Folies Bergère de Paris

Folies Bergère de Paris (Roy Del Ruth, 1935) is a Lubitsch-like confection with numbers inspired by the kaleidoscopic choreography of Busby Berkeley. It's also among the best films I've caught this year. The story sees a vaudeville entertainer (Maurice Chevalier with his familiar persona) impersonate a baron (Chevalier again), leading to romantic complications for both. Ann Sothern is the entertainer's good time gal, with Merle Oberon the baron's flighty wife. It's witty and invigoratingly entertaining, with a fine performance by Chevalier in his dual role and a top supporting cast that includes Eric Blore, Robert Greig and Halliwell Hobbes. Despite the enjoyable plotting, the film's finest moments come through the slew of great numbers at both the beginning and the end of the film. The Singing a Happy Song finale, which won an Oscar for dance direction and features several hundred straw hats of varying sizes, is really something, but all the tunes are great: Valentine, Rhythm of the Rain, Au Revoir l'Amour and You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth. This was Chevalier's last Hollywood musical until Gigi, 23 years later.

FOLIES BERGERE De Paris (20th Century Pictures, 1935), directed by Roy Del Ruth, is the kind of movie musical that typifies the 1930s: mistaken identity, comical character actors, lavish sets, and production numbers in the Busby Berkeley manner. Starring Maurice Chevalier, it offers the legendary French entertainer the opportunity to play two separate characters that bear a close resemblance to one another, one being a music hall headliner with a clean-cut image whose trademark is his straw hat (like Chevalier), while the other sports a mustache, monacle and a touch of gray hair along his temple. Chevalier even gets to perform opposite two leading ladies, one his theatrical partner, the other, his wife. FOLIES BERGERE goes on record as Chevalier's last Hollywood musical for two decades, closing the chapter to this era in his career. Quite popular since his Hollywood debut at the Paramount studio in 1929, Chevalier returned to Europe where he occasionally appeared in movies abroad before beginning a new chapter in his career in 1957 when he returned to Hollywood once again where he would remain for another decade. As for Merle Oberon, she makes her Hollywood debut, appearing more exotic with her Javanese slant eyes and heavy make-up, compared to her more fresh and appealing features shortly after working under producer Samuel Goldwyn guidance where she performed in some of her best screen work, notably WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939). Ann Sothern, a bright young blonde comedienne who found popularity in later years at MGM and on television, provides good opportunity in being both amusing and annoying as Chevalier's temperamental and jealous girlfriend, Mimi.     

The fun gets underway when Eugene Carlier (Maurice Chevalier), an entertainer at the Folies Bergere, doing a famed impersonation of the Baron Fernand Cassini (Chevalier), a banker, who, by chance, happens to be sitting in the audience with his stately wife, Genevieve (Merle Oberon). Because of a financial crisis that has put his fortune in jeopardy, the Baron decides he must acquire 20 million francs by leaving town to raise the needed cash. During his absence, Eugene is hired to impersonate the Baron at a social function in the home of the Baron. After being instructed in how to act and what to say, Eugene goes on with his masquerade. Because the deception is unknown to Genevieve, confusion arises, and when she learns of the plan, decides to have her fun with the entertainer, unaware that her husband has actually returned home earlier than expected, at the very moment Eugene had made his hasty departure to attend a performance. Believing the Baron to be Eugene, Genevieve finds herself flirting with her own husband. More confusion occurs when Mimi (Ann Sothern), Eugene's musical partner, mistakes him for the Baron, adding more enjoyment to the story long before it is over.      

On the musical program, songs include: "Valentine" (sung by Maurice Chevalier) by Andre Christian, Albert Willmetz, with English lyrics by Herbert Reynolds; "Rhythm in the Rain" (sung by Chevalier and Ann Sothern) by Jack Meskill and Jack Stern; "Au Revoir L'Amour,"  "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth" by Harold Adamson and Burton Lane); "I Was Lucky" and the grand finale of "Singing a Happy Song" (sung and performed by Chevalier and Ann Sothern). "Rhythm in the Rain" is an entertaining production number inspired by "Singin' in the Rain," obviously, but is surpassed by "Happy Song," better known as "The Straw Hat Number," paying homage to Chevalier's prop and image, winning an Academy Award as Best Dance Direction, as choreographed by Dave Gould, beating out Busby Berkeley's more imaginable and longer production number of "The Lullaby of Broadway" from GOLD DIGGERS OF 1935 (Warner Brothers).

Unlike earlier night club musicals of the period, namely WONDER BAR (Warner Brothers, 1934) starring Al Jolson, FOLIES BERGERE does not take place entirely at the famous nightclub, but centers upon the entertainers who work there. The storyline comes between the opening and closing song numbers, where most of the plot is set at the estate of the Baron. At times, FOLIES BERGERE has that Warner Brothers musical feel, and no wonder? It's producer is Darryl F. Zanuck, the one responsible for the legendary 42nd STREET (WB, 1933), released a year before Zanuck formed his own production studio of 20th Century Pictures. At other times, it comes across like a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical because of its European background along with Astaire's frequent comic support of Eric Blore playing Francois. Others in the cast include Walter Byron as Marquis Rene; Lumsden Hare as Gustave; Robert Greig as Henri; Halliwell Hobbes, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Ferdinand Munier, Olin Howland, among many others.

