Rose Marie

Musical fans, we're calling you, oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo! Howard Keel and Ann Blyth (who would later team for Kismet) play stalwart Mountie and backwoods hellion in this grand color and CinemaScope version of the beloved operetta. Filmed largely on location in the Canadian Rockies, Rose Marie combines a charming tale of a tomboy becoming a lady with two love triangles, a murder mystery, settler-vs.-Indian strife and glorious music, including four of the original stage production's tunes: "Rose Marie," "The Indian Love Call," "The Mounties" and in a knockout production number staged by Busby Berkeley, "Totem Tom Tom." Another highlight: Bert Lahr's comic turn warbling The Mountie Who Never Got His Man.

The stunning scenery of the Canadian Rockies marks this MGM song-and-dance extravaganza, as does the fantastic choreography by Busby Berkeley, with the Indian ballet sequence a real spectacle. Shot in CinemaScope with an aspect ratio of 2.5 to 1, both the choreography and the scenery will be difficult to appreciate in anything but a letterboxed or widescreen version of the film. Ann Blyth plays the title role in a story based on a popular 1920s operetta. A French-Canadian country girl, Rose Marie is in love with nasty trapper James Duval (Fernando Lamas), who is on the run from Canadian Mountie Mike Malone (Howard Keel) and is himself the subject of an unrequited love from Wanda (Joan Taylor), the daughter of a local Indian chief. The finest comic bits belong to Bert Lahr, including a song written especially for the film, "The Mountie Who Never Got His Man." Songs from the original operetta include "Rose Marie," "Indian Love Call," "Totem Tom Tom," and "The Mounties."