IMDb > The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)
The Smiling Lieutenant
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The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
8.2/10   1,325 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 9% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Leopold Jacobson (operetta) and
Felix Dormann (operetta) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Smiling Lieutenant on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
1 August 1931 (USA) more
Genre:
Plot:
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... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. more
NewsDesk:
"Kilometre Zero," "Lubitsch Musicals"
 (From IFC. 4 March 2008, 4:00 AM, PST)

User Comments:
Awesomely immoral, one of Lubitsch's finest musicals more (17 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Maurice Chevalier ... Lt. Nikolaus 'Niki' von Preyn

Claudette Colbert ... Franzi
Miriam Hopkins ... Princess Anna
Charles Ruggles ... Max (as Charlie Ruggles)
George Barbier ... King Adolf XV
Hugh O'Connell ... Niki's Orderly
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Additional Details

Runtime:
89 min (cut version) | 93 min (original version)
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)
Certification:
USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
A French version with dialogue and lyrics by Henri Bataille was shown in New York on 15 October 1931 and was also a big hit in Paris. It had the same three leading actors and probably was a dubbed English print. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: 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. more
Quotes:
King Adolf XV: When you winked at my daughter, were your intentions honorable?
Lieutenant Niki: They were.
King Adolf XV: Well, then naturally you'll marry her.
Lieutenant Niki: My intentions were dishonorable!
King Adolf XV: Then you'll have to marry her!
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Kagirinaki hodo (1934) more
Soundtrack:
Toujours l'Amour in the Army more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
8 out of 11 people found the following comment useful.
Awesomely immoral, one of Lubitsch's finest musicals, 31 March 2003
Author: Kalaman from Ottawa

Lubitsch's third great musical is perhaps his most immoral, along with "One Hour With You". The screenplay by Ernest Vajda and Samson Raphaelson is replete with the occasional Lubitschian double entendres and naughtiness. The film often recalls the lilting grace of Lubitsch's "The Love Parade" but it also looks ahead to the ironic romantic triangle of Lubitsch's lauded masterpiece "Trouble in Paradise".

Here, Chavalier's Lieutenant Niki is torn between an aristocratic princess Anna (Miriam Hopkins) and a working class violinist Franzi (Claudette Colbert), the same way Herbert Marshall's Gaston in "Trouble in Paradise" must choose either Kay Francis's wealthy Madame Colete or his fellow thief, Miriam Hopkin's Lily. But there is a difference. In "Trouble in Paradise", Gaston abandons Mme. Colete for Lily, but in "Smiling Lieutenant", Chevalier unconditionally accepts his forced romance with Anna. At first, Niki is happily fond of Franzi who is introduced to him by his friend Max (Charlie Ruggles, who played one of rejected suitors in "Trouble in Paradise"). But ultimately he is forced to marry princess Anna of the neighboring kingdom of Flausenthurm. The love scenes between lieutenant Niki and Franzi are incredibly charming and flavorsome, while the marriage of Niki and Princess Anna seems unpleasant and uninspired. But the film's charm or brilliance lies in its joyous musical numbers and songs, and its ironic immoral look at its characters. Irony and cynicism are key to understanding Lubitsch's art, especially his works of the early 30s, and "Smiling Lieutenant" is no exception. There is, for instance, an irony and immorality in the lovely number "Jazz Up Your Lingerie", as Princess Anna tries to emulate Franzi in order to look sexy for Niki.

"The Smiling Lieutenant" remains Lubitsch's most underrated musical. Not many people have seen it. It deserves to be seen and compared with Lubitsch's later works, particularly "Trouble in Paradise."

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