JohnHowardReid Producer: Rouben Mamoulian. Executive producer: Adolph Zukor. A Rouben Mamoulian Production. Copyright 25 August 1932 by Paramount Publix Corp. New York opening at the Rivoli: 18 August 1932. U.S. release: 26 August 1932. U.K. release: 17 November 1932. Australian release: 21 December 1932. Sydney opening at the Prince Edward: 21 December 1932 (ran five weeks). 10 reels. 96 minutes. (Mamoulian's original cut ran 104 minutes. A snip of Loy singing "Mimi" was cut as well as a whole Chevalier—MacDonald duet, "The Man For Me").SYNOPSIS: In order to collect a debt from a noble customer, a tailor is forced to pose as a baron.NOTES: Paramount's top-grossing release in Australia in 1933. Although "Love Me Tonight" did not make Mordaunt Hall's top ten of the year for The New York Times, it did make his supplementary list variously titled "Fifty Notable (or Worthy) Productions". VIEWER'S GUIDE: A fairy tale that is unsuitable for children of all ages. COMMENT: A cult movie that all adults will enjoy. It has all the qualities that cultists admire: inventive direction, fast pacing, style, sophistication, scant respect for authority and the establishment, yet its charm matches its wit, its seemingly effortless spontaneity over-rides all the complex mechanics of its direction (fascinating though these are for us critics), the elegance and artistry of its production reinforce its delightfully casual sophistication, and above all the agreeable, absolutely winning interpretations by its lead players are so captivating that it's a movie even the most die-hard Bowdler would find impossible to resist.Except in Australia, the movie was not as popular on original release as the previous Chevalier/MacDonald collaboration, One Hour With You (1932). But whereas One Hour now seems a bit dated, particularly in its staging, Love Me Tonight is as fresh, invigorating and up-to-the- minute as today's most expensively tailored and expansively produced comedy — and considerably more appealing. One can only marvel that such a masterpiece of entertainment isn't constantly aired on television, yet it's one of the few films of the thirties that today's youngsters (who are bored out of their socks by Gone With The Wind) would find genuinely entertaining.The musical numbers are so brilliantly dovetailed into the effervescent plot, I almost forgot to say that the songs are all among the most tuneful (Rodgers) and sharply witty (Hart) that the combo ever wrote. OTHER VIEWS: One of the most perfect musicals ever made. - Lawrence J. Quirk in "The Films of Myrna Loy".The ultimate film musical. - Eleanor Knowles in "The Films of Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy".The all-time best screen musical. - Gene Ringgold & Dewitt Bodeen in "Chevalier".One of the most enchanting musicals ever made. - Tom Milne in "Mamoulian". Ranks with Lubitsch's The Love Parade as one of the two masterpieces of the First Era of Hollywood musicals (1927-1936). — Ethan Mordden in "The Hollywood Musical". "Love Me Tonight" remains a classic example of the singer's musical as opposed to the dancer's musical — a film in which, with virtually no actual dance, all the action, musical and non-musical, seems to be choreographed... Rodgers and Hart were destined never to hit on such a winning combination again in the cinema. — John Russell Taylor & Arthur Jackson in "The Hollywood Musical".One of the true masterpieces in the musical genre, and a film of durable wit, beauty, and sophistication. — Ted Sennett in "Hollywood Musicals".

Antonius Block 'Love Me Tonight' is a charming and funny musical, starring Maurice Chevalier as a Parisian tailor who eventually meets and falls in love with a rich Princess played by Jeannette MacDonald. They're both strong and the cast includes the incomparable Myrna Loy in her first 'non-exotic' role, as well as C. Aubrey Smith as the Duke. All of the minor roles are well utilized, including three old ladies who chatter and gossip as they sew and try to cast spells ala the three witches in Macbeth (albeit good spells for the health of the Princess). The musical numbers are entertaining, the best of which is 'Isn't It Romantic?' sung early on by Chevalier, with the tune picked up by one of his customers as he heads out the door, passed along to a taxi driver and his fare, then by a group of soldiers who march, to a gypsy who plays it on a violin, and heard from a balcony by the Princess and sung by MacDonald. It's quite enchanting, and a tune which may stick in your head for awhile afterwards. 'The Son of a Gun Is Nothing But a Tailor' is also nicely performed, and seems years ahead of its time. The movie is chock full of nice touches, from the morning scenes and the 'music of the street' which open the movie, to Chevalier getting on a rambunctious horse for a hunt but then later protecting a deer, to the various witty lines and double entendres which pepper the script. Well done, and a nice (musical) romantic-comedy 1932-style.

