The 1932 gem Love Me Tonight is part of yet another wonderfully curated Harvard Film Archive retrospective, this time on the complete works of Rouben Mamoulian (doesn’t it just roll off the tongue?). It’s a musical dramedy about a tailor (Maurice Chevalier) who pretends to be royalty in order to retrieve money that is owed to him from a family of wealthy aristocrats. In the midst of this mission, he ends up falling for the princess (Jeanette MacDonald), as they do. Without giving too much away, the plot twists in and out of the intricacies of identity swapping, especially between classes, and especially when it comes down to matters of love between classes.

Mamoulian is known for daring plots and visuals, and in Love Me Tonight, both of these chops are demonstrated to the extreme. He plays with extreme high and low angles, dramatic-yet-comedic shadows, lighting, and depth of field. When combined with the enchanting lyrical wits of Rodgers and Hart, the film becomes an absolute treat for both the eyes and ears. It’s also a Pre-Code musical, meaning NO RULES, BABY! Since sound was just brought into film, there were no formal, written rules as to what could and couldn’t be included on the big screen. Loophole city. This means there’s a decent amount of innuendo and a little more risqué content than you’re used to seeing in old Hollywood movies. If you’re a fan of old Hollywood and the unconventional, you won’t want to skip this one.

Love Me Tonight
1932
dir. Rouben Mamoulian
89 min.

Screening at the Harvard Film Archive on August 20 at 7 PM. More info here.