Rent Love Me Tonight (1932)
3.9 of 5 from 62 ratings
1h 29min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- When the debt owed to Parisian tailor Maurice (Maurice Chevalier) becomes too great, he decides to travel to the aristocratic home of his non-paying customer. There, he falls for Princess Jeanette (Jeanette MacDonald), who rejects his advances due to his low social standing. However, she changes her tune when she is led to believe he is a royal, travelling incognito.
- Actors:
- Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Charles Ruggles, Charles Butterworth, Myrna Loy, C. Aubrey Smith, Elizabeth Patterson, Ethel Griffies, Blanche Friderici, Joseph Cawthorn, Robert Greig, Bert Roach, Tyler Brooke, Marion Byron, Cecil Cunningham, Carrie Daumery, George Davis, Mary Doran, Sam Harris, George 'Gabby' Hayes
- Directors:
- Rouben Mamoulian
- Producers:
- Rouben Mamoulian
- Writers:
- Samuel Hoffenstein, George Marion Jr., Waldemar Young, Léopold Marchand, Paul Armont
- Genres:
- Classics, Comedy, Music & Musicals, Romance
- Collections:
- A Brief History of Film..., The Thin Man At 90
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 15/01/2024
- Run Time:
- 89 minutes
- Languages:
- English LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.37:1
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Audio commentary with writers and critics Glenn Kenny and Farran Smith Nehme (2023)
- Isn't It Romantic? (2023, 27 mins): in-depth discussion of Rouben Mamoulian's classic musical by writer and critic Geoff Andrew
- Hollywood on Parade excerpts (1932, 3 mins): Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald perform musical numbers from the film for the newsreel series
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
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Reviews (2) of Love Me Tonight
Joie de Vivre - Love Me Tonight review by CH
The name Richard Rodgers invariably brings to mind the film versions of the musicals he wrote with Oscar Hammerstein. This is to overlook his work with the wittier and more affecting Lorenz Hart, some of which reached the screen after it had appeared on stage (not forgetting the glorious 1934 incarnation of Evergreen with Jessie Matthews). Love Me Tonight (1932), though, saw them supplying the score for the film itself which was directed by Rouben Mamoulian. Very much in the Lubitsch manner, where even tailor Maurice Chevalier's Parisian shop has a glamour about it (top hats!), this is taken from a farce and given a genuinely romantic, abundantly sexual quality.
Put simply, Chevalier is bilked of payment for a suit by a lesser member (Charlie Ruggles) of an aristocratic household whose pile is a drive away from the city. He determines to go there and be paid before returning to Paris, a place which has been wonderfully evoked in the long opening sequence in which "Isn't It Romantic?" is sung by each of the residents whom the camera lights upon as it roves around before ending at the aristocratic castle (over which C. Aubrey Smitrh presides) where the refrain is taken up by a pribcess, Jeanette Macdonald. Married at sixteen to a man in his seventies, she was soon widowed and pines for a man. Even so, she demurs at falling for the charms of Chevalier whom the defaulting aristocrat persuades to pass himself off as a Baron so that he will be invited to stay there while waiting for the payment. (It is perhaps worth noting such a class-traversing situation was the basis for the previous year's now-scarce The Hot Heiress for which Rodgers and Hart wrote a few songs.) One can well anticipate that all will turn out well but, before then, much happens in this brilliantly filmed narrative which is not confined to the building itself but, crucially, ventures without for a hunting scene which arouses the deer-tending rebel in Chevalier and some fine shots of a speeding train.
Nor should we overlook, if that were in the least possible, the innuendo-fortified appeareces by another member of the household, Myrna Loy - and three aunts who in an earlier era would have gathered around a cauldron and cast spells.
From the opening scene onwards, exhilarating is the word for all this. As Hart's successor Oscar Hammerstein would put it in Carousel, such a sunny spirit "is bustin' out all over". Here is radiance - and it's in black and white. And who can resist a scene in which a man, in taking a tumble, exclaims, "I've fallen on my flute!"? And the scene in which, needs must, Chevalier takes his tape measure to Jeanette Macdonald's chest after one layer has fallen from it. Do see it.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Legendary Comedy. - Love Me Tonight review by Steve
Landmark early talkie with timeless songs by Rogers and Hart, which has the reputation of one of the great musical comedies. Rouben Mamoulian was a fine director, and plainly has the Lubitsch touch; it's a version of a high society play set in Paris which employs many Lubitsch regulars, including Maurice Chevalier, with a script by Samuel Hoffenstein.
Mamoulian fills the screen with innovation. Isn't it Romantic? starts with Maurice singing in his tailor shop, then spreads across the city all the way to the balcony of the woman he will love. The tradesman chases up a debt to her country estate and gets caught up in the arcane lunacy of the upper class.
There's an abundance of pre-code innuendo and sophisticated romance. Maurice and Jeanette MacDonald even share a bed together! There are weaknesses. Jeanette's operatic vocals haven't dated well and she lacks charisma. It's a satire of the aristocracy, but these toffs are so entitled that they are difficult to care for. The hunting scenes are unpleasant.
The bonus is a stunning, elegant Myrna Loy who steals all her scenes from the female star. But it's Maurice who brings joy, with his infectious comic sparkle and vivid interpretations of the classic songs, including his standard, Mimi. Maybe not everything works, but it's so fertile with imagination that there's still plenty to love.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.