Café Metropole (1937)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Edward H. Griffith

Writers:

Gregory Ratoff (story)
Jacques Deval (screenplay)

Release Date:

7 May 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

In Paris, young American Power is in debt to nightclub owner Menjou who forces him to woo heiress Young in hopes of reaping her fortune.

Plot Keywords:

Russian Prince | Paris | Russian | Prince | Money

Cast

Loretta Young	...	Laura Ridgeway
Tyrone Power	...	Alexis
Adolphe Menjou	...	Monsieur Victor Lobard
Gregory Ratoff	...	Paul
Charles Winninger	...	Joseph Ridgeway
Helen Westley	...	Margaret Ridgeway
Christian Rub	...	Maxl Schinner
Ferdinand Gottschalk	...	Monsieur Leon Monnet
Georges Renavent	...	Charles - Captain
Leonid Kinskey	...	Artist
Hal K. Dawson	...	Arthur Cleveland Thorndyke
Paul Porcasi	...	Police Official
André Cheron	...	Croupier (as Andre Cheron)
George Beranger	...	Hat Clerk (as Andre Beranger)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #3121) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Among the photos in Monsieur Victor Lobard's office are Warner Baxter, Shirley Temple, Will Rogers, Alice Faye, Rochelle Hudson, Thomas Beck, all Fox players, plus Gloria Swanson, Jack Dempsey, and Charles Chaplin.

Quotes:

Monsieur Victor Lobard: That's the trouble with a flawless plan! There's always a flaw in it!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults (1997) (TV)

It Doesn't Work

The character players are the best here. Adolph Menjou was generally reliable and here he is plausible as a shady restaurateur. Charles Winninger and Helen Westley are somewhat amusing as Americans. (This takes place in Paris.) Gregory Ratoff is less interesting. He was Russian but if his Russian dialogue is legitimate, I must have misheard my Russian grandparents and wasted four years in Russian class at an Ivy league school. (And both are possible. The point is, he is not well directed.) Tyrone Power seems uncomfortable as the male lead. Loretta Young's character is written well. It is probably the most complex in the movie. And she was almost always good.

Somehow she doesn't seem to have filmed well, albeit often in soft focus. She was one of the greatest beauties in Hollywood history and had a long, illustrious career. Here, though, her overbite is very noticeable and she seems unnecessarily thin.

Nothing about the movie is offensive but it never really convinces.