The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)

Musical Romance. - The Smiling Lieutenant review by Steve

Musical romance from Ernst Lubitsch who revolutionised Hollywood in the early sound era. More than anyone he brought together the influences that made screwball comedy. The Smiling Lieutenant is based on a German operetta and though a musical, the songs are few and do not impede the lively reflection on the game of love.

It is set in Vienna in a garrison, where the soldiers spend most of their time on romantic manoeuvres. The charming lieutenant is Maurice Chevalier who falls in love with Claudette Colbert, a violinist. He plays the piano. They make music together. The soldier winks at his lover during a parade, only for a passing minor royal to assume he was gesturing at her.

To avoid a scandal, he has to marry the prudish princess (Miriam Hopkins). This being a Lubitsch film, Colbert teaches the royal frump how to seduce her reluctant husband. Which leads to the startling musical number Jazz Up Your Lingerie! Colbert and Hopkins weren't yet the screwball legends they were to become, though Claudette is vivacious.

It's Chevalier's film, and he is as irrepressible as ever, whether crooning his boulevardier songs or revelling in the pre-code innuendo. Or indeed, smiling and winking into the camera. He is a walking libido. It's a light film of playful dalliance which is made joyful by Maurice's ebullient persona. It's not yet peak Lubitsch but it was an exotic bloom in the Hollywood of early sound, and a huge hit.