18 December 2023

Review: Love Me Tonight

Blu-ray: Love Me Tonight (1932)

Maurice (Maurice Chevalier) is a Parisian tailor who loves wearing his hats at a rakish angle and breaking into song at every opportunity, as does everyone else in the movie…the singing that is, not the rakish hat wearing. Well it is a musical.

After being swindled out of his tailoring fees by the (not so) cunning Vicomte DeVarez (Charles Ruggles), he makes his way to the castle of Vicomte’s uncle, The Duke (C. Aubrey Smith) to get what is owed to him.

Assuming the identity of a wealthy Baron while at the castle, he meets Jeanette (Jeanette MacDonald), whom he had met earlier on his travels, and an unlikely romance forms between them…until the truth comes out about Maurice.

Will it all end happily? Watch and find out.

Love Me Tonight is an enjoyable musical with quirky characters and great sense of humour running throughout…watch out for the reveal of the horse “Solitary”. While its pre-code release date is evident in some of the remarks made by Maurice and the regular disrobing by Jeanette.

Nothing here to entice anyone that dislikes musicals, but for everyone else it is an enjoyable romp accompanied by some memorable songs.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

2023 restoration from a 4K scan
Original mono audio
Audio commentary with writers and critics Glenn Kenny and Farran Smith Nehme (2023)
Isn’t It Romantic? (2023, 27 mins): in-depth discussion of Rouben Mamoulian’s classic musical by writer and critic Geoff Andrew
Hollywood on Parade excerpts (1932, 3 mins): Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald perform musical numbers from the film for the newsreel series
Original theatrical trailer
Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Limited edition exclusive 40-page booklet with a new essay by Philip Concannon, a selection of archival interviews with Mamoulian, and film credits
UK premiere on Blu-ray
Limited edition of 3,000 copies for the UK