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Love Me Tonight

Director: Rouben Mamoulian
Year: 1932
Run-time: 1 hr 44 min
Source: DVD

Notable For:  Love Me Tonight is the first musical on the list. Set in Paris, it matches the French entertainer Maurice Chevalier, with his husky, deeply accented voice, with the American soprano Jeanette MacDonald.  The vocal styles are very different, but the chemistry between the leads is genuine.  It's first and foremost a light comedy, with the music (all classic Rodgers and Hart tunes) all serving the comedy, with many of the lyrics replaced.  When the characters aren't singing, they're walking and acting to a background rhythm.  It's nowhere near to the bombastic musicals of the 60's, or the elaborate choreography of Busby Berkeley, but something else entirely.

Verdict:  This is a classic - my wife and I were laughing most of the time.  In addition to being a great musical, it might be the first great comedy of the sound era - the jokes aren't physical like in Chaplin or Keaton films.  They're based entirely on sound, both in the music and in the great verbal jokes.  The songs themselves are less important than how they are sung - the "Isn't It Romantic" sequence, in which the tune finds itself morphing several times in the course of several minutes, is an absolute classic.  It's maybe the purest cinematic symbol of how music is mankind's greatest expression of joy and pleasure.  This film should absolutely be easier to find on streaming - it's a gem.
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