Rent Love Me Tonight (1932)

Legendary Comedy. - Love Me Tonight review by Steve

Legendary early sound film with timeless songs by Rogers and Hart, which has the reputation of being one of the greatest ever musical comedies. There's plainly an attempt to imitate the Lubitsch touch; it's a version of a high society European play set in Paris and employs many Lubitsch regulars, including Maurice Chevalier and a script by Samuel Hoffenstein.

But Rouben Mamoulian fills the film with audacious moments of his own. Most sensationally, the staging of Isn't it Romantic? which starts with Chevalier singing in his shop, then spreads by word of mouth across the city all the way to the balcony of the woman he will later fall in love with. Maurice is a tailor who travels to a country house to chase up a debt and gets caught up in the arcane lunacy of the upper class.

There's an abundance of pre-code innuendo and sophisticated romance. We see Maurice and Jeanette MacDonald in bed together! But there are weaknesses. Jeanette's operatic vocals haven't dated well and she lacks charisma. It's a satire of the aristocracy, but those characters are so entitled that they are difficult to care for. The hunting scenes are actually 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 to the film, whether his infectious comic sparkle or his vivid interpretations of the classic songs, including a Chevalier standard, Mimi. Maybe not everything works, but it's so fertile with innovation and imagination that there's still plenty to love.