Rosalie: A Storybook Operetta

The musical comedy Rosalie was originaly produced for the stage in 1928 with music composed by Sigmund Romberg. It was adapted to the motion picture medium by MGM in 1937 with a re-worked screenplay by Wm. Anthony McGuire and a new musical score by Cole Porter. The movie version starred Nelson Eddy and Eleanor Powell in the story of a West Point cadet who falls in love with a masquerading princess. In this book, Rosalie is again given a new treatment in the style of the movie operettas from Hollywood's golden age. The story begins in St. Mihiel, France, in 1914, just prior to World War I. Rosalie Telejour is a singing hostess at the Joliet Inn and works for German proprietor Rolf Von Voltick who has taken a personal interest in his versatile and attractive barmaid. This circumstance is welcomed by Mama and Papa Telejour who have raised Rosalie as their own child and look to Rolf for the financial security they could never provide for their daughter. Rosalie is not so certain about a marriage to Rolf, but is resigned to the fact that he is an important part of her future, until an American music student named William Richards wholly disrupts the situation. The onset of war causes unions and separations, loyalties and betrayals, and uncovers secrets that threaten a happy ending.