Trouble in Paradise (1932)

Director:

Ernst Lubitsch

Writers:

Aladar Laszlo (play)
Grover Jones (adaptation)
(more)

Release Date:

21 October 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Romance

Plot:

High class European thief Gaston Monesque meets his soul mate Lily, a pickpocket masquerading as a countess...

Plot Keywords:

Thief | Secretary | Perfume | Pickpocket | Jealousy

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Miriam Hopkins	...	Lily
Kay Francis	...	Madame Mariette Colet
Herbert Marshall	...	Gaston Monescu
Charles Ruggles	...	The Major (as Charlie Ruggles)
Edward Everett Horton	...	François Filiba
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Adolph J. Giron
Robert Greig	...	Jacques, Mariette's Butler
Leonid Kinskey	...	The Communist
George Humbert	...	Waiter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Luis Alberni	...	Annoyed Opera Fan (uncredited)
Hooper Atchley	...	Insurance Agent (uncredited)
Tyler Brooke	...	Commercial Singer (uncredited)
Marion Byron	...	Maid (uncredited)
Perry Ivins	...	Radio Commentator (uncredited)
Gus Leonard	...	Elderly Servant (uncredited)
Fred Malatesta	...	Hotel Manager (uncredited)
Eva McKenzie	...	Duchess Chambreau (uncredited)
Hector Sarno	...	Prefect of Police (uncredited)
Rolfe Sedan	...	Purse Salesman (uncredited)
Larry Steers	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Nella Walker	...	Mme. Bouchet (uncredited)
Florence Wix	...	Party Guest (uncredited)

Directed by
Ernst Lubitsch

Writing credits
Aladar Laszlo		() (play "The Honest Finder") (as Laszlo Aladar)
Grover Jones		(adaptation)
Samson Raphaelson		(writer)

Produced by
Ernst Lubitsch	....	producer

Cinematography by
Victor Milner

Art Direction by
Hans Dreier		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Travis Banton		(gowns)

Sound Department
M.M. Paggi	....	sound (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Earl Crowley	....	still photographer (uncredited)
William Miller	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Eugene Richee	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Guy Roe	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures (as Paramount Publix Corporation)

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1932) (USA) (theatrical) (as Paramount Publix Corporation)
• MCA/Universal Pictures (1958) (USA) (TV)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

The Golden Widow (USA) (pre-release title)
The Honest Finder (USA) (working title)
Thieves and Lovers (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian | Russian | Spanish | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Norway:16 (1933) | USA:Passed | South Korea:12 (2003) | Australia:PG | Finland:(Banned) | West Germany:12 (nf)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

This movie was popular both with critics and with audiences, but was made before the enforcement of the production code. After 1935, it was withdrawn from circulation and was not seen again until 1968. The film was never available on videocassette and only became available on DVD in 2003.

Quotes:

Waiter: Yes, Baron. What should we start with, Baron? Hmm?
Gaston Monescu: Oh yes. That's not so easy. Beginnings are always difficult.
Waiter: Yes, Baron.
Gaston Monescu: If Casanova suddenly turned out to be Romeo having supper with Juliet, who might become Cleopatra, how would you start?
Waiter: I would start with cocktails.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in One, Two, Three (1961)

Soundtrack:

Trouble in Paradise

"Con-stantinople!"

In the first minutes, two nobles dressed to the teeth--the Second Earl of Bastrop and Lady Higgenbottom, let's say--exchange brittle, achingly witty repartee. It's all rather droll until Lady H. picks up the telephone to inform her staff at home that she'll be late for dinner. The director, Ernst Lubitsch, cuts to the other side of the conversation--and we see a fat landlady in a hovel crawling with cats looking baffled at the receiver and saying, "Whaddaya sayin'?" At that moment, you know that Lubitsch and his ideal-mate screenwriter, Samson Raphaelson, are playing a pretty sophisticated game--and in the nearly seventy years since this movie, comedy directors from Billy Wilder to George Cukor to Woody Allen have been playing catch-up.

TROUBLE IN PARADISE remains the most perfect of all sound comedies--it makes you feel as if you had consumed some celestial compound of champagne and helium. The surprise of the movie today is not the pleasure of its Lubitschian elegance, but the fact that the movie is screamingly funny at every turn--Lubitsch's smart bombs never miss their mark. And for all the applications of his "touch" we're grateful for, Lubitsch never again made anything so flawless--in these less-than-ninety minutes, he and Raphaelson turned dialogue comedy into Mozartean music.