***(Still singing "All I Ask of You" in my head. :o)***
Tell me, Ohio, why do I think of Nelson Eddy everytime I hear that song? Is their some possible melodic connection to something he sang? Or is it just the style in which it's sung? I've been wondering about it for years.
I think the reason you think of him may be that Nelson and Jeanette absolutely perfected the art of romantic movie musical duet singing. They will never be surpassed by anyone, ever in the sheer perfection of their art.
One thing I noticed (picky person that I am) was that the lip syncing, which Nelson and Jeanette did flawlessly, was not quite so flawless even in this wonderful production.
I guess you just can't get better than perfect, eh?
As an interesting side note (to me anyway)........after N&J stopped making musicals, there was a switch to the "buddy" musical........Gene Kelly & Fred Astair type musicals.
There was nowhere to go but down in the area of romance, so they just didn't try.
Nothing since has ever reached the heights of the MGM musical with Nelson and Jeanette.
(Is that more info and opinion than you wanted? LOL!)
"All I ask of You" is, IMO, the most intensely emotional romantic duet since the days of N&J. There was an intensity, a sexuality, to their duets (best example "Wanting You" in New Moon) that has never been matched since.
Howard Keel and Katherine Grayson did duets together, but nothing on the level of what N&J did, and without the chemistry.
"All I ask of You" HAS that intense, rip your heart out kind of quality that hasn't really been done in 50 plus years.
I think that's it.