Love Me Tonight (ROUBEN MAMOULIAN director, Paramount 1932)

Love Me Tonight is a 1932 Pre-Code musical comedy produced and directed by my old boss, Rouben Mamoulian, with music by Rodgers and Hart. It stars Maurice Chevalier as a tailor who poses as a nobleman and Jeanette MacDonald as a princess with whom he falls in love. It also stars Charles Ruggles as a penniless nobleman, along with Charles Butterworth and Myrna Loy as members of his family.

The film is an adaptation by Samuel Hoffenstein, George Marion Jr and Waldemar Young of the play Le Tailleur au château (The tailor at the castle) by Paul Armont and Léopold Marchand. It features the classic Rodgers and Hart songs "Love Me Tonight", "Isn't it Romantic?", "Mimi", and "Lover". "Lover" is sung not romantically, as it often is in nightclubs, but comically, as MacDonald's character tries to control an unruly horse. The staging of "Isn't It Romantic?" was revolutionary for its time, combining both singing and film editing, as the song is passed from one singer (or group of singers) to another, all of whom are at different locales.

This entire film is available to watch here: youtu.be/BSAZE1QDWUw

Visit my blog for more about Mamoulian's life, films, stage work, and my personal memories of our relationship: cantarachristopher.com.

NEW! City Streets (1931) now available in zip file and downloadable from my personal blog here: bit.ly/mamoulian1.