Aimez-moi ce soir

This is an enchanting film, one of the best musicals of the decade. Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald are incredibly appealing in a rich-girl-poor-boy musical romance. It's one of those rare films where the girl runs away from the palace to follow her true love and you *don't* think "wait a minute, you'll never survive out there", no, you want them to be together. The score is enchanting (the big hits being "Isn't it Romantic" and "Lover"), Chevalier is devastatingly attractive, and MacDonald is vulnerably appealing and completely without the annoying primness that marred her later films.

It's also a remarkably well made film for 1932, when most films were just getting used to sound and suffered from a horrible stiffness on the part of the actors and the camera. You'd think this movie was made ten years later, it's lively and sparkling, and directed with a smoothness and originality that's still amazing.

There are so many elements regarding LOVE ME TONIGHT that crossed to create one of the great musicals of American film. It probably was the best score for a Hollywood film done by Rodgers and Hart, including "Isn't It Romantic", "Mimi", and "Lover", as well as "The Sonofagun is Nothing But a Tailor" (only their scores for HALLELUJAH, I'M A BUM and THE PHANTOM PRESIDENT are as interesting, but the former only produced one standard, and the latter produced none). From their first arrival in motion pictures Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart experimented with singing that replaced dialog. Here it finally got it's opportunity to show what it could do. That's due to them having a master director (who would turn out to be more of a stage and musical director than a film one - though his films remain more than interesting), Rouben Mamoulian. Always willing to experiment in his film (in DR. JECKYLL AND MR. HYDE, having the camera take the point of view of Fredric March for part of the film; using color to show suggestions of the threat of military violence in BECKY SHARP) Mamoulian was willing to go along with his musical pair in the extended songs like "How are you?" and "Isn't It Romantic". The latter beginning in Chevalier's tailor shop eventually involves people passing the melody from the street to a musician in a taxicab to a marching brigade of troops to gypsies to Jeanette at her palace. The cast was perfect, with Chevalier and MacDonald joined by their former ONE HOUR WITH YOU co-star Charlie Ruggles, as well as Myrna Loy, Charles Butterworth (who has some funny lines for a change), and C. Aubrey Smith. It is rare for everything in a musical to fit together so well.

Chevalier is a tailor who made the mistake of making a complete wardrobe for Ruggles a supposedly wealthy aristocrat. Ruggles owes him a lot (as well as all the other people who made parts of the clothing for Ruggles - at Chevalier's recommendation). So they send him after Ruggles, who has gone to his rich uncle's home in the country. This is C. Aubrey Smith, a reactionary old Duke. He is also the protector of Princess Jeanette, now a widow (don't feel bad for her, as Dr. Joseph Cawthorn finds out). Also staying with the Duke is Count Charles Butterworth, a scholarly aristocrat (and just as hesitant and bumbling in his delivery of dialog here as in other films, but here his comments are funny). Finally there is Smith's niece, Myrna Loy, who never saw a pair of men's pants that she did not care to open.

Chevalier's appearance is an embarrassment to Ruggles, who may be disinherited by Smith over his debts. So he keeps Chevalier from admitting that he is a tailor, and finally suggests that Chevalier is a king traveling incognito. As Chevalier and MacDonald slowly fall in love, the suspicion that he is a monarch makes him possibly a perfect match for the widowed Princess. Chevalier also enlivens the dull château with his songs (including an "Apache" number, as well as "Mimi" which everyone ends up singing - including C. Aubrey Smith!). But what would happen if the truth comes out? That is what leads to the conclusion of the film.

Many of the early surviving films of the 1930s are cut from what they originally were like. And the film that was cut is usually lost forever. In the case of LOVE ME TONIGHT, the loss is truly sad because of the quality of the film that survives. But at least we do have that surviving footage to marvel at and enjoy.

For what it is worth, here is a bit of "Americana". I found a letter from my father to my mother written on September 11, 1932 ,(nine years before they were married, by the way). In it he mentioned having gone to see this film. His review is as follows...

"I went to see Maurice Chevalier tonight in his latest, 'Love Me Tonight'. Say, I have more technique than that guy, any night. He is losing all he had, can I give him pointers?".

