Tag Archives: edward everett horton

Cinematheque Live, Film Collector's Club, Home, Pre Code Films

Trouble in Paradise (1932)

Leave a comment

Pre Code Logo 1

Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

Trouble in Paradise (1931)

Trouble in Paradise 1.jpg

Trouble in Paradise 2

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Cast: Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, Herbert Marshall, Charles Ruggles, Edward Everett Horton, C Aubrey Smith, Robert Greig, Luis Alberini

83 min

Trouble in Paradise 3

Kay Francis & Miriam Hopkins-The Trouble in Paradise 1932

Trouble in Paradise is a 1932 American Pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, and Herbert Marshall and featuring Charles Ruggles and Edward Everett Horton.

Based on the 1931 play The Honest Finder (A Becsületes Megtaláló) by Hungarian playwright László Aladár,[2] the film is about a gentleman thief and a lady pickpocket who join forces to con a beautiful perfume company owner.

In 1991, Trouble in Paradise was selected for preservation by the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.[3]

Trouble in Paradise 4

Plot

In Venice, Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall), a master thief masquerading as a baron, meets Lily (Miriam Hopkins), a beautiful thief and pickpocket also pretending to be of the nobility, and the two fall in love and decide to team up.

They leave Venice for Paris, and go to work for the famous perfume manufacturer Madame Mariette Colet (Kay Francis), with the intention of stealing a great sum of money from her safe, which Monescu, as her secretary, arranges to be diverted there. In the course of things, Colet begins to flirt with Monescu, and he begins to have feelings for her.

Trouble in Paradise 6

Unfortunately, the plan develops a hitch when François Filiba (Edward Everett Horton), one of Colet’s suitors, sees Monescu at a garden party. He is unable to remember where he knows him from, but when another of Colet’s suitors, The Major (Charles Ruggles), tells Filiba that he once mistook Monescu for a doctor, Filiba suddenly remembers that he knows Monescu from Venice, where the thief robbed him, pretending to be a doctor. Monescu and Lily plan an immediate getaway that night, after they take all the money in the safe.

Colet prepares to leave for a dinner party given by the Major, but cannot decide whether to go or to stay and have sex with Monescu. Eventually she goes, but not before Lily catches on that Monescu has fallen for her rival, and wants to back out of the plan – so she robs the safe herself after confronting her partner.

Trouble in Paradise 7

At the Major’s, Filiba tells Colet about Monescu, but she refuses to believe it’s true. She returns home and suggestively probes Monescu, who admits that the safe has been cleaned out, but claims that he himself took the cash. He also tells her that the manager of her business, Adolph J. Giron (C. Aubrey Smith), who has been suspicious of Monescu all along, has stolen millions of dollars from the firm over the years.

Lily then confronts Colet and Monescu, reporting that it was she who stole the money from the safe. An argument ensues, in which, eventually, Colet allows the two thieves to leave together. As a parting shot, Monescu steals a necklace from Colet that Lily had her eye on, and, in turn, Lily steals it from him, displaying it to him as the taxi takes them away, hugging each other.

Trouble in Paradise 8

Cast

Trouble in Paradise 9

Production

Working titles for Trouble in Paradise included “The Honest Finder,” “Thieves and Lovers,” and “The Golden Widow”; the latter was publicly announced to be the intended release title.[4] As with all the Lubitsch-Raphaelson collaborations, Lubitsch contributed to the writing and Raphaelson contributed ideas to the directing.[5]

Lubitsch did not receive screen credit for his writing, and Grover Jones, who was credited with the adaptation, did not contribute significantly:[5] although he was in the room, his credit was based on a contractual obligation, and he did little more than tell stories.[5][6]

Further, although supposedly based on László Aladár’s 1931 play The Honest Finder, Lubitsch suggested that Raphaelson not read the play, and instead the main character, Herbert Marshall’s master thief, was based on the exploits of a real person, George Manolescu, a Romanian con man whose memoir was published in 1905, and became the basis for two silent films.[5]

Trouble in Paradise 10

Made before effective enforcement of the Production Code, the film is an example of pre-code cinema containing adult themes and sexual innuendo that was not permitted under the Code. In 1935, when the Production Code was being enforced, the film was not approved for reissue[4] and was not seen again until 1968.[7]Paramount was again rejected in 1943, when the studio wanted to make a musical version of the film.[4]

The Art Deco sets for Trouble in Paradise were designed by the head of Paramount’s art department, Hans Dreier, and the gowns were designed by Travis Banton.[5]

