Love Me Tonight (1932)

Love Me Tonight - 1932

Coming up next we have 1932's "Love Me Tonight" starring that popular couple of musical comedy Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald.  It's the story of a tailor (Chevalier) who goes to the home of one of his clients in order to collect on his bill.  He's mistaken for a baron and falls in love with a Princess (MacDonald).  Will she fall in love with him when she finds out what he really is?

The fantastic supporting cast includes Charles Ruggles, Charles Butterworth, Myrna Loy, C. Aubrey Smith, Elizabeth Patterson, Ethel Griffies, Blanche Friderici, Joseph Cawthorn, and George "Gabby" Hayes.

The film opens with shots of an early morning Paris.  I love the use of these shots in the film.  It really provides an excellent atmosphere for Maurice Chevalier's opening number "That's The Song of Paree".

Maurice Courtelin (Chevalier) is a tailor who makes clothes for the best dressed man in France, Viscount Gilbert de Vareze (Ruggles).  The Viscount runs up an exorbitant bill after ordering a large amount of clothes.  When the Viscount refuses to pay, Maurice sets out to where he lives in order to collect.

At the chateau, the Viscount's uncle, the Duke d'Artelines reigns supreme.  Actually, quite an assortment of the Viscount's family lives together.

When the Duke gets wind that the Viscount owes more money, he refuses to let him leave and tells him he will get no more funds for his excesses.  Another prisoner is the Countess Valentine (Loy).

Myrna Loy is used to great comic effect in the film.  When being shown the chateau's "new" footmen, she quips, "Can't we ever get a footman under forty in this place?"

The Duke's niece, the widowed Princess Jeanette, also lives at the chateau.  Her first appearance in the film is when she sings "Isn't It Romantic?", a beautiful song.  The Princess is ill, constantly plagued by fainting spells.

The Princess's three aunts are busy casting spells of their own, to ensure that their niece has a good night's rest, and also to bring a handsome, YOUNG prince charming into her life.  The Princess is twenty-two and was married at sixteen to a seventy-two-year-old man who died three years later.

The next day, Maurice and the Princess meet for the first time.  Initially charmed by him, she becomes scandalized after he sings the song "Mimi" to her.  All he tells her about himself is that his name is Maurice, and she reveals nothing of herself to him.

Shortly afterwards, Maurice arrives at the chateau, which is seemingly empty.  It's humorous to watch him climb numerous staircases in search of someone, climbing higher and higher, and ultimately back down again.

He meets the three aunts who cast the spell for a prince charming, and they seem smitten with him.

The Viscount silences Maurice before he can confront the Duke for the money owed to him by introducing him as his friend "Baron Courtelin" and begs him to stay as a guest.  Princess Jeanette is less than thrilled to meet him, as she remembers him as the fresh guy who tried to romance her earlier.  Countess Valentine is thrilled for a little fresh male companionship.  Maurice charms the entire family, however, and the next morning they all wake up singing excerpts from the song "Mimi".

Princess Jeanette arranges for Maurice to ride a particularly dangerous horse, Solitude, the next day at a hunt.  Maurice bravely mounts the animal before it takes off like lightning.

The hunt is on with hounds and horses racing across the countryside after a very tired stag.  After a while, Princess Jeanette and two dogs get separated from the rest of the group and come to a very small house in a clearing.

Inside, the Princess finds Maurice feeding the tired stag a plate of oats.  They have a few moments together before the Princess heads outside where the entire hunt is waiting.  Maurice convinces them that the stag is tired and resting and they should all tiptoe back to the chateau (the use of slow-motion effects is used here, revolutionary in 1930's cinema).

Back at the chateau, the Duke gives a fancy dress ball for "Baron Courtelin", with a large number of invited guests.

Maurice arrives dressed as an apache.  Maurice thrills the assemblage with a performance of "The Poor Apache".  (A little costume note: Myrna Loy was originally supposed to wear the white gown that Jeanette MacDonald is wearing in this scene.  Jeanette saw it and asked that it be used for herself instead.  Myrna went to the costumer and they came up with the black gown she eventually wore, and she stole the show.)

In the garden, they fall in love with each other.  The Princess says those iconic words, "Whoever you are, whatever you are, wherever you are, I love you."  And Maurice, knowing he must soon reveal himself as a tailor, says, "Whatever comes tomorrow, love me tonight."

After he redesigns her riding costume the next day, the Princess wonders how Maurice could design such a thing as a baron.  He tells her that he is a tailor and she runs from the room in tears.

Soon the whole company is in an uproar over the news that the "Baron Courtelin" is in fact a tailor.  A humorous song, "The Son of a Gun is Nothing But a Tailor" is sung by the cast.  The Duke himself sings out, "I'd rather throw a bomb at her than have her wed a commoner!"

