Love Me Tonight (1932)

A Parisian tailor finds himself posing as a baron in order to collect a sizeable bill from an aristocrat, only to fall in love with an aloof young princess.

Director:

Rouben Mamoulian

Writers:

Samuel Hoffenstein (screen play), George Marion Jr. (screen play),

Stars:

Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Charles Ruggles

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Maurice Chevalier	...	Maurice
Jeanette MacDonald	...	Princess Jeanette (as Jeanette Mac Donald)
Charles Ruggles	...	Viscount Gilbert de Varèze (as Charlie Ruggles)
Charles Butterworth	...	Count de Savignac
Myrna Loy	...	Countess Valentine
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Duke d'Artelines
Elizabeth Patterson	...	First Aunt
Ethel Griffies	...	Second Aunt
Blanche Friderici	...	Third Aunt (as Blanche Frederici)
Joseph Cawthorn	...	Dr. Armand de Fontinac (as Joseph Cawthorne)
Robert Greig	...	Major Domo Flammand
Bert Roach	...	Emile

Storyline

Maurice Courtelin, a Parisian tailor (Maurice Chevalier), is owed a great sum of money by a viscount (Charles Ruggles). Stalling for time, the titled but penniless nobleman moves Maurice into the family chateau and passes him off as a baron. The beguiling Maurice soon charms the entire aristocratic household, except for the haughty Princess Jeanette (Jeanette MacDonald), who remains suspicious of him. But suspicion eventually gives way to love.

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Plot Keywords:

tailor | cobbler | butler | adultery | doctor | 

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Taglines:

Warm Love! Hilarious fun! Sweet music! Hot lyrics!

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 October 1932 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Ama-me Esta Noite

Filming Locations:

Paramount Ranch - 2813 Cornell Road, Agoura, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min 96 min (re-release) 88 min (Turner Library Print) 89 min (TCM print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to her autobiography, Myrna Loy was originally going to wear white empire-style dress for the party sequence, but Jeanette MacDonald was jealous of how she looked insisted that she had to wear it herself instead. Loy surrendered the dress, but then went down the to the costume room and, with a friend's help, put together the black lace outfit she wears in the final film. She stole the scene.

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Goofs

Just before the "Isn't It Romantic?" number begins in the tailor shop, Maurice reacts with pleasure as his customer Emile steps out of the dressing room, supposedly wearing his new suit. But in the mirror's reflection we can see that actor Roach is still wearing his long-johns from earlier in the scene. In the next shot, he is suddenly wearing the suit.

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Quotes

Princess Jeanette: What are you doing now?
Maurice Courtelin: I'm thinking. I'm thinking of you without these clothes.
Princess Jeanette: Open your eyes at once!
Maurice Courtelin: Oh no, pardon madam. With different clothes. Smart clothes.

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood Hist-o-Rama: Myrna Loy (1961)

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Soundtracks

"Isn't It Romantic"
(1932) (uncredited)
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Sung by Maurice Chevalier, Bert Roach, Rolfe Sedan, chorus and Jeanette MacDonald

User Reviews

Impeccable Romantic Diversion

Looking for the fees owed him by an eccentric nobleman, a Parisian tailor arrives at the country château of a lovely, lonely princess.

Blending wonderful music, witty words and first-rate performances, director Rouben Mamoulian created in LOVE ME TONIGHT a superlative concoction which will delight any discriminating aficionado of early movie musicals. With remarkable naturalism & refinement, Mamoulian weaves the songs into the fabric of the film, managing to highlight the best of them with great gusto, while still displaying some delicate touches of his own. The opening sequence of an awakening Paris and the gradual orchestration of sounds, followed immediately by the integration of the first song into a quick walk along a busy street, is a case in point. The viewer knows instantly that the director is in charge and has everything well in hand--which leads to one's wondering what kind of a Land of Oz Paramount Studios must have been in the early 1930's with both Mamoulian and Ernest Lubitsch working on the lot...

Maurice Chevalier exudes Gallic joie de vivre as the honest tailor whose extraordinary charm & talent beguiles a bevy of blue bloods. Effortlessly dominating his every scene, he exhibits the over-sized personality which put him into the rarefied stratum of the top performers (Baker, Coward, Robeson) of his generation. Lovely Jeanette MacDonald once again is the perfect romantic partner for Chevalier. A fine actress as well as an excellent singer, she throws herself into the film's farcical atmosphere and lends her celebrated voice to the musical proceedings.

Jeanette's château is populated by a gaggle of expert character performers: stern old Sir C. Aubrey Smith as the ducal head of the house; gently daffy Charlie Ruggles as an improvident vicomte; elegant Myrna Loy as a young amorous countess; and Elizabeth Patterson, Ethel Griffies & Blanche Frederici as the Aunties--slyly depicted as either a trio of benevolent witches or a pack of excited puppies. Soft-spoken Charles Butterworth plays the timid count who wishes to marry Miss MacDonald. Joseph Cawthorn is the no-nonsense family doctor. Rotund Robert Greig portrays the château's imposing major-domo.

Movie mavens will recognize sour-faced Clarence Wilson as a shirtmaker; Ethel Wales as a temperamental dressmaker; and Edgar Norton as a valet--all uncredited.

Except for the sadly vulgar--albeit tongue-in-cheek--apache tune, the rest of Rodgers & Hart's music is very entertaining, especially the two most famous numbers: 'Isn't It Romantic' (begun in Paris by Chevalier, and traveling by taxi, train, marching soldiers and gypsies it eventually reaches MacDonald on her balcony) and 'Mimi,' sung first by Maurice to Jeanette, but eventually echoed, hilariously, by many of the inhabitants of the château).

Sumptuous production values and costumes by Edith Head add greatly to the film's overall quality.