Trouble in Paradise 11

Reception

Trouble in Paradise was the film that first had people talking about “the Lubitsch touch,” and it was, in fact, one of the director’s favorites.[5] Critic Dwight Macdonaldsaid of the film that it was “as close to perfection as anything I have ever seen in the movies.”[5]

The New York Times named the film as one of the ten best films of 1932. In 1998, Roger Ebert added it to his Great Movies collection.[8] Wes Anderson and Ralph Fiennes both said the movie was an inspiration for The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). Review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes reports 91% approval based on 23 critics.[9]

Trouble in Paradise 12

Awards and honors

Trouble in Paradise was named by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 1932.[3][10]

References

  1. ^ Jump up to:a b “Trouble in Paradise” at Kay Francis Films. Accessed 16 March 2014
  2. Jump up^ “Screenplay info” on TCM.com. Accessed=August 24, 2012
  3. ^ Jump up to:a b “Awards”. Allmovie.com. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  4. ^ Jump up to:a b c “Notes”. TCM.com. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  5. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g Nixon, Rob. “Trouble in Paradise (article)”. TCM.com. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  6. Jump up^ Raphaelson, Samson. Three Screen Comedies Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1983. ISBN 0-299-08780-8
  7. Jump up^ Osborne, Robert. Outro to the Turner Classic Movies showing of Trouble in Paradise (March 31, 2011)
  8. Jump up^ Ebert, Roger. “Trouble in Paradise”. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  9. Jump up^ “Trouble in Paradise (1932)”. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  10. Jump up^ “Awards”. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved August 24, 2012.

Trouble in Paradise 13

Trouble in Paradise 14

Trouble in Paradise 15

Trouble in Paradise 17

Trouble in Paradise 18

Trouble in Paradise 19

Trouble in Paradise 20

Trouble in Paradise 21

Film Collectors Corner

Watch Trouble in Paradise Now – Instant Video on Internet Archive

Blu Ray

Not released on Blu Ray

 

DVD

Cinematheque Live, Film Collector's Club, Home, Pre Code Films

Reaching for the Moon (1930)

Leave a comment

Pre Code Logo 1

Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

Reaching for the Moon (1930)

Reaching For The Moon 1

Reaching For The Moon 8

Reaching For The Moon 11

Director: Edmund Goulding

Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Bebe Daniels, Edward Everett Horton, Claud Allister, Jack Mulhall, Walter Walker, June MacCloy, Bing Crosby

91 min

Reaching For The Moon 3

Reaching for the Moon is a 1930 American Pre-Code black and white musical film. Originally released at 91 minutes; surviving versions are usually cut to 62 minutes. A 74-minute version aired in 1998 on USA cable channel AMC. The DVD version runs just under 72 minutes. The film’s working title was Lucky Break and is known as Para alcanzar la Lunain Spain. It is not to be confused with the Fairbanks silent film, Reaching for the Moon (1917).

Reaching For The Moon 4

Background

The film was originally intended to be a musical with songs written by Irving Berlin but problems soon developed. From the start, Berlin found Edmund Goulding, the director, difficult to work with. Also by mid-1930 the studio realized that the public’s demand for musicals had disappeared. So Goulding jettisoned many of Berlin’s songs from the score.

Although just five Berlin songs had been recorded, the film, even in its scaled-down form, proved very expensive to make. By the time the filming was complete, the costs had come to about a million dollars, a huge budget for the times, and one that virtually ruled out the possibility of the film returning a profit.[1]

Reaching For The Moon 5

The one song that was retained was “When the Folks High Up Do the Mean Low Down” introduced by Bing Crosby who had filmed it late at night after completing his work at the Cocoanut Grove.[2] Variety commented on this song specifically, saying: “None of the Berlin songs is left other than a chorus of hot numbers apparently named “Lower Than Lowdown” [sic]. Tune suddenly breaks into the running in the ship’s bar when Bing Crosby, of the Whiteman Rhythm Boys, gives it a strong start for just a chorus which, in turn, is ably picked up by Miss Daniels, also for merely a chorus, and then in an exterior shot to the deck where June MacCloy sends the lyric and melody for a gallop of half a chorus.[3]

Reaching For The Moon 6

Plot

Wall Street wizard, Larry Day, new to the ways of love, is coached by his valet. He follows Vivian Benton on an ocean liner, where cocktails, laced with a “love potion”, work their magic. He then loses his fortune in the market crash and feels he has also lost his girl.