I had to correct some spellings errors in the quote, otherwise IMDb wouldn't accept it. Pity. That way it loses a bit of the flavor and intention of a "Quote"

I take it that my Dad liked the movie.

Yes, it's available from Kino. If not in general distribution, you can still order it from most Internet-based distributors. Its publication is coincidental with one of Rouben Mamoulian's other masterpieces of the sound era, 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' (the Fredric March version, 1931). Although the producers of this last two-for-one DVD (where it is coupled with Victor Fleming 1941 version with Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman and Lana Turner) were able to restore most of the parts of 'Jekyll' which were cut away either by the studio (Paramount) or the censors, the same cannot be said of 'Love Me Tonight'.

Don't get me wrong: it still is a must-own masterpiece reproduced in a pristine print with sound as clear as a bell, but it is still missing songs and scenes that were cut because they were too long or because the censors repeatedly asked for their exclusion. I didn't have time to listen to the whole commentary by Miles Kreuger, who probably explains how these tasty bits were either destroyed or lost to posterity.

What remains, of course, is the version film lovers have always known from television and have recorded on their VCRs for years. What comes out in this print is that the photography by Victor Milner is very reminiscent of the celebrated Brassaï still photographs of Paris, the lighting is extremely rich and complex and the camera movements are unusual for the time (including a discreet use of the zoom lens for comic effects). Two set pieces ('Isn't Romantic?' and ''The son-of-a-gun is nothing but a tailor') are guaranteed to knock the wind out of you. One song, 'Mimi', has Maurice Chevalier singing to Jeanette MacDonald but directly to the camera and Jeanette looking back at him in the same way, which is spine-tingling. Another song (the pre-recorded 'Love Me Tonight') Is sung over a split-screen view of the lovers sleeping each in their own bed. The film even includes a full-regalia deer hunt and a race between a train and a horsewoman worthy of the 'Perils of Pauline'.

The script is based on a French boulevard comedy called 'The Tailor and the Princess' by Armont and Marchand but it has been amplified by a very witty and poetic script by American Samuel Hoffenstein (who also worked on 'Jekyll'), spoken and sung rhymed couplets by Lorenz Hart and, of course, songs and incidental music by Richard Rodgers.

In this gentle lampoon of French aristocracy and the democratic aspirations of the working classes, songs are not mere filler, they announce scenes, introduce characters and propel the action. They also give rise to very cinematic montages which keep the spectator in a perpetual state of expectation. In this respect, Mamoulian was probably paying respect to what René Clair had accomplished in his French musical 'Le Million' a short time before (1931). Its sexual content, however, was clearly inspired (or dictated) by the preceding film Ernst Lubitsch had directed starring the box-office smash duo of Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier ('Love Parade', 1929, followed in 1935 by 'The Merry Widow'). 'Love Me Tonight' in turn inspired the French style of film comedy for decades to come, where the introduction of working class elements in an aristocratic setting became a kind of stock situation (see 'The Rules of the Game', Jean Renoir, 1939).

As Miles Kreuger explains, this is probably the last screen musical where most of the sung numbers were recorded live on the soundstage, with a live orchestra in attendance off-screen (as evidenced in the production photographs), because the complexity of film-making from this point on required the songs to be pre-recorded. This gives the film a unique, spontaneous quality even in the most choreographed numbers.

The inclusion of the three spinster sisters is a particularly fine touch, reminiscent of the famous 'Mesdames' of Louis XVth's court (his three moralizing unmarried daughters), but they also serve as Greek chorus and a benevolent version of the Three Witches or Three Fairies of folk literature.

Luckily, the DVD also includes a complete reprinting of the script pages of the scenes that were lost to censorship or cut by the studio, as well as censorship notes and they make for fine reading.

All in all, this is one of the most important films in cinema's history, a timeless comedy whose enjoyment will never be marred and a fine DVD package.

LOVE ME TONIGHT (Paramount, 1932) directed by Rouben Mamoulian, marks the third teaming of Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, following THE LOVE PARADE (1929) and ONE HOUR WITH YOU (1932), as well as their best collaboration of four musicals together, in fact, the privilege of being one of the best musicals ever made in the 1930s.

