|
MGM,
1935. Directed by Robert Z. Leonard, W.S. Van Dyke. Camera:
William Daniels. With
Elsa Lanchester,
Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson
Eddy, Frank Morgan, Douglass Dumbrille, Joseph Cawthorn, Cecilia Parker,
Akim Tamiroff, Marjorie Main. |
|
In
18th century France, French princess Marie de Namours de la Bonfain, an
orphan who lives with her uncle, Prince de la Bonfain, refuses to marry
Spanish grandee Don Carlos de Braganza. Although the marriage has been
sanctioned by King Louis XV, Marie tells her confidant, Herr Schuman, that
she prefers to marry a man who will be "tall and strong in the wind."
She calls Don Carlos, who has come from Madrid to take her to Spain with
him, an "odious" man.
Marie disregards her uncle's warning about the
dire consequences that will befall her if she refuses to obey the king's
wishes, and decides to escape from France when she learns that her maid,
Marietta Franini, is departing for Louisiana. After Marietta tells
Marie that she is leaving for the colonies because she is too poor to stay
in Paris and marry her sweetheart Giovanni, Marie offers her money in
exchange for permission to take her place aboard the ship. Marietta
accepts the offer, and Marie, disguised as Marietta, boards the ship in her
stead. Soon after the princess' departure, a public notice is posted
proclaiming that she is a fugitive, and a reward of 550 Louis D'ors is
offered for information on her whereabouts.
On the ship, the princess takes her place among
the many casquette girls, who are sailing to Louisiana to fulfill
their contract with the king and marry colonists in New Orleans. She
tells Julie, one of the girls, that she will not do what is expected of her
upon their arrival.
Following an attack on the ship by pirates, and
the massacre of its sailors, the ship is commandeered and taken ashore
somewhere in the colonies. As soon as the casquette girls
disembark from the ship, a bloody battle between the pirates and Yankee
Scouts ensues. Once the pirates are defeated, the handsome leader of
the Scouts, Richard Warrington, becomes enamored of the princess. The
girls are then taken to New Orleans, where they are greeted by the Governor
and a lively group of prospective husbands.
While the girls are being led to the convent,
the princess tries to disqualify herself from marriage by telling the
Governor that she is an immoral woman. As a result, Marie is assigned
to work at a nearby marionette show, where Richard, who is still in love
with her, finds her. No sooner are the two reunited than Richard hears
the news about a reward for a missing French princess and, realizing his
sweetheart is a fugitive, attempts to hide her. The princess, however,
is soon captured and is arrested at the Governor's orders.
When Julie visits the princess, she tells her
that the Governor has banished Richard and will force her to return to
France with Don Carlos and her uncle, who have come to fetch her.
While Marie's uncle advises her to mend her relationship with Don Carlos by
telling him that she left him on a whim only to intrigue him, Julie finds
Richard and informs him that the Governor intends to harm him if Marie
refuses to comply with France's orders.
Before their departure, Marie, her uncle and the
others attend the Governor's farewell ball, where Richard shows up
unexpectedly. Marie reaffirms her love for him in a song, and he
persuades her to elope with him into the wilderness, where he promises her
that they will never again be disturbed by her family or the French
government. |
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