her choices James Stewart and Robert Taylor. Then both dropped out and Jeanette had to settle for the B team.

The Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy joint biography by Sharon Rich which is the source of that information doesn't say which parts Taylor and Stewart were to play. But it's sure interesting to speculate who was to play John Carteret and who was to play Jeremy/Kenneth Wayne.

So Jeanette did the film with Brian Aherne and her husband Gene Raymond. Smilin' Through created no public demand for a reteaming of Mr.&Mrs. Raymond.

Smilin' Through was written by and starred Jane Cowl on Broadway. Jane, Norma, and Jeanette play Kathleen and her aunt Moonyean. Moonyean was the love of John Carteret and was killed literally at the church altar on her wedding day by a jealous suitor Jeremy Wayne. Years later her niece Kathleen comes to live with her aunt's brokenhearted fiancé Carteret. And wouldn't you know it, she falls in love with Kenneth Wayne, son of the homicidal Jeremy.

One thing though that neither Jane Cowl or Norma Shearer could bring to the dual part was Jeanette MacDonald's soprano. The musical gene was passed down in this family if the homicidal one wasn't passed down in the Wayne family. Jeanette sings some wonderful standards identified with the British Isles like the title song, Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes, The Kerry Dance, There's a Long Long Trail a Winding, and Just a Little Love, a Little Kiss. But my favorite is Land of Hope and Glory sung at a church service here and marched to by thousands of graduating classes on both sides of the Atlantic.

If Jeanette's acting wasn't up to snuff, there wasn't anything wrong with her singing voice. But perhaps maybe only her fans should be looking to watch Smilin' Through.

Color version of the famous tearjerker

[bbmtwist · 6/10 · 12 July 2014]

This third film version of the play is earnest enough and MacDonald and Aherne play very well together. The Technicolor is rich and saturated, but suffers from having too many scenes filmed either indoors in dimly lit rooms or outside at night. The plot is not changed.

The problem is with Raymond. He has no chemistry with his real life wife (MacDonald) and is rather strange looking, almost smarmy. He neither interests nor excites as a love interest for Jeannette. She certainly throw herself into creating passion for his character, but he rather blandly just looks back and spouts his lines. I was wishing for Aherne's ultimatum for Jeannette to give up Raymond to be embraced fully.

Although MacDonald has songs, they are period pieces and the title tune, so it's not really a musical, just a play with music.

Still it's one of the great tearjerkers of all time (May Time, East Lynne, etc.) and should be seen, but seek out the 1932/33 version with Shearer and March. It is really the best. The 1922 silent starred Norma Talmadge, but only two prints survive and they are in archives. The straight talkie drama was deservedly nominated for a Best Picture Oscar and is the one preferred.

However, if you don't have access to it, at least watch this color version, so the beautiful and sentimental story of lost love can wash over you.

Old-fashioned yarn in superb technicolor...sentimental tear-jerker...

[Doylenf · 16 April 2001]

Jeanette MacDonald and Gene Raymond (married in real-life) only made one film together and both were at the peak of their careers when they co-starred with Brian Aherne in this handsome remake of the older Leslie Howard-Norma Shearer tale. Brian Aherne narrates some of the story in flashback to a time when he was about to wed a young woman who was killed at the altar by a jealous suitor. He then tries to dissuade Jeanette from marrying a man who is the son of that suitor. Jeanette plays the dual role of the present-day woman and the young woman her uncle was about to wed. Jeanette is given several charming songs to sing (including 'The Kerry Dance') and has never looked more beautiful. It tends to become a bit too sentimental--an old-fashioned valentine with a candy-box look to the technicolor--but for fans of the singer this is definitely one worth viewing. Nice performance by Aherne in age make-up as the elderly uncle. Raymond, too, is seen to advantage. Pleasant lightweight entertainment, if a bit dated in style.

Intriguing film with one case of bad acting

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 24 April 2018]

First I got confused. It wasn't clear to me that this was not the version of the story I had read about. Where was Frederick March? Was Technicolor really this great back in 1932? Finally I realized that I was watching the 1941 filmed version of the story.

Well, the Technicolor is still beautiful, although a bit overdone...as Technicolor always was.

This 1941 MGM musical stars Jeanette MacDonald, Brian Aherne, Gene Raymond, and Ian Hunter. It's an intriguing story line: A young Irish woman (Jeanette MacDonald) is in love with an American (Gene Raymond). The romance is opposed by her adopted father (Brian Aherne) whose young marriage was foiled when the American's father attempted shooting Aherne's character, but instead killed his bride (also played by Jeanette MacDonald) at the altar. The film does require a little bit more suspension of disbelief than most films, partly because of MacDonald playing both Aherne's young fiance and later his niece. If you can get past that, it's a beautiful story, although it seems rather old-fashioned for 1941.

