Folies Bergère de Paris

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.

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.

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.

The Fox Movie Channel showed all three versions of this story today starting with "That Night In Rio" then "On The Riviera" and ending with "Folies Bergere" I live Danny Kaye and Don Ameche so I won't pick a favorite I just like the idea of seeing different versions of the same film all at once.I also love old movies so this one was enjoyable too. Great musical numbers.No one misses the old movie houses more than me it's just not the same watching the films from the 30's,40's and 50's etc on VHS or DVD.My wish would be to have a bunch of same titled movies run on the same day in an old theatre and then turn up the lights and talk about them.This one is a great start.

Simply marvelous music-comedy starring one of my favorites, Maurice Chevalier. Chevalier is at his usual debonair, charming, mischievous in this little gem of a film, impersonating entertainer Eugene Charlier and aristocratic Baron Fernand Cassini, with a very amusing plot based upon mistaken identity antics.

His two leading ladies are both gorgeous: lovely, beautiful,elegant, sophisticated, regal, Merle Oberon as the Baroness and gorgeous, down-to-earth, fiery, ravishing Ann Sothern as Mimi, Charlier's partner.

A couple of huge production numbers featuring Chevalier and Ann Sothern add for more fun.

Above all, those were the days when Hollywood had such gifted and priceless talented character actors as Eric Blore, Halliwell Hobbes, Robert Greig et al, who were fantastic playing a variety of butlers, sidekicks, serious politicians etc., supporting perfectly the stars.

Completely enjoyable classic film from start to finish. Try to catch it on the FOX Channel.