Love Me Tonight
Directed by Rouben Mamoulian
Written by Samuel Hoffenstein, George Marion Jr., and Waldemar Young from a play by Leopold Marchand and Paul Armont
1932/US
Paramount Pictures
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/My DVD collection
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Maurice Courtelin: Jeanette, you know what I think? I think I’m mad. And that you are mad. And that the whole world is mad. But I’m the luckiest man of all. And the happiest. Listen, my beautiful Princess. I love you. I love you! And whatever comes tomorrow, love me tonight. Love me tonight.
In my opinion this is the most perfect musical until 1939, possibly until 1952
Maurice (Maurice Chevalier) is an up-and-coming tailor in Paris, France. His biggest customer is Viscount Gilbert de Varèze (Charlie Ruggles) who has ordered 50,000 francs worth of clothing. Maurice has talked his friendly hatmakers, glove makers, etc. into also extending the Viscount credit. Too late, Maurice finds out that Gilbert never pays anybody. He travels to the chateau where Gilbert lives with his irascible father the Duke d’Artelines (C. Aubrey Smith) and greedy man-crazy sister Valentine (Myrna Loy). Gilbert introduces Maurice to his family as his friend, a baron.
Also occupying the castle is the Princess Jeanette (Jeanette MacDonald). She is the young widow of an old man and is beyond bored. Her problem is that there are no suitably noble candidates for her hand between the ages of 12 and 86. She meets cute with the baron and, after the requisite amount of bickering, finds him quite intriguing.
Inevitably Maurice is found out for the tailor he is. The aristocracy is appalled. Can the lovers find a way to stay together?
The high points include the opening to the sounds of the Paris streets, the “Isn’t It Romantic?” sequence (which still gives me chills no matter how often I see it), and the reprise of “Mimi” by all the various characters. All the supporting cast is fantastic and Myrna Loy is the best of all. A silly story rendered sublime by its director. Highly recommended.
I’m not kidding about those chills!
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