Jeanette MacDonald is good here, and frankly I'm not a fan. I like old music...but not that old or style of singing. Brian Aherne is quite good here, as well, playing both a young man and an old man. Ian Hunter was almost always a fine addition to a film. However, Gene Raymond was a real disappointment. I just can't buy him as an actor, particularly in terms of facial expressions that seemed out of place. It's interesting to read the behind the scenes of his real life marriage to Jeanette MacDonald...and his bisexuality (check out his listing in Wikipedia, for example).

The film seems uneven. Some parts really impressed me. Other parts didn't. But I am glad to have watched it.

Good but unnecessary.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 9 December 2019]

1932's "Smilin' Through" was one of the best films of its day....delightful and exquisitely produced. However, Hollywood of the 30s and 40s loved to remake films...and so it was inevitable that they'd remake the movie and I just finished watching the 1941 version. Sadly, the remake is in no way superior...and in a few ways it's not up to the original. Of course it's very watchable...the basic story is marvelous. But my recommendation is that you stick with the earlier version.

Instead of discussing the plot as I normally would do, I'll skip it since the film is pretty much identical to the first version. The biggest thing I didn't like about this second version is that because it starred Jeanette MacDonald, MGM insisted it had to be jam-packed with her singing...singing that was unnecessary and tended to drag the film down in the process. It became more of a musical than a romance as a result. Additionally, it makes the same mistake the original did...it used the cliche of having folks playing multiple roles. You are to expect that a man's son is identical to the father in every way...silly of course. But you ALSO are expected to accept that a niece looks completely identical to her aunt...which is way beyond silly.

So my thoughts are that you watch this 1941 version if you must, though you'd be much better off seeing the original and being done with it!

By the way, if you care, the lovers in the film were played by Jeanette MacDonald and Gene Raymond--who were married in real life.

Jeanette's glory days at MGM were coming to a close!

[Pat-54 · 6/10 · 5 May 1999]

Jeanette MacDonald was one of MGM's biggest stars of the 1930's, but by 1941, her glory days were coming to a close. Her last couple of films had not generated all that much excitement from the critics or the box office. So instead of purchasing vehicles for her, they reached into the past and re-made a past hit, which was the 1932 Norma Shearer tear-jerker, "Smilin' Through." This time, they added songs and Technicolor.

don't bother with comparing apples and oranges

[rsternesq · 10/10 · 18 June 2008]

Don't bother comparing this version of an old play with others. This one has Jeanette MacDonald and Brian Aherne and is splendid all on its own. A Word War II era look at the past it resonates with a thousand charming moments. She is lovely and even Gene Raymond charms. I think the special mood of this film may be that all of these faces are gone now and yet with us, part of those of us who watch and feel that vibration of the past lovers, the war in background and the sadness of our loss of that time and those faces, voices, memories. For me a pleasure enhanced with every viewing. A special thank your to Mr. Aherne who will always be a favorite of mine and hopefully others who have watched that expressive and quite beautiful but very masculine face. Definitely recommended.

Smiling through disappointment

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 6 December 2019]

Of course there would be no chance of casting the 1941 Technicolor musical remake of the wonderful and incredibly moving 1932 fillm, with Norma Shearer, Fredric March and Leslie Howard, aside. Have always absolutely loved Technicolor and have been blown away by it numerous times, and also musicals (or more in this case play/film with music). Have liked what has been seen of Frank Borzage's films, quite a fair bit more to see, and do like Jeanette MacDonald and have never minded at all her voice. Can take or leave Gene Raymond.

When inevitably comparing which is the better film of the 1932 and 1941 versions, there is no doubt at all in my mind which is the better of the two. Being someone who loves the former and is rather conflicted on the latter. By all means this version of 'Smilin Through' is worth a curiosity look and it is not that impossible to sit through. Everybody involved has done much better work, with it being one of not many near-misfires from Borzage.

1941's 'Smilin Through' has advantages. It is very handsomely produced and perhaps more lavish than the 1932 film, the Technicolor truly opulent and blazing quite thrillingly. The music is both beautiful and rousing, not to mention catchy. Several songs populate the film and although momentum dips a bit when they feature, they are great songs and suit MacDonald's voice very well. "Land of Hope and Glory" is quite spirit-rousing and affecting.

MacDonald, at her loveliest, also comes off well dramatically, the role(s) does stretch her and it is quite different and more complex to her usual roles but she brings charm and pathos. Aherne is sympathetic and is a lovely match for her. Parts do bring a lump to the throat, especially the church death scene.

Raymond however is a disastrous miscast, there is nothing appealing about him whatsoever and he is almost too caddish/smarmy. He also, as some have already said, has no chemistry with MacDonald, that he and she were actually married in real life yet her and Aherne's chemistry was a million times more believable is a worrying sign. Nelson Eddy would have been a much better choice. Borzage seemed neither interested or comfortable in his direction.

