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The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)

Passed  -  Comedy | Romance | Musical  -  1 August 1931 (USA)
7.6
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Ratings: 7.6/10 from 1,984 users  
Reviews: 27 user | 19 critic

Lieutenant Niki of the Austrian royal guard has a new girlfriend, Franzi. He's crazy about her and is smiling at her while on duty in the street. King Adolf and his daughter Princess Anna ... See full summary »

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(operetta), (operetta), 5 more credits »
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Title: The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)

The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) on IMDb 7.6/10

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Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
Lt. Nikolaus 'Niki' von Preyn
...
Franzi
...
Princess Anna
...
Max (as Charlie Ruggles)
George Barbier ...
King Adolf XV
Hugh O'Connell ...
Niki's Orderly
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Storyline

Lieutenant Niki of the Austrian royal guard has a new girlfriend, Franzi. He's crazy about her and is smiling at her while on duty in the street. King Adolf and his daughter Princess Anna from the neighboring kingdom of Flausenthurm drive by, and Anna intercepts a wink meant for Franzi. She falls for Niki, marries him (he has no choice in the matter), and whisks him off to Flausenthurm. Franzi follows and enjoys a brief affair with Niki before Anna finds out. Franzi, much more experienced in the ways of the world, gives Anna lessons on how to win the affections of her husband. Written by John Oswalt <jao@jao.com>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis


Certificate:

Passed | See all certifications »
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Details

Country:

Language:

|

Release Date:

1 August 1931 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

El teniente seductor  »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (cut) | (original)

Sound Mix:

(Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Long considered lost until a print was discovered in Denmark in the 1990s. See more »

Goofs

In the latter part of the movie Chevalier bounds up a grand staircase painted to appear as marble but the loud clomp-clomp-clomp of his shoes reveals it to be just wood. See more »

Quotes

Franzi: Jazz up your lingerie!
See more »

Connections

Featured in Street Without End (1934) See more »

Soundtracks

"One More Hour of Love"
(1931)
Music by Oscar Straus
Lyrics by Clifford Grey
Sung by Maurice Chevalier
See more »

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User Reviews

More sex per minute ...
7 March 2008 | by (United States) – See all my reviews

There is more real sexuality between male and female in five minutes of a Lubitsch musical than in two and a half hours of any average film you're likely to see today. Needless to say, there is no nudity. It's all done with innuendo and the extraordinary degree of energy and physical magnetism that Lubitsch manages to elicit from all his actors. For once in a film, you actually feel that these extremely attractive young people can hardly wait to go to bed with each other, and when they do (off-screen of course) the result is … transformative. When they burst out in song, as they do on the slightest provocation in a Lubitsch musical, it is because they are full of emotions they can no longer contain. There's nothing dirty or smutty whatsoever in the Lubitsch Touch, as there is sometimes in the work of his disciple Billy Wilder. Lubitsch's characters explode with life, the joy of being young and in love. There are many great film directors, but not one has ever been able to create the kind of sexual energy that Lubitsch puts into all his films. Silly as the plots may be, mediocre as most of the songs are, his films bristle with the romance and humor of life.


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