Great early musical, but what's an "ah-page"?
I caught this in TCM without knowing much beforehand, so it was a surprise and a delight. Even in its censored for re-release version, some of the pre-Code humor still pops in from left field. And the plot? Ah, well, we know the guy is always going to get the girl, so what makes it interesting is how they get there.I'll just add some comments on specific things in the movie. So many of these songs became part of Chevalier's Gallic repertoire, it's hard to believe they were actually written by Rodgers and Hart. And, Mammoulian was apparently still working out how to present musical interludes in a movie. Having Chevalier sing "Mimi" right into the camera didn't work, I'm afraid; his expressions as he tries to pitch woo to the lens make him appear kind of sappy. Interesting experiment, though, on the title number, where Maurice and Jeanette simply sleep through "Love Me Tonight" while it plays, apparently in their dreams.
I had to go find out what Chevalier's costume and song "The Poor Apache" (pronounced Ah-Pej) referred to. For everyone's enlightenment: an Apache was a French "underworld" character, a tough, a yegg, or more often a pimp. There was a scandalous "Apache Dance" of the time in which the man, playing the Apache, would demand money from his girl, then slap her around quite a bit. It has been performed or parodied in other movies, possibly "An American in Paris," and a few cartoons. Whether they got the name from the Apache Indians, I couldn't find out, but interesting that the French missile system was called the "Apache."
Oh, and nice catch by the previous commentator that the three sewing spinsters suggested the knitting ladies before the guillotine. I just thought of them as the three Fates, spinning the threads of the characters' lives, but the previous image fits better.
score 8/10
Mark_McD 8 October 2004
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0943389/34985
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