Just felt that way because the pace can be quite stodgy, and although it is already a complicated story it was handled far more cohesively before whereas it was near-convoluted here. It is far too melodramatic and the treacle and schmaltz, both of which the 1932 film did not do, becomes too hard to take due to the amount of them being excessive.

In summation, not a bad film but left me very conflicted. 5/10

"Smilin' Through" with color and music

[dave-2395 · 8/10 · 15 July 2013]

"Smilin' Through" was the only film that Jeanette MacDonald made with her husband, Gene Raymond. He looked so similar to her usual co-star Nelson Eddy that they were often mistaken for one another. Raymond did play leading roles in many 1930s films, but was not a musical star like Nelson Eddy. This film, a remake of a 1932 B/W starring Norma Shearer but this time featuring MacDonald's glorious singing, is an intriguing melodrama in the best sense of the word, and it probably would have been more famous if it did not debut on December 7, 1941. The US movie-going public had other things on their minds that day (and for nearly four years to come). A lush color musical with pacifist overtones was not among them.

Smilin Through?...More Like Sleeping Through!

[krunktheking · 3/10 · 24 October 2009]

Smilin Through before Sleeping Through, i was really disappointed in this film it lacked character and interest. Jeanette's singing is the only thing that saved me from complete boredom. Gene Raymond didn't fit the character or the movie, Jeanette didn't have any chemistry with her husband on screen might as well have put Nelson Eddy in the film it wouldn't have been so bad to watch. All in all the songs are nice including "Drink to me only with thine eyes" it looked like she was singing that to herself instead of her loving husband if you ask me. Even Louie B Mayor said it himself " sing to him like you love him"

she was supposed to be singing to her husband with love that shouldn't have been hard, if only she wasn't already inlove with Nelson. Jeanette always looks stunning in color and black and white films if you like Jeanette Macdonald then watch this film other then that nothing special really.

We 'll meet again.

[dbdumonteil · 22 December 2008]

Even if Jeanette MacDonald's style of singing is not your cup of tea ,you will get enthusiastic over her rendition of "land of hope and glory (pomp and circumstance )" in a church,complete with choir,strings and great organ.

The musical version of a well-known story ,this can't be included in Borzage's numerous masterpieces but its lovely colors and the use of music make it a worthwhile watch.The music as a way of communicating through time predates certain aspects of the yet-to-come "I'll always love you"(1946) where the two lovers play the piano at the same time but not in the same place.Best moment: the bride's death in the church;it takes the tear-jerker to new limits.

Bring your Kleenexes

[HotToastyRag · 8/10 · 18 August 2020]

With a title like Smilin' Through, you'd hardly expect to bring a Kleenex with you. Trust me, you're going to need at least two. This is such a tearjerker!

As much as it pains me to admit it, if it weren't for David Niven, Brian Aherne might have had a bigger boom to his career. Brian is tall, handsome, classy in roles that require it, can age himself up when needed, and a good actor. He could have easily tackled Wuthering Heights, Separate Tables, Enchantment, and The Bishop's Wife. If you liked the tragedy of Enchantment, you'll love Smilin' Through.

Jeanette MacDonald stars as a young girl in love with the one man her uncle hates above all others. It's always that way with young people, isn't it? She falls in love with Gene Raymond, but when her aged guardian Brian Aherne finds out about it, he's furious. He demands she break off the romance, for his own broken heart decades earlier was directly linked to Gene. Do I hear the bells of a flashback? Yes! In glorious Technicolor, you get to see a young, smiling, waltzing Brian Aherne with brown hair. Jeanette plays a double part, as does Gene, as we learn the true story of Brian's tragic romance.

While most of this movie is extremely sad, there is a very sweet element. It's the only on-screen pairing of real-life husband and wife Jeanette and Gene. They enjoyed a thirty year, very happy union, and it's touching to see them in love on the screen. Still, in the story, I was on Brian's side. How much pain did the poor fellow have to endure throughout his life? Bring your Kleenexes, folks. You'll need them.

Awful but interesting!

[JohnHowardReid · 5/10 · 31 May 2018]

Awful but interesting. What makes it AWFUL is 1. The script. The plot positively creaks as the old unbelievable romantic melodrama unfurls. What makes it worse is 2. The acting. I though Jeanette MacDonald and Gene Raymond came out of it best. Mannered and wooden through their performances might be, by comparison with the surrounding "talent", Miss MacD's mechanical vivacity and Mr Raymond's comparative animation (we have seen him much more wooden than here) are almost believable.

