I Met Him In Paris (1937)

 

I Met Him In Paris - 1937

Up next we have 1937's "I Met Him In Paris", a film about a young lady who goes to Paris for the first time.  She meets two gentlemen who whisk her on a trip to Switzerland.  Both are in love with her, and she's got to make up her mind who she likes best.

The film's cast includes Claudette Colbert, Melvyn Douglas, Robert Young, Lee Bowman, Mona Barrie, and Fritz Feld.

New York fashion designer Kay Denham is headed on a solo trip to Paris.  She's saved for five years to be able to afford it, and she's very excited.  Her boyfriend, however, is very apprehensive about it.  Especially when she tells him about the good time she intends on having.  "I’m going to Paris as a one-woman rebellion against everything that’s sweet and conventional.  Wouldn’t surprise me in the least if I disgraced myself...mmhmm...myself and all my ancestors," says Kay.

However, when she gets to Paris, Kay finds out that she's lonesome and a bit bored.

She heads to the hotel bar and meets to fellow Americans, Gene (left) and George (right).  Both guys are friends and both are vying for the affections of the lovely Kay.

For a week, the guys and Kay spend time together.  Kay finds herself enjoying their company.

Gene is quite demonstrative, and he openly wears his heart on his sleeve.  One night, he tells Kay that he loves her, and she doesn't readily believe him.  "Why do you say that?  I told you honestly and simply that I love you," says Gene.  Kay just rolls her eyes and says, "And you said it as though you were telling me my slip showed."

George is much more reserved, and he's not as sharp as Gene when it comes to wooing Kay.

Gene suggests that he and Kay go to Switzerland to spend time together as friends.  Not to be outdone, George insists on accompanying them.

And so they head off to Switzerland to enjoy a winter holiday amidst the beautiful snowy scenery.

One of their first activities is some form of skiing behind some galloping horses.  The horses fly at break-neck speed with the three humans behind powerless to stop them.

It doesn't end up well.  To keep from crashing into a sleigh, the riders have to let go of the horses and end up crashing into a snowbank.

The next activity is bobsledding.  Gene is all excited about it.  He's done it many times before.  Kay is very uneasy about it.  George mentions that it "looks like a pleasant form of suicide."

Things get off to a bad start when Gene, who is supposed to be the brakeman, doesn't make it onto the bobsled.  The bobsled hurtles down the mountain track.

The high speeds cause Kay to get thrown off the bobsled and onto the track.  She's nearly killed by another bobsled team coming down the track after her.  She narrowly misses being injured.

Things calm down with the more sedate sports of ice skating and downhill skiing.

However, the appearance of one woman, whom both George and Gene seem to know, sends Kay scrambling back to Paris as fast as she can.

George and Gene follow her to Paris, and Kay gets a huge surprise when her boyfriend from New York arrives and complicates matters.

I won't tell you whom she chooses, but they all end up on the same boat headed back to America.

Cast rundown:

   Claudette Colbert...........................Kay Denham

   Melvyn Douglas.............................George Potter

   Robert Young.................................Gene Anders

   Lee Bowman..................................Berk Sutter

   Mona Barrie...................................Helen Anders

   Fritz Feld.......................................Swiss Hotel Clerk

And that's all for I Met Him In Paris.  Though this film's winter scenes are set in Switzerland, these sets were actually in Sun Valley, Idaho.  Paramount leased the land from an old silver prospector and built a complete movie set, including a Swiss inspired lodge.  The silver prospector and his wife moved into the lodge after the movie completed filming.

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