Love Me Tonight

Love Me Tonight is a 1932 American pre-Code musical comedy film produced and directed by 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.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Back when Hollywood was making the transition from silent to sound films, studios quickly exhausted the musical genre on film with Ernst Lubitsch being a notable example. One particular way this film stands out is that, after Mamoulian took the reigns for this film when Lubitsch stepped down, he used a technique he created called a "symphony of noises" which he'd used in a Broadway play, and duplicated here, using rhythm to provide a sweeping view of Paris, from street cleaners and shop workers to philandering aristocrats. Although this had been done several times before, his other theories, such as the usage of shadows, were uncommon at the time. The film combined sound and image with more fluidity than most early musicals achieved.
 * 2) Apparently, the film's had rushed production, and Rouben Mamoulian and executive Adolph Zukor had to work quickly to keep the two main stars -- Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald -- with a job. However, the film was so well written and planned, you'd barely be able to tell it was made in a short time.
 * 3) The music numbers are very memorable and snuck in some risqué innuendo for its time. Plus it's another one of those musicals with songs that actually expand the story, advance the plot and add depth to its characters and aren't just filler.
 * 4) Three of the songs, "Lover", "Mimi" and "Isn't It Romantic" would become standard.
 * 5) "Isn't It Romantic" in particular is pretty noteworthy as they have the camera roll from various singers, which eventually links to the female lead.
 * 6) "Mimi" and "The Son of a Gun Is Nothing But a Tailor" also get traded lyrics among the cast with several different singers.
 * 7) The songwriters' contributions provide much of the continuity for the story, especially since Mamoulian seemed more interested in his experiments than in the structure of the film. The opening scenes are brimming with directorial flourishes. Chevalier performs "Isn't It Romantic" in front of a three-way mirror, providing four different angles of the same shot.
 * 8) *Most of the film was realized on a more modern musical format that eschewed European antecedents.
 * 9) *The film's surprisingly ahead of its time. From a slow-motion shot to split-screen effects, to superimposing on MacDonald's face.
 * 10) The film does a good job of blending in the realistic world of present-day Paris, France with a fantastic world of the princess' castle.
 * 11) The film also serves as a homage to the silent era, which they do pretty well.
 * 12) Both of the lead actors do amazing performances
 * 13) Chevalier is charming in his role and Jeanette MacDonald has a beautiful appearance and a singing voice to match.
 * 14) MacDonald's character, Princess Jeanette is one of the earlier examples of a strong princess with a feisty side.