Wonderful, and far ahead of its time

otter

This is an enchanting film, one of the best musicals of the decade.  Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald are incredibly appealing in a rich-girl-poor-boy musical romance. It's one of those rare films where the girl runs away from the palace to follow her true love and you *don't* think "wait a minute, you'll never survive out there", no, you want them to be together.  The score is enchanting (the big hits being "Isn't it Romantic" and "Lover"), Chevalier is devastatingly attractive, and MacDonald is vulnerably appealing and completely without the annoying primness that marred her later films.

It's also a remarkably well made film for 1932, when most films were just getting used to sound and suffered from a horrible stiffness on the part of the actors and the camera.  You'd think this movie was made ten years later, it's lively and sparkling, and directed with a smoothness and originality that's still amazing.

score 9/10

otter 28 February 1999

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0009304/