...heute Abend - Hotel Ritz

For French movie star Annabella, Darryl F. Zanuck was like God - he gaveth and he taketh away.

While he was in a giving mood, he starred her in 1937's "Dinner at the Ritz," also starring David Niven, Paul Lucas, and Francis L. Sullivan.

The scene is Paris. A banker, Racine, is giving a party at his estate, when he is shot dead. Racine had been troubled by problems at his bank - a conspiracy, in fact, that could be its downfall.

He had sent a letter naming six men who are most likely the guilty ones. However, the letter doesn't arrive. The police rule the death a suicide.

His daughter (Annabella) is sure it was murder. She sets out to learn the truth and perhaps recoup money for her father's customers.

This quest takes her to Monte Carlo and London, and she at different times disguises herself as Spanish royalty and Indian royalty.

This is a sophisticated film, replete with beautiful gowns, real European locations, and some light comedy. A problem, however, was that at that point, Annabella's accent was not easy to understand. In spite of this, she is very good.

Then one day Annabella walked onto the set of Suez and met her costar, Tyrone Power. They fell in love. Contrary to popular belief, studio heads did not want their romantic leading men married.

When Zanuck saw the wedding bells on the wall, he offered Annabella three films that were to be made in Europe. Hmm.... Movies.... Tyrone Power...Guess what she chose. And Zanuck stopped her star build-up.

Annabella and Tyrone did radio and stage work together, and after their divorce, she returned to France. After an unhappy second marriage, Power visited her and asked to reconcile. However, it was too late.

That all happened later - see Annabella and David Niven, who in fact were to be involved in a tragedy in 1946 when Niven's wife died in the Power home, in happier times.

Entertaining mystery for 30s film fans with decent dialogue and a plot that moves along smartly. Although predictable, the plot elements seem logical. David Niven is his usual charming self, and handles his confused love interest with a believable flair. One `groaner' moment near the end when the bad guy doesn't do you-know-what.

Dinner at the Ritz was done while David Niven was making his first visit back to the old country. Sam Goldwyn who made as much money with Niven by selling his services to major studios as using Niven himself, lent him out to 20th Century Fox for this European production.

The chief recommendation for Dinner at the Ritz is the location shooting in Paris, Monte Carlo, and London. It was good for American audiences to see the real deal as opposed to studio set recreations. It wasn't bad for our audiences to see the beautiful Annabella who would be marrying Niven pal Tyrone Power shortly.

Annabella is the daughter of a banker who allegedly commits suicide after telling her he was going to confront one of a group of six men who pulled off a swindle on his bank. Of course Annabella doesn't believe it, neither does detective David Niven who's after these guys for other crimes.

Since we already know who the murderer is, there's no real suspense in Dinner at the Ritz. It's whether she can catch them and prove it and will she realize Niven ain't one of the gang.

I will say this, the gimmick used to get her father's money back is pulled off with quite a bit of style.

Look for some good performances by Francis L. Sullivan and Paul Lukas as two of the gang of six. But the film really could have used some Hitchcock touches.

Annabella is engaged to Paul Lukas, but when her fiancé's car crashes into David Niven's car, it's love at first sight! But Dinner at the Ritz isn't a love triangle; it's a mystery. . . Shortly after the arrival of the "other man", Annabella's father is murdered during a house party. The police have ruled it a suicide, but the devoted daughter knows better, and with a bit of help, she sets out to find her father's killer.

The plot of Dinner at the Ritz was very entertaining. The biggest problem was the casting. Most of the actors, save David Niven and Paul Lukas, never grew up to be very famous, and there were two or three men who looked so similar I kept getting them confused. And when one of them was very clearly a good guy, and the other just as clearly a bad guy, I would have preferred one of the pseudo-twins to have dyed his hair or grown a mustache! The two leads were very cute, though. Annabella was charming, The Niv was dashing, and they both were very convincing in their pursuit of their young love. All in all, it's a cute movie, and if you like oldies, you could do a lot worse than Dinner at the Ritz.

Firstly can I clear up the confusion of other reviewers.This is a British film made at Denham studios. It is a dull thriller made worse by the almost incomprehensible accent of Anabella.