By Candlelight

This is a well-regarded minor Whale effort which, like REMEMBER LAST NIGHT? (1935) finds him in fine form tackling sophisticated comedy – though it eschews the zaniness which would mark that film; indeed, this is very much in the Lubitsch style and class!

That said, it was criticized for Paul Lukas' central miscasting but I felt he acquitted himself reasonably well under the circumstances. He plays butler to Nils Asther's suave Prince: asked to precede him on a journey, he is mistaken for the real thing when running into charming Elissa Landi (also traveling incognito above her station!) on a train. The two start a hesitant romance, since each is wary of being exposed; the situation is further complicated when the womanizing Asther catches Lukas at his game in his own house. He is willing to play along and assumes the butler's responsibilities, only he has his eyes on Landi too, who in turn is naturally insulted by his impudence! Incidentally, the title is a reference to Asther's recurring trick for seducing the ladies – pretending that the electricity has gone out and having Lukas set up a romantic candle-lit mood (the Prince, then, is happy to oblige his butler during the latter's own affair)!

The mistaken identity ruse (obviously smoothed by the end) has been a staple in the romantic comedy genre, but Whale handles it with tremendous flair and dexterity. Getting back to Lubitsch and his renowned 'touch', we get an ingenious example of it here: Asther is entertaining the opera singer wife of an aristocrat who, breaking into his house, believes he can hear her voice in the next room…but when he steps inside is met with a gramophone playing one of her arias!; still not satisfied, he asks the Prince if he can call her at their home and Asther offers to do it himself – proceeding to connect the phone to a secondary line elsewhere in the house! By the way, what I said about the re-use of sets (and, for that matter, succinctness – since this runs for just 68 minutes) from one film to the other in my review of Whale's THE KISS BEFORE THE MIRROR (1933) applies here as well: both Asther's house and that of Landi's masters were already seen in that very picture (with the all-important mirror, also featured in the director's FRANKENSTEIN [1931], intact)!

Again, though, the print I acquired is far from optimal – being exceedingly soft and once more (briefly) boasting fluctuating audio. With this in mind, a DVD set through Criterion's sister label Eclipse – compiling Whale's most notable non-horror work (given that the company is on good terms with Universal anyway) – would be a veritable treat, especially for somebody not yet familiar with gems such as this one...

Suave butler Paul Lukas greatly admires his wealthy employer, one of those vaguely royal European noblemen who wanders around the continent carrying on romantic affairs. Lukas even practices copying the prince's mannerisms and pickup lines.

Traveling with the prince's luggage, he meets attractive and well dressed Elissa Landi and allows her to think he is the prince himself as they strike up a relationship on the train. They quickly fall in love - and Lukas is reluctant to tell her the truth, afraid that she will not be interested when she learns he is only a butler. Landi, on the other hand, is similarly shifty about her own identity....

Nils Asther is lots of fun as the real prince, who readily plays along with Lukas's game when the opportunity comes up. Landi is fine as the leading lady, sometimes very funny as she alternates between displaying allure and alarm. Lukas is good, too, as the slightly goofy impostor whose scheme starts to get out of control.

The plot and all its little devices - candles, champagne, unscrewing a fuse so the lights go out at the right moment - are not only silly but really rather predictable for the most part. Still, this is a solid entry in the early genre of comedies about misbehaving European royalty.

This is a straight comedy of errors type of thing which although some of its humour is still funny and it's is expertly put together, it's nothing special but still a good example of early thirties middle of the road comedy.

The problem with this is that you've got to like the characters to enjoy this fully but they're just not made relatable enough. Your main man here that you're watching is Paul Lukas and once you get it in your head that he sounds just like Bela Lugosi and looks Dracula in HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA you can't warm easily to him. There's actually a scene where he kisses 'Marie's' neck commenting on her perfect throat......there must have been some funny outtakes from that shoot!

But back to the review..... James Whale's direction makes this feel genuine, as though they're real people. It looks classy and paces itself just right. The characters however seem a little distant and the lead (Dracula audition Hopeful?) is dishonest and a liar so not very likeable. Unusually for a James Whale film but it just doesn't have any magic. And the score is weirdly overpowering. Universal must have been getting their money's worth from the orchestra - it never stops. Were they just showing off to their competitors that they can now afford an orchestra by using it over every single second of your picture.

Yes! There is nothing funnier than infidelity, except maybe...ummm... Everything. Infidelity seems to have been Hollywood's favorite topic from the time movies could be made. I think they had squeezed every drop out of that topic by 1933 to the point it didn't interest me at all anymore.

Within the first fifteen minutes Count von Rischenheim (Lawrence Grant) was at the home of Prince Alfred (Nils Asther) trying to find his wife (Dorothy Revier) as she hid in the other room; all the while the butler, Josef (Paul Lukas), tried to help his boss to keep the woman hidden.

Later, when the butler, Josef, was on a train he met a woman named Marie (Elissa Landi). Josef pretended to be a prince while Marie pretended to be a married lady (by lady I mean a woman of high class). Josef didn't care a bit that she was "married," he still wanted her.

From the train ride on until I turned off this dreadful movie, Josef and Marie catted around. Besides the whole ordeal being terrible unfunny as they pretended to be something they weren't, the intrusive musical soundtrack ruined whatever wasn't already ruined by the script. It was a comical soundtrack as if I was watching a folly, and they didn't know when to stop playing the music.

Free on YouTube.

You can tell that "By Candlelight" is a film that came out before the tough Production Code of mid-1934. This is because this comedy also talks about adultery...and it certainly does NOT condemn it in any way!

Josef (Paul Lukas) is the valet to a prince...and a very good one. So when the prince is out whoring around with other men's wives, Josef, as best he can, runs interference. One day, the prince decides to go on a journey...and he sends his valet ahead of him to get his summer home ready. On the train ride, Josef meets a charming woman and Marie (Elissa Landie) assumes that Josef is THE prince...and pursues him. Little does she know that he's no prince...and Marie has a secret of her own to hide.

This is a cute sex comedy...minus the sex. As usual, Lukas is charming and the film has a few nice laughs.