Doylenf Review of Smilin' Through

Smilin' Through (1941)

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

[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.