A Parisian tailor finds himself posing as a baron in order to collect a sizeable bill from an aristocrat, only to fall in love with an aloof young princess.
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Reviews
Absolutely the worst movie.
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film
Producer: Rouben Mamoulian. Executive producer: Adolph Zukor. A Rouben Mamoulian Production. Copyright 25 August 1932 by Paramount Publix Corp. New York opening at the Rivoli: 18 August 1932. U.S. release: 26 August 1932. U.K. release: 17 November 1932. Australian release: 21 December 1932. Sydney opening at the Prince Edward: 21 December 1932 (ran five weeks). 10 reels. 96 minutes. (Mamoulian's original cut ran 104 minutes. A snip of Loy singing "Mimi" was cut as well as a whole Chevalier—MacDonald duet, "The Man For Me").SYNOPSIS: In order to collect a debt from a noble customer, a tailor is forced to pose as a baron.NOTES: Paramount's top-grossing release in Australia in 1933. Although "Love Me Tonight" did not make Mordaunt Hall's top ten of the year for The New York Times, it did make his supplementary list variously titled "Fifty Notable (or Worthy) Productions". VIEWER'S GUIDE: A fairy tale that is unsuitable for children of all ages. COMMENT: A cult movie that all adults will enjoy. It has all the qualities that cultists admire: inventive direction, fast pacing, style, sophistication, scant respect for authority and the establishment, yet its charm matches its wit, its seemingly effortless spontaneity over-rides all the complex mechanics of its direction (fascinating though these are for us critics), the elegance and artistry of its production reinforce its delightfully casual sophistication, and above all the agreeable, absolutely winning interpretations by its lead players are so captivating that it's a movie even the most die-hard Bowdler would find impossible to resist.Except in Australia, the movie was not as popular on original release as the previous Chevalier/MacDonald collaboration, One Hour With You (1932). But whereas One Hour now seems a bit dated, particularly in its staging, Love Me Tonight is as fresh, invigorating and up-to-the- minute as today's most expensively tailored and expansively produced comedy — and considerably more appealing. One can only marvel that such a masterpiece of entertainment isn't constantly aired on television, yet it's one of the few films of the thirties that today's youngsters (who are bored out of their socks by Gone With The Wind) would find genuinely entertaining.The musical numbers are so brilliantly dovetailed into the effervescent plot, I almost forgot to say that the songs are all among the most tuneful (Rodgers) and sharply witty (Hart) that the combo ever wrote. OTHER VIEWS: One of the most perfect musicals ever made. - Lawrence J. Quirk in "The Films of Myrna Loy".The ultimate film musical. - Eleanor Knowles in "The Films of Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy".The all-time best screen musical. - Gene Ringgold & Dewitt Bodeen in "Chevalier".One of the most enchanting musicals ever made. - Tom Milne in "Mamoulian". Ranks with Lubitsch's The Love Parade as one of the two masterpieces of the First Era of Hollywood musicals (1927-1936). — Ethan Mordden in "The Hollywood Musical". "Love Me Tonight" remains a classic example of the singer's musical as opposed to the dancer's musical — a film in which, with virtually no actual dance, all the action, musical and non-musical, seems to be choreographed... Rodgers and Hart were destined never to hit on such a winning combination again in the cinema. — John Russell Taylor & Arthur Jackson in "The Hollywood Musical".One of the true masterpieces in the musical genre, and a film of durable wit, beauty, and sophistication. — Ted Sennett in "Hollywood Musicals".
'Love Me Tonight' is a charming and funny musical, starring Maurice Chevalier as a Parisian tailor who eventually meets and falls in love with a rich Princess played by Jeannette MacDonald. They're both strong and the cast includes the incomparable Myrna Loy in her first 'non-exotic' role, as well as C. Aubrey Smith as the Duke. All of the minor roles are well utilized, including three old ladies who chatter and gossip as they sew and try to cast spells ala the three witches in Macbeth (albeit good spells for the health of the Princess). The musical numbers are entertaining, the best of which is 'Isn't It Romantic?' sung early on by Chevalier, with the tune picked up by one of his customers as he heads out the door, passed along to a taxi driver and his fare, then by a group of soldiers who march, to a gypsy who plays it on a violin, and heard from a balcony by the Princess and sung by MacDonald. It's quite enchanting, and a tune which may stick in your head for awhile afterwards. 'The Son of a Gun Is Nothing But a Tailor' is also nicely performed, and seems years ahead of its time. The movie is chock full of nice touches, from the morning scenes and the 'music of the street' which open the movie, to Chevalier getting on a rambunctious horse for a hunt but then later protecting a deer, to the various witty lines and double entendres which pepper the script. Well done, and a nice (musical) romantic-comedy 1932-style.
