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| re: Try "Love Me Tonight" - it's incredibly witty, funny, tuneful and delightful nm | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 07:48 pm EDT 08/25/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Try "Love Me Tonight" - it's incredibly witty, funny, tuneful and delightful nm - PlayWiz 06:49 pm EDT 08/25/21 | |
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| The musical numbers in Folies Bergere de Paris are dazzling and the best feature of the movie. Chevalier and Sothern at that stage in their careers are not yet all that adept with witty dialogue, but I do like the film. I love On the Riviera. Kaye is terrific, better than both Chevalier and Ameche. Gene Tierney is also excellent. And then there's Gwen Verdon. The 1945 State Fair is beautifully acted and sung. I also like the 1940 Down Argentine Way and the 1941 Sun Valley Serenade. Meet Me in St. Louis is a great film, Americana at its best, beautifully photographed, designed, and directed. Holiday Inn is another fine 40's musical with a mostly original score except for the interpolated "Easter Parade". The chemistry betwen McDonald and Chevalier was palpable. Besides Love Me Tonight, my next favorite film of theirs is The Merry Widow. |
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| re: Try "Love Me Tonight" - it's incredibly witty, funny, tuneful and delightful nm | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 09:41 pm EDT 08/25/21 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 09:26 pm EDT 08/25/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Try "Love Me Tonight" - it's incredibly witty, funny, tuneful and delightful nm - BroadwayTonyJ 07:48 pm EDT 08/25/21 | |
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| Some really wonderful films you mention! Plus Lubitsch's direction is just so surprising and original. I watched the silent film version of "The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg" recently which doesn't feature the famous Romberg score but a new very effective one by Carl Davis, and it does have wonderful performances by Ramon Novarro, Norma Shearer and Jean Hersholt. Those directorial choices of Lubitsch were just stunning, especially that shot of the lovers in that field of flowers blowing around. The actors were so good and Novarro so naive, trusting, handsome, energetic -- Shearer so vital, charmingly believable, sympathetic, and so sexily actively checking out Novarro's front and back, and Hersholt endearingly being the sheltered Prince's only real friend and advisor, just really still registered for a silent film made in 1927. There was another Lubitsch film, a sex comedy recently rediscovered and shown on TCM - highly recommend called "So This Is Paris" with Monte Blue and Lilyan Tashman, which is pretty hilarious and again showcases Lubitsch's brilliant surprising direction. This also has a sequence at a nightclub, while silent, besides the musical track, really points the way to how later musical production numbers in the sound era could be filmed. I like all of those Chevalier, Ameche and Kaye films on the same plot. I've only seen them once apiece at this point, and I believe Ameche really surprised me with his acting in it. I knew he was charming, good-looking and a good singer, but his two characterizations were very different, and I thought very impressive. I love Ann Sothern too, excellent singer and actress who should have been given better musicals at her studio. Gene Tierney was gorgeous and a wonderful actress. Alice Faye is a little underused in that film as Ameche's parts are really the focus, though Carmen Miranda is always a treat, especially in 20th Century Fox Technicolor. |
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