Rouben Mamoulian’s Love Me Tonight
Behold a charming scene from the 1932 pre-Code classic, directed my old boss Rouben Mamoulian and one of the best musicals ever. With Jeanette MacDonald, Maurice Chevalier, Myrna Loy, C. Aubrey Smith, Charles Ruggles, even Gabby Hayes(!) when he was still just plain ol’ George. Highlights: the incredible opening scene where Paris awakens, MacDonald in a nightgown so deliciously transparent it belongs in a stag movie, and the “traveling” melodies “Isn’t It Romantic?” and “Mimi”, both courtesy of Rodgers & Hart.
In the time after this film was made, Rodgers would come to detest Hart, MacDonald would come to loathe Chevalier, and I wasn’t too crazy about Mamoulian after working eight months deciphering his rambling tales of Hollywood yore. But—art lives on long after old grudges die, and this film is proof of that.
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In the time after this film was made, Rodgers would come to detest Hart, MacDonald would come to loathe Chevalier, and I wasn’t too crazy about Mamoulian after working eight months deciphering his rambling tales of Hollywood yore. But—art lives on long after old grudges die, and this film is proof of that.
SUBSCRIBE TO MY OCCASIONAL NEWSLETTER. CLICK HERE.
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