Café Metropole (1937)

Café Metropole
Directed by Edward H. Griffith
Written by Jacques Deval from an original story by Gregory Ratoff
1937/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing

[box] Monsieur Victor Lobard: That’s the trouble with a flawless plan! There’s always a flaw in it![/box]

Russian raconteur Monsieur Victor (Adolphe Menjou) owns a nightclub in Paris and is deeply in debt.  He gambles the last francs he can get his hands on at baccarat and wins big.  Unfortunately, the loser is American Alexander Brown (Tyrone Power) who writes a bad check before declaring himself penniless.  Victor blackmails Alexander into masquerading as a Russian prince and wooing American heiress Laura Ridgeway (Loretta Young).  Despite Alexis’s terrible Russian accent, Laura is immediately smitten. With Charles Winniger as Laura’s father, Helen Westley as her aunt, and Gregory Ratoff as a waiter.

I enjoyed this comedy, chiefly for its script and the performances by Menjou and various character actors.

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson in a scene deleted from the film (lost for 60 years)