ERNST LUBITSCH

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBB.5.  USA, 1934.  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.  Screenplay by Ernest Vajda, Samson Raphaelson, based on the musical book and lyrics by Viktor Leon, Leo Stein, from the play L’Attache D’Ambassade by Henri Meilhac.  Cinematography by Oliver T. Marsh.  Produced by Ernst Lubitsch, Irving Thalberg.  Music by Franz Lehar, Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers, Herbert Stothart.  Production Design by Cedric Gibbons.  Costume Design by Adrian.  Film Editing by Frances Marsh.  Academy Awards 1934.  

Harmless fluff musical about a gigolo soldier (Maurice Chevalier, annoying as ever) sent on a mission by his worried superiors from a fictional eastern European country to retrieve a traveling widow (Jeanette MacDonald at her most tuneful) whose vast inherited fortune they need to save their small country’s dire finances. This charming operetta was adapted (somewhat faithfully) from the original stage play, but Ernst Lubitsch’s starry-eyed direction and opulent sets will be what most impress you about it. The music is beautiful, and performed with exceptional vigour.