chaos-rampant Watch this once straight through because it is a lot of fun, as cinematic operettas go, you'll be hard pressed to find more airy and smart, maybe Lubitsch.Watch it the second time to see how the narrative is so nicely stitched. The lovable rascal is a French tailor—accidentally enmeshed in aristocratic life when he goes to ask for his money. Disguised as a baron, he falls for the uptight princess. Meanwhile, she complains to the family doctor that she's not feeling well—we understand it's nothing a good night of sex won't fix.Myrna Loy is the nymphomaniac cousin of the princess, all the amoral qualities of what the heroine is feeling cast off as a separate character. When the two of them appear together in a ball looking radiant in resplendent dresses, Myrna steals the show in her seductive all black. Of course our guy goes for pure at heart and all is well.Before that, there is a marvelous scene where he measures the princess up for a new dress, in contemporary times the scene would be more risqué, some nudity involved. At any rate, the point is that she bares herself for him. He prepares a marvelous outfit, which gets her thinking that this man knows too much about 'measuring women', which leads to the anticipated exposing climax.Three old (sexless) spinsters set all of this up, sewing all through the movie— Macbeth's three crones of fate in a different light. Clothes. Disguised sex. Sewing as narrative about the work of love. Hidden selves exposed.In the end, the three spinsters hold up the finished article they had been patiently weaving all through the film, an embroidery showing an idealized scene of courting in a way inspired by the plot yet going against the reality of what we saw—in reality, the princess chased after him, riding a horse and defiantly stopping a train to get her man. Her imposing image as she does that is straight out of Pudovkin and his stout Soviet heroines. Look for the same Soviet influence in the opening scene with the town waking up to mechanical sounds, a great piece.

Boba_Fett1138 This is one incredible charming musical/comedy, from the early '30's. And that coming from a non-musical fan of course says a lot.It's not a musical with big dance acts, feather costumes, or anything of that sort but just a movie that happens to feature songs in it, which is the sort of musical approach I prefer. The characters would often burst into singing in the middle of the movie, which of course sounds totally ridicules but it's so charming and the songs are so nice that it attributes to what it is that makes this movie so irresistible, joyful and entertaining to watch. This is really not the sort of movie you would expect from the guy who had previously directed "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" before this movie.Maurice Chevalier didn't had the best signing voice, also of course due to his accent and also especially compared to different genre actors from the same time period. Same goes for most of the actors within this movie. But I sort of like that he isn't perfect in his signing. It seems to fit the movie and its style.The movie has got some nice cheerful innocent humor in it. The great fun but of course simple written script, contributes to the whole fun feeling and atmosphere of the movie.The movie doesn't necessarily really has a typical '30's style and more seems ahead of its time. It also makes this movie feel less outdated than most others, especially from the same genre, movies.The cinematography is really amazing at times. It moves a lot, with pans and also zooms. It makes the cinematography in parts pretty original and innovating for its time. The movie also features some other 'tricks', such as split-screen and slow-motion, among other things. Perhaps this has to do with the Russian origin of director Rouben Mamoulian. His style seems more innovating than most of his fellow Hollywood colleagues from the same time period. It all adds to the atmosphere and unique quality of the movie. It of course also helps that the movie is set in France and Paris. It always has been the best backdrop for these sort of movies. There also was obviously put some effort and money into the sets of the movie. Some real quality entertainment! This is as good as they can get.10/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/