Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo / Monte Carlo. US (c) 1930 Paramount. P+D: Ernst Lubitsch. SC: Ernest Vajda - based on the play Die blaue Küste (1915) by Hans Müller - and certain episodes in the operetta Monsieur Beaucaire (1919) by Booth Tarkington and Evelyn Greenleaf, based on the novel (1900) Monsieur Beaucaire by Booth Tarkington. DP: Victor Milner - 1:1,2. AD: Hans Dreier. COST: Travis Banton.
MUSIC: Richard A. Whiting, W. Franke Harling. Lyrics: Leo Robin. "Always in All Ways," words by Leo Robin, music by Richard A. Whiting; "Beyond the Blue Horizon," "Give Me a Moment Please," "Whatever It Is, It's Grand," "Trimmin' the Women," "She'll Love Me and Like It," "I'm a Simple-Hearted Man" and "Day of Days," words by Leo Robin, music by Richard A. Whiting and W. Franke Harling.
MUSICAL PROGRAM: [0:02] Day of Days (sung by Chorus); [0:06] She'll Love Me and Like It (sung by Claude Allister and Chorus); [0:11] Beyond the Blue Horizon (sung by Jeanette MacDonald and Chorus); [0:22] Give Me a Moment Please (sung by Jack Buchanan and Jeanette MacDonald over the telephone); [0:29] Trimmin' the Women (sung by Jack Buchanan, Tyler Brooke and John Roche); [0:42] Whatever It Is, It's Grand (sung by Jack Buchanan and Jeanette MacDonald); [0:48] She'll Love Me and Like It (reprised by Claude Allister and Jeanette MacDonald); [0:53] Always in All Ways (sung by Jack Buchanan and Jeanette MacDonald); [1:03] Give Me a Moment Please / Always in All Ways (reprised by Jack Buchanan and Jeanette MacDonald); [1:19] Monsieur Beaucaire (the opera - David Percy, Helen Garden, Erik Bey, Donald Novis and Chorus); [1:29] Beyond the Blue Horizon (reprised Jeanette MacDonald, Jack Buchanan and Chorus) from http://www.classicmoviemusicals.com/filmsm.htm#carlo
Starring Jack Buchanan (Count Rudolph Farrière), Jeanette MacDonald (Countess Helena Mara), Claude Allister (Count Otto von Liebenheim), ZaSu Pitts (Bertha, the maid of the countess). 89 min. A restored UCLA print viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 24 September, 2008. - For the first time I saw on 35mm this film, which I previously knew only from tv and vhs. The difference is big also because there are many long shots, and expressions are hardly visible on video. Lubitsch relishes high salons. - "The Blue Horizon", "Die blaue Küste" is the Riviera, the Côte d'Azur. - The music is catchy, "Always in All Ways" of course has all the Lubitschian meanings. - Lubitsch attacks the operetta musical format with charm, smiles at the clichés and turns it into something witty, beyond parody.