The original operetta opened in London on 24 October 1910.
Frank Morgan was asked to shave off his moustashe, which he hadn't shaved for 17 years.
The first director, Robert Z. Leonard, requested to be taken off the project after the first day of shooting.
The movie was spoofed in "Young Frankenstein" with the women singing "Oh sweet mystery of life" during romantic
scenes during the last part of the film.
The Role I Liked Best - by Nelson Eddy (contributed by Anna)
Maybe it's the swashbuckler in me, but I thoroughly enjoyed playing the part of Capt. Richard Warrington in Naughty
Marietta. Its fighting and marching, its shooting and love making and singing all were a natural part of a plot that
was much more substantial than those in most musical comedies. I liked the chance to sing the music of Victor Herbert,
which everyone knows and loves, and I found it quite painless to accept a new contract with a salary raise when the picture
was completed.
This was my first important part in pictures. Before Naughty Marietta, you had to look sharp to see me
in the singing bits I did. As a former opera singer, I was under suspicion. Some executives thought that if an
opera star were given the role of a movie hero he would wave his arms wildly and ham up the works. But Louis B. Mayer
took a chance and things worked out pretty well. This was the first picture in which Jeanette MacDonald I appeared
together, although later we sang our way through many romantic miles of film.
Perhaps the thing that impressed me most about this role was the sudden way it shoved me up the Hollywood
ladder. On Satuday night I was just a concert singer; by Tuesday night after the premiere of Naughty Marietta, I was
treated as a top movie actor. Coming out of the theater after the premiere, Woody Van Dyke, who had directed the picture,
said, "Well, what do you think of yourself now?"
"Why," I said, "I just don't know how to act."
Van Dyke laughted. "You're tellimg me," he said.
