Rose Marie (1954)

A young and fatherless girl (Ann Blyth) living alone in the Canadian wilds is taken under the wing of a Royal Canadian Mountie (Howard Keel). As she develops into a young woman however, it's decided to take her to a nearby town where she can learn all the attributes to be a proper young lady. The third film version of the operetta by Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein and Otto Harbach is spiffed up in CinemaScope, stereophonic sound and Eastman color. It's certainly preferable to the creaky 1936 MacDonald and Eddy version but despite all the trappings, its age still shows. Blyth makes for a lovely Rose Marie and her rich strong soprano applies itself perfectly to the songs especially her rendition of I Have The Love. The lump by the name of Fernando Lamas doesn't add much to the proceedings and Marjorie Main and Bert Lahr are here for comic relief. Busby Berkeley staged the Totem Tom Tom production number danced by Joan Taylor (EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS) who gets tossed off a cliff and into the arms of some Indian braves! The Canadian locations, filmed in Jasper National Park in Alberta, are handsomely shot by Paul Vogel. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. With Ray Collins, Dabbs Greer and Chief Yowlachie.