The story focuses on a French tailor named Maurice (Maurice Chevalier) who is swindled out of his fee by the Vicomte DeVarez (Charles Ruggles). He soon sets out for the castle of the Vicomte's uncle, The Duke (C. Aubrey Smith) to collect the fee. While there, at the advice of the Vicomte, who promises to pay him within a few days, to remain at the castle under the guise of a royal Baron. Maurice, who had earlier encountered Jeanette (Jeanette MacDonald), a beautiful but lonely princess, immediately falls in love with her, in spite of her resistance. Things start to look bright for Maurice and Jeanette until it is discovered that Maurice is not nothing but a tailor.

The supporting cast consists of Myrna Loy (on loan from MGM) as Countess Valentine; Charles Butterworth as Count DeSavignac, the deadpan character who loves Jeanette as well as his flute; Elizabeth Patterson, Ethel Griffies and Blanche Frederici as the maiden aunts; Robert Greig as Flamond; with Clarence Wilson and Gordon Westcott, among others. The biggest surprise is Myrna Loy, better known for her sophistication rather than her Oriental vamps from her early years, playing an offbeat character as a man-chasing gal who goes for anything in pants, something to the liking of Lillian Roth, who had demonstrated a similar chore in THE LOVE PARADE. Loy even gets some of the film's most witty lines. In a scene where Jeanette becomes ill, and a doctor is needed, her cousin (Ruggles) asks her, "Could you go for a doctor?" She replies, "Certainly, bring him right in."

With the music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, songs include "The Song of Paree," "How Are You?" (both sung by Maurice Chevalier); "Isn't It Romantic?" (sung by Chevalier, Bert Roach, Rolfe Sedan, Tyler Brooke, cast members and Jeanette MacDonald); "Lover" (sung by MacDonald); "Mimi" (sung by Chevalier); "A Woman Needs Something Like That" (recited by MacDonald and Joseph Cawthorne); "Mimi" (reprise, sung by C. Aubrey Smith, Charles Ruggles, Elizabeth Patterson, Ethel Griffies, Blanche Frederici and Charles Butterworth. Myrna Loy's suggestive version to the song wearing a transparent negligee has been deleted from reissue prints); "I'm an Apache" (sung by Chevalier); "Love Me Tonight" (sung by MacDonald); "The Son-of-a-Gun is Nothing But a Tailor" (sung by cast); and "Love Me Tonight" (sung by Chevalier and MacDonald).

Of the many songs, all are first-rate, but the title tune did not become as memorable as "Isn't It Romantic?" which should have been the film's title since it more fits the mood to the story than "Love Me Tonight." But whatever title, some might shy away from it believing this to be an unbearable sugary love story, but on the contrary, is more than that. It's a love story with a first-rate script, risqué dialog and wonderful tunes that fits together like a jigsaw puzzle. Others might avoid LOVE ME TONIGHT because of its age. Certainly it's old, but in spite of that, it not only gives the impression of being ahead of its time, but that European film-making style to it, ranging from people riding their horses in slow motion photography, lovers communicating in song through their thoughts in split screen, as well as superimposing on MacDonald's face as she must make a big decision while at the same time Chevalier is awaiting for his train with each other's voice singing the title tune in the soundtrack. Up to this time, nothing this original has ever been used for a musical. The wit and wisdom of Ernst Lubitsch might have made LOVE ME TONIGHT a witty love affair, but Mamoulien combines his musical romance with advance technology and style, which is why LOVE ME TONIGHT continues to find a new appreciative audience decades after its initial release. With lines such as, "Once upon a time there was a princess and a prince charming, who was not a prince, but who WAS charming," LOVE ME TONIGHT is a musical fairy tale indeed, something not found in storybooks for children but more on the adult level.

Aside from late night viewing on commercial television from the 1960s to mid 1980s (depending on whatever state this was shown), LOVE ME TONIGHT enjoyed frequent revivals on American Movie Classics cable channel from 1990 to 1996, and resurfaced again on Turner Classic Movies where it premiered July 29, 2004. Thanks to KINO Video, LOVE ME TONIGHT is also available on video cassette and DVD. Originally released at about 100 minutes, prints in circulation today run at 90 minutes. But even the shorter version doesn't take away the impact, simplicity and joy of watching LOVE ME TONIGHT. Sit back, relax and enjoy this one. (****)