The Love Parade. 1929. Directed by Ernst Lubitsch.

(6/20/00)

"All the world loves a lover." I think that's how the saying goes and that's how things go in Lubitsch's The Love Parade. Maurice Chevalier plays a shameless rascal who is to be chastised by the queen. She reads a report of his scandalous adventures, excuses herself and runs to put on some makeup to make herself more attractive.

Lubitsch's first film with sound is a delight, chock full of wit and verve. It opens in Paris where Chevalier's jealous lover threatens him with a gun. When her husband appears she shoots herself and collapses on the floor. The husband picks it up and shoots Chevalier--but nothing happens. It is a fake gun and the wife is still very much alive. Chevalier shrugs and places it in a drawer full of (presumably all fake) guns.

Chevalier and Jeannette MacDonald play marvelously together. Their scenes together are delightful. Less so are the scenes between his valet and her maid. Their footage becomes tiresome. But Chevalier and MacDonald are stars and there is chemistry between them.

And Chevalier is not a Frenchman! He sure sounds like one, but he is from a country called Sylvania. He explains to someone how he got his French accent and Lubitsch films part of the scene from outside the window. We don't hear it all, but are returned for the punch line.

MacDonald is the queen of Sylvania. Her ministers want her to marry, but she doesn't want to. And with good reason, as we find out when she does marry Chevalier. The husband is merely a consort with nothing to do all day. This creates a conflict which Chevalier (and Lubitsch) resolve with wit and style.

The consort is supposed to accompany the queen to the opera and look happy. A big loan to the country rides on this. He refuses, but then does show up. But MacDonals needs him so he actually holds the power and can annoy the hell out of her by watching a pretty ballerina through binoculars.

By the end of the film Chevalier has turned the tables on her and replayed a scene they did before where she has to punish him for his scandalous behavior. They tame each other.

The musical score is servicable, nothing more. It's an enjoyable romp with a couple of dull stretches--but it might have been that my eyes were hurting and I didn't enjoy it all as much as I would have otherwise.