Indian Love Call

Popularity

The musical was the longest running musical of the 1920s, enjoyed international success, and became the basis of four films with the same title. As the musical's biggest hit, "Indian Love Call" outlived its origins. The New York Times described the song as being among those Rudolf Friml songs that became "household staples" in their era. The song was said to have been a favorite of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald version

When Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald performed the song as a duet in the 1936 film version of Rose Marie, it was a hit that remained a signature song for the two singers throughout their careers. As featured in the 1936 film version, Nelson Eddy as Sergeant Bruce and Jeanette MacDonald as Rose Marie are alone by a lakeside campfire. They hear a distant and haunting call across the lake, which Bruce tells her is “Just an Indian." They listen and hear in the distance a mysterious feminine voice make its reply. The rest of the scene has been summarized thus:

It is an old Indian legend, he tells her. Years ago two lovers from different tribes met here. Their families were enemies, sort of a Romeo and Juliet affair. They were discovered and sentenced to die, but their spirits still live. When a lover gives the call, their spirits echo it, sending it on until it reaches the one he loves. Rose Marie is moved by the beauty of it. She stands at the edge of the lake and gives the haunting call. Sergeant Bruce takes it up and sings the classic "Indian Love Call".

That same night, after Rose Marie has gone to her tent, she hums the song while beside the campfire and Sergeant Bruce quietly hums the response. In a dramatic moment later in the play, after Sergeant Bruce rides off on his horse to arrest Rose Marie's brother for murder, she sings "Indian Love Call" in an attempt to summon him back. Still later, as Rose Marie performs the last act of Puccini's Tosca, she hears the voice of Bruce singing "Indian Love Call". Finally, she "hits a perfect high note and collapses in the middle of the stage."

Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald's recording of "Indian Love Call" (with "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life" from Naughty Marietta on the reverse) sold over a million copies, was included in the 1974 compilation film That's Entertainment!, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008. It was the only song from the stage score that MacDonald recorded, although Eddy recorded a number of songs from Rose Marie, including another version of "Indian Love Call", performed as a duet with Dorothy Kirsten.

Plugging into the popularity of the Eddy and MacDonald version of this song and attempting to avoid confusion with the 1954 remake, the 1936 version of the movie was broadcast on television under the title Indian Love Call.

Other versions