More entertaining in the musical sense than with the story, FOLIES BERGERE was remade twice by 20th Century-Fox: THAT NIGHT IN RIO (1941) with Don Ameche and Alice Faye; and ON THE RIVERA (1951) with Danny Kaye and Gene Tierney, both produced in lavish Technicolor. Of the three versions, ON THE RIVERA happens to be the best known and televised while THAT NIGHT IN RIO comes a close second, leaving FOLIES BERGERE to be a seldom seen item. Almost forgotten today due to lack of revivals, and an oversight when the topic of musicals is concerned, FOLIES BERGERE is available for viewing, thanks to occasional broadcasts from cable television's Fox Movie Channel. With a bright score, interesting story, grand scale production numbers and Chevalier's masquerade as the Baron with a definite comedic flair, with occasional slow spots at times, Roy Del Ruth's direction makes much of this 81 minute musical-comedy quite palatable. (***)

In the early to mid 1930s, Maurice Chevalier made some exceptional American films such as LOVE ME TONIGHT and THE MERRY WIDOW. While I usually am not a fan of Jeanette MacDonald films, his presence elevated them to great heights thanks to his on screen personality and lovely singing voice. While this film is fun and is well worth seeing, it is clearly several steps below these other films in quality--mostly because the script is a tad silly. The main idea is a giant cliché. The audience is supposed to believe that there are two men who are unrelated who look and talk exactly alike. While such an idea worked pretty well in THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER and THE PRISONER OF ZENDA, here the writing wasn't good enough to enable many audience members to accept this idea--especially because the two are so exact that even a wife cannot tell the difference! If you can ignore the central idea as well as the film going on a bit too long and having too many Busby Berkeley-style dance numbers, you are left with a film that is still worth your time and is a little better than your standard time-passer.

I had no idea this would be as good as it was. I had thought that the only musicals worthy of watching were Busby Berkley's famous four: 42nd STREET to DAMES, Fred and Ginger's at RKO and Jessie Matthews' at Gaumont-British since everything else was just a cheap, unimaginative copy. Now I know better - this is a great - what a revelation!

It doesn't start off too promising, the first ten minutes is just Maurice Chevalier doing his thing but then it steps into action so don't be put off by the beginning. This picture has everything and more you'd expect from an absolute top notch 1930s musical-comedy: a proper story, jaunty songs, romance, a genuinely funny script, likeable characters you're interested in, spectacularly choreographed dance numbers, a silly but not stupid plot and an overall uplifting, happy feel.

Because Daryl Zanuck, when at Warners oversaw the original Busby Berkeley musicals, you might have thought that when he started up Twentieth Century Pictures he'd simply try to copy his earlier success by making something similar. He was cleverer than that. Whilst Warner Brothers continued tiredly to churn out the same old story with the same old cast over and over again, each time getting worse and worse and worse, Zanuck gave us something different. We've still got a few Busby Berkley type routines but this is not really comparable say to the gritty glory of GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933, this is more of a traditional light comedy (if you were to compare it wouldn't be as good, but ten or twenty times better than '..of 35' or '..of 37') Even with directorial skill of Roy del Ruth, poached from Warners, the style of this is cleaner, more stylish, closer in feel to the Jessie Matthews musicals Gaumont-British were producing such as EVERGREEN - not just because they often feature her in a silly story of mistaken identity as well. In some ways Maurice Chevalier himself is a little like her inasmuch that what makes this film so enjoyable is the personality of its star. Like with Jessie Matthews, his personable and engaging personality simply gushes through the screen at you and you can't help feeling that he is smiling directly at you - he actually sings better than she does but he would certainly not look as good in one of her sexy dresses!

Fans of the Grand Boulevardier Maurice Chevalier get a double treat in this film with Maurice starring in a dual role, as a millionaire titled financier and as a song and dance man who looks like the aforementioned baron and has a happy knack for impersonating him. In fact his impersonation is the hit of the review that the song and dance man is starring in at the Folies Bergere.

Which gives some of the baron's confederates the idea to have the song and dance man replace the baron at a reception while the baron makes a secret trip to London where if he doesn't pull off a financial coup, his fortune is history.

The people most confused in this comedy of mistaken identity are Merle Oberon as the wife of the baron and Ann Sothern as the song and dance man's girl friend and partner. Nobody bothers to clue them in and most of the comedy revolves around them. Especially Sothern who has a nasty temper when she thinks she's being trifled with. And both Maurices are big in the trifling department.

Folies Bergere was the last American production that Maurice Chevalier would appear in for over 20 years until Billy Wilder's Love In The Afternoon. If you wanted to see Chevalier you had to live in a big city and hope one of his French films would be playing at an art house. Maurice did leave America in a spectacular way, the film has more glitz in it than anything else he was in since Paramount On Parade.

In fact Folies Bergere with its glamorous production numbers resembles a Warner Brothers product with Busby Berkeley choreography more than any of Chevalier's previous films. But with the title of Folies Bergere, 20th Century Films wanted to make it look as colorful as the real Folies Bergere was.

The score is serviceable and Darryl Zanuck had the good sense to include Chevalier standard Valentina in it. Chevalier first introduced this and recorded it in 1925. It was his first big hit and came from a Parisian revue and it launched his career as a star.

Eric Blore stands out in this cast as the baron's valet who is also not let in on the masquerade. His reactions and general demeanor are very funny indeed.

Fans of the eternal Maurice should not miss this one.