A mid summer night's dream is what this inventive and thoroughly entertaining movie reminds me of. I love the frolicking and the great acting. I don't know how the director was able to do some of those shots. They seemed years ahead of their time. I was also impressed with the music. The songs were terrific. My favorite was Mimi. The discussion of class and sex was quite modern for a film done in 1932. It just reminds me of the verse,"there is nothing new under the sun". Some of the almost nude scenes were done in taste and the deer chase was politically correct even for this day and age. The straight forward story enticed me into believing the fantasy mixed with reality. I loved this film and would love to buy it on DVD. Nelson Eddy must have wanted to play the part of Maurice. Myna Loy was stunning in this also.
There have been better film directors than Rouben Mamoulian and better stage directors as well. But no one has yet mastered both of those mediums so much so that his services to helm a project was in demand consistently in Broadway and Hollywood. Mamoulian certainly has his share of duds on both coasts, but he has his share of classics as well and none is more classic than Love Me Tonight.Love Me Tonight is the third and best collaboration with leads Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald. Chevalier is but a poor tailor, the best at his craft who's just completed a big order for a rakish nobleman played by Charlie Ruggles. Ruggles is also a deadbeat who's stiffed half the merchants of Paris and they've appointed Chevalier a committee of one to settle the accounts. Off goes Chevalier to the countryside to get Ruggles to cough up.Ruggles is mooching off his titled uncle C. Aubrey Smith and while nobility has been formally abolished in France, it's still held in regard in class conscious Europe. When Maurice gets to Smith's palatial digs, he also finds another cousin in Jeanette MacDonald and she falls big for him of course. And Ruggles not wanting to seem more of a deadbeat and a moocher than C. Aubrey Smith already thinks he is, introduces Chevalier as another titled fellow.Two other main characters get into this mix. Charles Butterworth who is also a titled person and would like to marry Jeanette. Of course Butterworth isn't her romantic ideal, like he'd be anybody's. And Jeanette has a lady in waiting in Myrna Loy who's also got her eye on Maurice.There are many who consider this the best musical ever made. It certainly was years ahead of its time. In fact Maurice and Jeanette were fortunate to also have Ernst Lubitsch directing their other features because they too were considered way ahead of their time and helped their careers along immensely.One reason for the success of Love Me Tonight is the score written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, probably their best film score. When you've got such classics as Isn't It Romantic, Lover, and Mimi all in the same film, you can't miss.One should also hear Chevalier's RCA recording of Mimi. It was one of the staple songs of his career. The record however has an interlude as Maurice reminisces about all the other girls he's sung about like Louise, Valentina, Mitzi, and his fabulous Love Parade. But no doubt about it, Mimi tops them all. I wish he could have used those lyrics in the film.As for Lover this is a case of a hit song becoming far bigger in revival. Jeanette sings it on screen, but I would safely venture that more people identify the song with Peggy Lee and hit record she made of it in the Fifties. In fact a lot of her contemporaries also started recording it during that decade and Lover had a new burst of popularity then.What amazes me about Rouben Mamoulian is that here was a man who directed such things as Oklahoma, Carousel, Lost In The Stars and Porgy and Bess on stage and then could go to the screen and do classics like Love Me Tonight, Blood and Sand, The Mark Of Zorro, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This man had a complete sense of the cinema, if you find any staged awkwardness in any of his films, I'm not aware of it. The staging of Isn't It Romantic where Maurice and all his neighbors and friends join in and then switching to Jeanette expressing her longing for real romance is perfect. As is the hunting scene which is something that could never be contemplated doing on stage. And Maurice saving the stag probably got him a lifetime appreciation award from PETA.Love Me Tonight after almost 80 years still holds up well and it's a great opportunity for young people today to see and appreciate the lost art of the film musical.