Curiosidades

Considered by many to be the first musical film in which the songs were integrated with the story.

There is no evidence that, as has been suggested, the dialogue is post-synced. Although there are a number of unmarried shots (i.e., not shot at the same time as the sound) throughout the film, these are always where no tight syncing is required. Almost all dialogue sequences are shot in pretty static two-shots and are plainly sync sound (in any case, accurate post-syncing would be extremely difficult in the period before looping was introduced). An exception is the song and chorus sequence just after Alfred has walked out on her, where there is solo singing at some distance from the camera, followed by a sequence with chorus; both have independent sound and visible lip-sync errors. There is no mixing of tracks in the dubbing--everything is done by editing, of which there is a considerable amount (for example, the music stops to let you hear the dog gnawing his bone just before "Nobody's using it now" and there are edits to enable this). There is a lot of level control of the sound to keep the effects (mostly live) down. The speech and sound quality are remarkably good throughout--a very considerable achievement for the period--and the synchronization always perfect. The film ends with playout music and no picture, which must have been something of an innovation at that time.

This was director Ernst Lubitsch's first film with sound.

When first offered the part, Maurice Chevalier claimed that an actor of his humble background would never be capable of playing a royal courtier, and had to be persuaded by director Ernst Lubitsch.

Film debuts of Jeanette MacDonald and Margaret Fealy.

Ben Turpin: The silent movie comedian appears as the cross-eyed lackey who informs Count Renard that the court is ready for him at his wedding.