(Hint: it’s all about the underwear.) Could that get any more Pre-Code? Interestingly, the film veers away from embracing amorality by having Chevalier’s character meet and fall for his mistress (Colbert) BEFORE his marriage to the princess (Hopkins), which, we should also note, is arranged.
#THE SMILING LIEUTENANT 1931 HOW TO#
The narrative climax of the piece (of which I was aware before I viewed the film) is a scene in which a mistress gives her lover’s wife tips on how to keep her man. The entire picture is fluff - not trivial or inconsequential - but light, airy, and aware of its objective: amusement. Franzi, much more experienced in the ways of the world, gives Anna lessons on how to win the affections of her husband.” (This summary is brought to you courtesy of IMDb.)Īdapted from an operetta that was itself adapted from a novel, the effervescent hand of director Ernst Lubitsch is felt throughout the entire picture - from the whimsical motions of the camera to the bouncy nuances instilled in the performances. Franzi follows and enjoys a brief affair with Niki before Anna finds out. She falls for Niki, marries him (he has no choice in the matter), and whisks him off to Flausenthurm. King Adolf and his daughter Princess Anna from the neighboring kingdom of Flausenthurm drive by, and Anna intercepts a wink meant for Franzi. He’s crazy about her and is smiling at her while on duty in the street. “Lieutenant Niki of the Austrian royal guard has a new girlfriend, Franzi. Add in the always charming Maurice Chevalier, a couple of inconsequential musical numbers, plus the Lubitsch touch, and you’ve got an amusing way to spend 90 minutes of your time. How does she do it? With a little help from Claudette Colbert as her husband’s mistress.
#THE SMILING LIEUTENANT 1931 SERIES#
It is fitting that the first post in our series on “Hot Pre-Code Hopkins” should cover a film that literally sees the Hopkins character go from frigid (old world) to scintillating (modern). Screenplay by Ernest Vajda and Samson Raphaelson. Based on the operetta by Leopold Jacobson and Felix Dormann. Starring Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert, Miriam Hopkins, and Charles Ruggles. We’ll be covering some of her most delightfully Pre-Code films (all released by Paramount) over these next five weeks, and you don’t want to miss a single one! Today, we’re beginning the series with…Ī misfired flirtation lands a young lieutenant married to a princess instead of the one he loves. Colbert, in an early stage of her career, looks very different from her definitive trademark "Look", she acquired afterwards.but is equally carefree, joyous and flirtatious.Welcome to a new Film Friday and the start of a new series of posts on the Pre-Code work of the naughty Miriam Hopkins (1902-1972). Chevalier is the perfect "Smiling Lieutenant" of the title, singing in great from with his heavy trademark, french-accent. This is an absolutely entertaining and absorbing tale of a carefree, debonair Viennese Lieutenant, who falls for a violin player, thus finding his perfect sexual counterpart, but because of circumstances, becoming married to a prudish, mousey, princess. Once more, thanks to TCM, we get the chance of watching this wonderful, charming, early talkie by the master of sophisticated comedy and innuendo, Ernst Lubitsch.