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| Tonight Is Ours - 1933 |
Coming up next is 1933's "Tonight Is Ours", the story of a princess who is forced to choose between her French fiancé and her duty to her country.
The film's cast includes Claudette Colbert, Fredric March, Alison Skipworth, Arthur Byron, Paul Cavanagh, and Ethel Griffies.
At a masked ball in Paris, two people are looking for one another. From across the crowded ballroom, they see each other.
They come together, embrace passionately, and share a kiss. Only, surprise! They are not who each other is looking for.
He is Sabien Pastal. She is Princess Nadya of Krayia. They were each to meet someone who was dressed as they are. They share a good laugh over the situation and come to realize that they get on rather well.
They spend the rest of the evening driving the streets of Paris, hopping from nightspot to nightspot, and dancing the night away. Still in their costume ball clothes, they do attract some notice from onlookers. One lady says, "Some people will do anything to attract attention," as she feeds the pet monkey on her shoulder.
They start spending a lot of time together. And Nadya tells Sabien the story of her life.
This includes the story of her marriage to Alex, a man of insatiable appetites. Of her wedding day, she said, "I was all decked out with heirlooms like a Christmas tree." Nadya couldn't stand being married to Alex. Luckily for her, he didn't live too long after their marriage ceremony.
Their romance moves rather quickly, and it's not long before they are engaged.
Sadly, on the day of their marriage, Princess Nadya receives an unexpected visitor: General Krish from Krayia. He informs her that the King and his brother have been killed and that she is next in line to inherit the throne. She balks and vows to run away. However, the General prevails upon her to think of her duty to her country.
She leaves a note for Sabien, and asks that he never see her again. Both of them are completely heartbroken.
One year later, Nadya is to be married to Prince Keri of Zalgar. Sabien reads of the engagement in the newspaper and hurries to Krayia to meet with Nadya once more before her marriage.
Things are not going well in Krayia. Riots and demonstrations are breaking out all over the country, and the monarchy is at its lowest point in popularity. General Krish tells Nadya that her very life could be in danger.
As she is welcoming her fiancé and his aunt at the train station, a gunman shoots. However, he misses, only hitting the carriage. Sabien is the one who cause the man to miss, though Nadya is completely unaware of his presence in the country.
After the train station ordeal, Nadya has a change to meet with Prince Keri. They tell each other the whole of their love histories. The Prince also had someone he had to leave behind, but he hopes to make a success of the situation. Nadya begins to feel that maybe they can get through it all together.
Prince Keri's aunt, Grand Duchess Emilie, is a delightful old woman. She makes a great impression on Nadya. When Nadya apologizes for the gunman at the train station, the old lady says, "Oh, please, don’t worry about me. I’ve been fired at scores of times. Luckily, the poor fools were so blinded by
zeal they didn’t aim properly." The Grand Duchess's favorite drink is iced tea, which she first drank in America "in those lovely, tall glasses filled with lumps of ice."
When Nadya is introduced to the man who saved her life at the train station later that afternoon, she is shocked to see it is Sabien. At first full of despair, she begs him to leave. But he wears down her defenses and soon they are planning one last rendezvous after the official dinner later that night.
At the official dinner, Nadya talks pleasantly with Prince Keri, but cannot wait to slip away so that she can meet Sabien.
General Krish is called away from the dinner and told that there is an increased chance of an incident at the palace that night. He fears a revolution.
After the dinner, Nadya is seen to her chambers by Prince Keri. She is eager for him to leave so that she can begin her interlude with Sabien.
Once Prince Keri leave, Sabien comes in hot and heavy. He sweeps Nadya into his arms and the spend the rest of the night in each other's company.
Late in the night, intruders break into the palace and demand and audience with Nadya.
She tells them that she's been so alone for the year that she's been queen. They can have it all if they'll only let her go away into exile with the man she loves.
The intruders tell her that's not at all what they want. They want her to dismiss the advisors that have kept her from the people and give them a say in parliament. In return, she can stay on the throne and marry the man she loves, even if he is a commoner. It's their feeling that it will make her even more popular.
General Krish is outraged, but Prince Keri is in full agreement with the "revolutionaries". He is in the same boat as Nadya, and is so happy that she's going to be able to marry the man she loves.
Nadya and Sabien embrace as they realize that they can now be married just like they always wanted.
Cast rundown:
Claudette Colbert..................................Princess Nadya
Fredric March........................................Sabien Pastal
Alison Skipworth...................................Grand Duchess Emilie
Arthur Byron.........................................General Krish
Paul Cavanagh......................................Prince Keri
Ethel Griffies..........................................Zana
And that's it for Tonight Is Ours. This film was adapted from a play by Noel Coward entitled "The Queen Was In The Parlour".
I love the jewels used in these old 1930's movies. They were extremely well done. How else could an emerald tiara lying causally on a table look so elegant?
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