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.

A risqué farce. Maurice Chevalier in a dual role is two more Chevaliers than I might want. But here he is amusing -- both as the performer and the Baron the performer impersonates.

There are two cute dance routines that seem patterned after Busby Berkeley.

Ann Sothern is, as always, a delight. She plays Chevalier's on-stage partner. Merle Oberon looks very exotic. The fist shots of her are breathtaking. Today, when ethnicity is less a matter of concern for stars, she might have retained that look. It could have made her an even greater draw. Truly, I have never seen her looking more beautiful.

A double role for Maurice Chevalier here, as a performer at the Folies Bergeres plus a rich Baron he impersonates as part of his act. When misfortune hits the Baron, the performer finds an off-stage assignment which can only lead to fun for him and the audience.

Great musical numbers (especially Rhythm of the Rain and the finale with straw hats), strong casting (Ann Southern, Merle Oberon, and the hilarious Eric Blore), and a mixed identity plot which moves along with class and verve, 'Folies Bergere' is an extremely enjoyable example of Hollywood's 1930s flirtation with Europe.

Chevalier's last US role for more than a decade is perfect for him, and the dual roles showcase his acting skills as well as providing lots of chances for that old Gallic charm.

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.

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.