It is Brian Aherne and Ian Hunter who are utterly woeful, though part of their lack of conviction is due to their make-up. It is hard to decide which is more ridiculous, Mr Hunter's old man make-up or his young man get-up. I finally decided on the old man make-up as that infests the screen for a much longer period of time. Mr Aherne's white-streaks-in-his-hair and powdered face is no less inept.

As for the special effects in which the ghostly apparition of a sweetly smiling Miss MacD appears, the less said about these laughable endeavors the better. Not that the direction and other technical credits, command a great deal of respect, especially the sound recording which makes Miss MacD's songs sound as if they're being played on ancient phonograph records.

On the other hand, we have the direction with its long takes and its sometimes smooth as silk film editing, and the cinematography with its delicate pastel tones and its peculiar shadowy and misty lighting. Quite unlike the usual M-G-M film that insists on flooding the screen with light and bright colors, this one has a dark and somber mood and many scenes are photographed in one predominant tone like brown or green, so that when Miss MacD wears her white wedding gown, our eyes are riveted on her.

Also making this movie look unlike an M-G-M film, are some of the sets. The interiors of Jeremy Wayne's deserted castle have a brooding, Gothic menace and an ambiance most untypical of M-G-M. Even the scenes in Aherne's house, his study with its shadowy rows of brown-bound books or his garden which is suffused with a deep green from its artificial willow trees, would lead the casual viewer to think he had strayed into a Paramount or Fox feature.

Alas, even by the standards of romantic melodrama, the film is too long. One can't imagine what the screenwriters did, as they seem to have just taken over the stage play wholus bolus and interpolated a large number of songs. (It's a pity that these are so poorly recorded as they would have lightened what is otherwise rather heavy going).

Borzage is a great sentimentalist and this subject would seem to be right up his alley. But although he might be able to stomach the acting and even the script, he is ultimately defeated by technical considerations that appear to be outside his control, like the laughably inept make-up which would set even the most indulgent audience at an amateur theatrical into derisive laughter.

Jeanette ain't no Norma and Gene ain't no Fredric!

[purplecrayon · 17 May 2003]

I must first say I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the 1932 version of this film. Norma Shearer and Fredric March were perfect, the filming was perfect, the sets were perfect, the costumes were perfect, the story was perfect. It is a film I could watch over and over and never tire of! So why did I watch this remake? Well, I wanted to see for myself what it was like, even though I knew beforehand that noone could top Fredric and Norma.

I was correct. There was absolutely no reason to do this remake. It was wrong to be in color. The color was just distracting. Jeanette MacDonald and Gene Raymond had no chemistry whatsover. All through the film I kept saying, " You're not saying it as though you MEAN it!" They just seemed to parrot the lines back and forth to each other. And these 2 were husband and wife in real life??? Fredric March and Norma Shearer had so much more sincerity in their performance in the 1932 version. You could FEEL their love, their joy, their desperation...those 2 really knew how to act. They WERE Ken and Kathleen. Jeanette and Gene were not. Gene Raymond didn't even know how to hand a lady a handkerchief in the right way!

Brian Aherne was totally non convincing as a man who was obsessed with the memory of his murdered beloved and his hatred of her murderer. You never FELT or BELIEVED that it meant much to him. Look at Leslie Howard's performance of John Carteret in the 1932 version. It was perfect. You could really see his borderline insanity from his obsession of wanting his Moonyean, and his hatred for her murderer, Jeremy Wayne.

The added songs in this version were only a distraction from the story. In the 1932 version, Norma did sing "Smilin Through", and it was appropriate for the scene. Here Jeanette sang too many songs and they didn't need to be there. I didn't care for her singing anyway.

This version had the classic scenes all wrong or even missing! Where Kathleen and Ken meet at the old Wayne house, well that was a beautiful scene with Fredric and Norma. The shadows were just right. Fredric comes into the room from the shadows. You see his beautiful, expressive eyes. The camera cuts to Norma. Her eyes tell you EXACTLY that this man is THE MAN who will have her heart. The picnic scenes in this version were nothing compared to Fredric and Norma having their teas at Mrs. Crouch's. Fredric and Norma had a lot more going on between them than eating! Why they cut out the homecoming scene at the train station, where Norma's Kathleen in the 32 version waits expectedly for Ken, but sees only Willie, and later we see her standing there alone, hoping to the very last moment that Ken will come, is beyond me. It was a beautiful scene. Norma was radiant in her white suit, ready for her beloved's return. In this one, Ken hears Kathleen singing in church. It just didn't have the impact of the train station scene. I could go on and on about scenes that were just all wrong!!

I am sure a Jeanette MacDonald fan will love this film. But if you want to see THE CLASSIC, THE BEST, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL version of this film, watch the 1932 one with Fredric March and Norma Shearer. You won't be disappointed.