Singin' and Dancing Back in Time.: Love Me Tonight (1932).

Friday, March 4, 2011

Love Me Tonight (1932).

Love Me Tonight(1932). Produced and directed by Rouben Mamoulian, with music by Rodgers and Hart. Cast: Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Charles Ruggles and Myrna Loy.

The story is about a Parisian tailor named Maurice Courtelin and a family of aristocrats, Viscount Gilbert de Varèze, who owes Maurice a large amount of money for his work. Gilbert's uncle Count de Savignac, his niece Valentine and his widowed 22-year-old daughter, Princess Jeanette. De Savignac has been unable to find Jeanette a suitable new husband.

The Viscount's unpaid tailoring bills are beginning to mount up, so Maurice decides to travel to de Savignac's castle to collect his money. On the way, he has a confrontation with Princess Jeanette, where he professes his love for her, but she is not interested in him.

When Maurice arrives at the castle, Gilbert introduces him as "Baron Courtelin" in to hide his identity from the Count. Maurice is suspicious at first, but changes his mind after he sees Jeanette. While staying at the castle, he catches the eye of Valentine, but his heart belong to Jeanette.

Soon, the Duke d'Artelines finds out that Maurice, has been lying about who he is, but the Viscount says that Maurice is a royal who is traveling under another name for security reasons. Jeanette, begins to fall for Maurice's charms.

When Maurice and Jeanette, are caught alone with Jeanette partially undressed. Maurice explains that he is redesigning Jeanette's riding outfit, and he proves this by successfully altering it. Now, he is forced to reveal his true identity.

Shocked, Jeanette runs to her room now that she knows that he is a commoner and Maurice decides to leave. Will Jeanette, finally realize her mistake and find Maurice?

One of the most wonderful musicals ever made. Awesome, cinematography, a beautiful score by Rodgers and Hart. I loved the opening, with the sounds of a city coming to life,
Fun Fact:

Among the deletions in the film's 1949 reissue was Myrna Loy's portion of the "Mimi" reprise. In the Production Code era, Miss Loy's negligee was deemed too revealing.

Soundtracks:

"That's the Song of Paree"
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Sung by Maurice Chevalier, Marion "Peanuts" Byron, George 'Gabby' Hayes and chorus.

"Isn't It Romantic"
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Sung by Maurice Chevalier, Bert Roach, Rolfe Sedan, chorus and Jeanette MacDonald

"Lover"
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Sung by Jeanette MacDonald

"Mimi"
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Sung by Maurice Chevalier
Sung also by C. Aubrey Smith, Charlie Butterworh, Charles Ruggles, Elizabeth Patterson,
Ethel Griffies and Blanche Friderici

"A Woman Needs Something Like That"
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Sung by Joseph Cawthorn and Jeanette MacDonald
"Deer Hunt"
Music by Richard Rodgers

"The Poor Apache"
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Sung by Maurice Chevalier

"Love Me Tonight"
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Sung by Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald

"The Son Of A Gun Is Nothing But a Tailor"
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Sung by C. Aubrey Smith, Elizabeth Patterson, Ethel Griffies, Blanche Friderici,
Myrna Loy, Robert Greig, Edgar Norton, Cecil Cunningham, Rita Owin and Mel Calish

Myrna Loy (August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993). She was trained as a dancer. Loy start in films came when Portrait photographer Henry Waxman, had taken several pictures of her, and they were noticed by Rudolph Valentino. He was looking for a leading lady for Cobra, the first independent project he and his wife Natacha Rambova were producing. She tested for the role, which went to Gertrude Olmstead instead, but soon after she was hired as an extra for the film, Pretty Ladies, in which she and fellow newcomer Joan Crawford, were among the chorus girls dangling from a chandelier.

Rambova recommended Loy for a small role opposite Nita Naldi, in the film, What Price Beauty?. Loy's pictures in a fan magazine led to a contract with Warner Bros., where her surname was changed to Loy.

Loy's, silent film roles were mainly those of vamps and femme fatales and she performed many times as a Asian or Eurasian background. She also performed in musicals: The Jazz Singer, The Show of Shows, The Bride of the Regiment, and Under A Texas Moon. Soon, she became associated with musical roles.

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Bob Fosse

Was a musical theater choreographer and director, screenwriter and film director. He won an eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction. He was nominated for an Academy Award four times, winning for his direction of Cabaret. He was identified with his third wife, Gwen Verdon. She was both the dancer/collaborator who he choreographed much of his work and, together with dancer/choreographer Ann Reinking, a guardian of the Fosse legacy after his death. Fosse is considered to be one the most influential coreographers of the 20th Century.

Esther Williams.

JANE POWELL

After rising to fame as a singer in her home state of Oregon, Powell was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while still in her teens. Once there, the studio utilized her vocal, dancing and acting talents, casting her in such musicals as Royal Wedding, with Fred Astaire, A Date with Judy, with friend Elizabeth Taylor and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, with Howard Keel. In the late 1950s, her film career slowed, only to be replaced with a busy theater and television career.Click picture to enter websight.

Jeanette MacDonald

Singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier (Love Me Tonight, The Merry Widow) and Nelson Eddy (Naughty Marietta, Rose-Marie, and Maytime). During the 1930s and 1940s she starred in 29 feature films, four nominated for Best Picture Oscars (The Love Parade, One Hour With You, Naughty Marietta and San Francisco), and recorded extensively, earning three gold records. She later appeared in grand opera, concerts, radio, and television. MacDonald was one of most influential sopranos of the 20th century. Click picture to view fan website.

Joan Crawford.

Click picture to view website. Joan Crawford, born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre. Starting as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway, Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her parts, Crawford began a campaign of self-publicity and became nationally known as a flapper by the end of the 1920s. In the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well-received by Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money and by the end of the 1930s

Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Richard Rodgers (1902 – 1979) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895 – 1960) the songwriting duo, on our musical page. They created many popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age. With Rodgers composing the music and Hammerstein writing the lyrics, five of their shows, Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music. They won thirty-four Tony Awards, fifteen Academy Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, and two Grammys. Click picture to read movie reviews.

Cab Calloway

Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the United States' most popular African American big bands from the start of the 1930s through the late 1940s. Calloway's band featured performers including trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham, saxophonists Ben Webster and Leon "Chu" Berry, New Orleans guitar ace Danny Barker, and bassist Milt Hinton. Calloway continued to perform until his death in 1994 at the age of 86 .Click picture to view official website.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Love Me Tonight (1932).

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