Even the aunts' dog gets in on the action.  Barking right along in time with the music.

Sorrowfully, Maurice leaves the chateau and Princess Jeanette behind.

Realizing that she loves him no matter what, the Princess rapidly rides her horse in the direction of the train that Maurice has boarded.

She gets ahead of it and stands on the tracks, forcing the train to stop just inches from her feet.  The Princess and Maurice are quickly united.  As the aunts later said, "Once upon a time there was a princess and a prince charming, who was not a prince, but who was charming.  And they lived happily ever after."

Cast rundown:

   Maurice Chevalier..................................Maurice Courtelin

   Jeanette MacDonald...............................Princess Jeanette

   Charles Ruggles....................................Viscount Gilbert de Vareze

   Charles Butterworth...............................Count de Savignac

   Myrna Loy.............................................Countess Valentine

   C. Aubrey Smith....................................Duke d'Artelines

   Elizabeth Patterson................................First Aunt

   Ethel Griffies.........................................Second Aunt

   Blanche Friderici....................................Third Aunt

   Joseph Cawthorn...................................Dr. Armand de Fontinac

   George "Gabby" Hayes...........................Grocer

And that's a wrap for Love Me Tonight.  It's wonderfully entertaining and very stylishly filmed.  The director, Rouben Mamoulian, used techniques such as closeups and slow-motion sequences that were on the cutting edge of film making at the time.  John Baxter, author of the book Hollywood in the Thirties, wrote, "If there is a better musical of the Thirties, one wonders what it could be."

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Don't Fence Me In (1945)

Don't Fence Me In - 1945

Coming up next is 1945's "Don't Fence Me In", starring Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Dale Evans, and Trigger.  The film is about a reporter who wants to get the story on outlaw Wildcat Kelly (long presumed dead, but many people believe it wasn't his body they buried).  Wildcat turns out to be alive, and somebody really does want him dead.  The question is: who?

The beautiful scenery of Big Bear Lake and Lake Arrowhead, California, provide the setting for the story.  The supporting players include Robert Livingston, Moroni Olsen, Marc Lawrence, Lucile Gleason, Paul Harvey, Tom London, and Trigger.

The story begins when reporter Toni Ames (Dale Evans) is sent by her newspaper to get the truth on Wildcat Kelly.  She visits his grave and believes he really is dead, until she meets Gabby, a friend of Wildcat's.  "Yes, sir.  He was a rootin', tootin', six-gun shootin', ring-tailed buckaroo," said Gabby.

Toni tries to sneak up to Roy Rogers' ranch in the back of a stage coach.  Roy sees her and locks her in the caboose with a block of Limburger cheese.  He races the coach over unpaved roads, bouncing Toni all over the place.  She gets her revenge, though, by pushing him in the ranch swimming pool.

It turns out the Gabby is indeed Wildcat Kelly, but has given up his life of crime.  However, somebody wants him dead and takes a shot at him.  Roy gets the idea to give him a fake funeral to draw out whoever took the shot.

Gabby has a terrible time "lying in state".  He has a terrible allergic reaction to the flowers, and nearly gives himself away by sneezing several times.  Roy Rogers' group, the Sons of the Pioneers, sing the cowboy lament "I'm Headin' For The Last Roundup".

It's a funny scene, and the song by the Sons of the Pioneers is definitely worth a listen.

Of course, Roy and Dale get the true outlaw and all's well that ends well.  The film ends with the singing of the title song, Cole Porter's "Don't Fence Me In", which Roy had debuted a year earlier in the film Hollywood Canteen.  It's sung a little differently here, but is no less good.

The finale is very well done.  Roy and Dale are onstage to sing "Don't Fence Me In".

Roy disappears, the barn doors open, and Roy and Trigger are shown riding across a wide open field towards the barn.

A few seconds later, Roy and Trigger come bursting through the barn doors in dramatic fashion.

Trigger even smiles for the camera to finish the film out.

The finale is definitely worth watching.  It's fun, and you'll be singing the song for days.

Cast rundown:

   Roy Rogers..........................................Roy Rogers

   George "Gabby" Hayes..........................Gabby (Wildcat Kelly)

   Dale Evans..........................................Toni Ames

   Robert Livingston.................................Jack Chandler

   Moroni Olsen.......................................Henry Bennett

   Marc Lawrence.....................................Clifford Anson

   Lucile Gleason.....................................Mrs. Prentiss

   Paul Harvey.........................................Gov. Thomas

   Tom London.........................................Sheriff Ben Duncan

   Trigger.................................................Trigger

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