Une nuit romanesque

This film begins rather slowly, but gets more interesting as one progresses through the film. The Swan, later retitled One Romantic Night, was the talkie debut of silent film giant Lillian Gish. The criticism that Gish was too old for this part are baseless because Gish still looked quite young at this point (she certainly didn't look 37). She was also very dolled up and beautiful, looking every bit like a princess. Her talkie debut was great. She spoke well, she had great facial and bodily expressions, and she captivated the audience during her scenes just as she did in her silent films. This role was also a welcome change for Gish fans used to seeing her play the vulnerable, frail, nice girl roles, as she was strong, defiant, and independent in this role. Marie Dressler was great too. She owned her lines expressively without overdoing it, and it was nice to see her in a nobility role, much different than her previous roles. Rod La Rocque and Conrad Nagel could be stiff at times, but there were scenes where they shined as well. The two teenage boys had small roles, but performed them very well. Overall, the film has a rather slow start, and at some point the acting seems quite "stagey," but overall it is an enjoyable film, and it's very worth watching for Lillian Gish fans to see her in her first talkie.

Very rare film based on Molnar's THE SWAN (an alternate title), ONE ROMANTIC NIGHT tells the story of a princess who must choose between a romantic tutor (Conrad Nagel) or a rascally prince (Rod La Rocque). Getting in the way and making things difficult is the princess' mother (Marie Dressler).

A terrific cast makes this watchable (although my copy is bad), but the story is rather dull. Gish (in her talkie debut) looks and sounds great; Dressler of course steals every scene she's in. Nagel is OK, and La Rocque is handsome but somewhat prissy.

At age 37, Gish was probably too old for the part of the princess, but it's the kind of character that fit her screen persona. Gish herself did not like the film and considered it slow and dull. She also didn't like the director, whose work she was unfamiliar with. She had not made a film since 1928's silent THE WIND and wouldn't make another film for 3 years. La Rocque, Nagel, and Dressler had all made talkies before this film.

Oddly, this story was filmed again in the 50s as THE SWAN and starring Grace Kelly and Alec Guinness.

Lovely, demure Lillian Gish (as Princess Alexandra) is expected to marry randy, royal Rod La Rocque (as Prince Albert). Instead, Ms. Gish is attracted to someone out of her societal class, her brothers' tutor Conrad Nagel (as Nicholas Haller). Gish's dalliance with Mr. Nagel puts her "arranged" royal wedding with Mr. La Rocque in jeopardy. As he finds his prospective bride slipping away, La Roque finds himself falling in love with Gish. Who will the Princess choose?

This re-titled version of Molnár's "The Swan" was certainly an unsuitable talking picture debut for Gish. Although she speaks well, the script and direction offer Gish little opportunity to show her considerable dramatic skills. Reportedly, the legendary actress clashed with director Paul L. Stein; and, George Fitzmaurice was called in to complete the film. The supporting cast, including Marie Dressler and Philippe De Lacy, and cinematography (Karl Struss), are attractive. La Rocque is unusually weak as the winning man; probably, his performance suffers due to the lack of direction (un-unified Fitzmaurice, Gish, and Stein). The unhappy experience resulted in Gish concentrating her energies on stage work.

***** One Romantic Night (5/3/30) Paul L. Stein ~ Lillian Gish, Rod La Rocque, Conrad Nagel, Marie Dressler

Pre-World-War-Two Hollywood got a lot of mileage out of Hungarian plays, in this case one by Ferenc Molnar which had been filmed previously and would be filmed again. These plays had one thing in common – people impersonating other people or pretending to be something other than what they really were in order achieve a status-seeking goal. Here, a princess (Lillian Gish), at the urging of her ambitious mother (Marie Dressler), keeps company with her younger brothers' tutor (Conrad Nagel) in order to make a prince (Rod La Rocque) jealous so that he will propose to her. This is the kind of story that might have been the backbone for an operetta directed by the likes of Lubitsch. But this film plays it straight and without the visual wit that Lubitsch brought to his projects. It begins promisingly as foppish, decadent LaRocque is dragged away by his handlers from a wild party to pay a visit to Gish and Dressler. But as soon as he arrives at his destination the film degenerates into one boring setup after another in which various combinations of people talk a lot about whether they are in love or not or which suitor will win Gish. Occasionally a voice is raised, a kiss is planted on lips or hands, or Dressler pulls nervously on her hanky.

In talkies, La Rocque fared best as a villain (as in THE LOCKED DOOR) but as the prince it's hard to tell whether his character is meant to be bad or good. He has a fey way with line readings that brings to mind the chronologically later Vincent Price. Although he looks magnificent in military garb, he lacks the natural joie de vivre that Maurice Chevalier brought to similar roles and he seems to be mocking himself. Nagel is, as always, dashing and sympathetic but at certain moments pompous. Dressler restrains herself commendably; in general she contributes much needed punch as well as dashes of humor. The ethereally beautiful Gish is every inch the princess in a flawless performance; the role she plays, unfortunately, is so tepid that her efforts hardly matter. She was 36 years old when this was shot but Karl Struss's soft focus cinematography helps.

If you've seen the 1956 version of THE SWAN, then this earlier version will very, very familiar as the scripts are so very similar--much more than the average remake. Yet, despite the strong similarity, the 1930 version just didn't work for me.

A major part of the problem was the poor decision to cast Lillian Gish in the lead. While she was always a lovely actress, she was simply way too old for this part. The character is supposed to be a young lady, but Gish is nearing 40 and having her play an eligible young princess is just silly. Also, while I have loved Gish in many other films, in her first sound film she is quite poor--often interrupting or talking over the lines of other actors. Now the director should have noted this and re-filmed a few scenes. However, it also was likely that Gish was just out of her element with sound and this interfered with her timing...and perhaps her confidence. Fortunately, in future sound films she improved tremendously--though she also did very few sound films during the 1930s--choosing instead to work on the stage.

In contrast, Grace Kelly was much younger and elegant and seemed more like a real princess--regardless of what the future would hold for her in Monaco. It also didn't help that Gish had the wimpy and rather effeminate Rod LaRocque as a romantic interest; whereas Kelly had a more handsome and regal Alec Guinness.

Another problem with the 1930 version is that it lacks the elegance and grace of the later version--and a lot of this is because in 1930 they still weren't that adept at using the new medium of sound. Like a typical 1930 film, there was little incidental music and the movie seemed amazingly flat. Just a bit of romantic or dramatic music here or there would have helped.

Overall, it's an interesting idea for a film but the execution left quite a bit to be desired. I would love to find a copy of the first version of the film (1925) but I have no idea where to look.