Reaching For The Moon 9

Cast

Reaching For The Moon 10

Soundtrack

  • “When the Folks High-Up Do the Mean Low-Down”
Written by Irving Berlin
Sung by Bing Crosby, Bebe Daniels, June MacCloy and chorus.
Written by Irving Berlin
(heard instrumentally over the opening credits, as background music for a love scene, then briefly at the end)

Reaching For The Moon 12

References

  1. Jump up^ Bergreen, Laurence (1990). As Thousands Cheer. London: Hodder and Stoughton. pp. 291–293. ISBN 0-340-53486-9.
  2. Jump up^ Giddins, Gary (2001). A Pocketful of Dreams. New York: Little, Brown and Company. p. 233. ISBN 0-316-88188-0.
  3. Jump up^ “Variety”. Variety. January 7, 1931.

Bebe Daniels

Reaching For The Moon 14

Reaching For The Moon 15

Film Collectors Corner

Watch Reaching For The Moon Now – Instant Video on You Tube

Blu Ray

Not released on Blu Ray

 

DVD

Cinematheque Live, Film Collector's Club, Home, Pre Code Films

Lonely Wives (1931)

Leave a comment

Pre Code Logo 1

Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

Lonely Wives (1931)

Lonely Wives 3

Lonely Wives 2

Lonely Wives 1

Director: Russell Mack 

Cast: Edward Everett Horton, Esther Ralston, Laura La Plante, Patsy Ruth Miller, Spencer Charters, Maude Eburne, Maurice Black

85 min

Lonely Wives 5

Lonely Wives is a 1931 American comedy film directed by Russell Mack and produced by E.B. Derr for Pathé Exchange, and was distributed by RKO Pictures after the merger of the two studios; it starred Edward Everett Horton, Esther Ralston, Laura La Plante, and Patsy Ruth Miller.

The screenplay was written by Walter DeLeon, based upon a successful German Vaudeville act entitled Tanzanwaltz, penned by Pordes Milo, Walter Schütt, and Dr. Eric Urban. The German production had been translated for the American stage by DeLeon and Mark Swan and, under the same title as the film.

Lonely Wives 6

Plot summary

Edward Everett Horton, in dual roles as Richard and Felix, the Great Zero.

Richard “Dickie” Smith (Edward Everett Horton), is a seemingly respectable defense attorney by day, who turns into a philandering Don Juan when the clock strikes 8 o’clock.

His wife, Madeline (Esther Ralston), has been away for several months, and is not expected back anytime soon. However, Madeline’s mother, Mrs. Mantel (Maude Eburne) is staying with the Smiths, in an effort to curtail the possibility of any straying by Richard.

Lonely Wives 7

Unbeknownst to her, he has made plans to go out on the town that night with his new, sultry secretary Kitty Minter (Patsy Ruth Miller), and his new sexy client, Diane O’Dare (Laura La Plante), who, a lonely wife herself, wishes to divorce her husband for neglect.

The issue is how can he go out on the town without alerting his mother-in-law. An issue which is seemingly resolved by the arrival at his home of a vaudeville impersonator: Felix, the Great Zero (also played by Edward Everett Horton). Felix is seeking permission to impersonate the famous lawyer on-stage. At first reluctant, Richard, noticing the striking resemblance between himself and the actor, realizes he might have a way to deceive Mrs. Mantel. In order to obtain his approval, Felix must agree to impersonate him at his house that evening, while he goes out.

Lonely Wives 8

While Richard goes out on the town, he discovers that Diane’s husband is none other than Felix. Meanwhile, Madeline arrives home unannounced and early.Thinking that he is about to be exposed, Felix phones the nightclub where Richard has taken the two women for dinner and drinks. As he waits for the return phone call, much to his surprise, rather than exposing him as an imposter, Madeline begins to come on to him. He attempts to resist, trying to hold out until he can speak to Richard, but he succumbs to her charms just as the phone begins ringing.

When Richard returns home the next morning, Felix is still there. He is followed closely by a very inebriated Diane, with whom it seems he has spent his time away from home. When Felix recognizes Diane, and Richard understands that Felix has spent the night at his house, both men believe that his look-a-like has slept with the others’ wife. After a series of events, Smith ends up chasing Zero with a loaded gun. Meanwhile, Andrews, the Butler, (Spencer Charters), thinks he must have the DT’s, seeing double of his employer.

Lonely Wives 12

The truth comes out when Madeline admits that she knew it wasn’t Richard all along, and other than the kissing, nothing happened between the two of them. Diane admits that she spent the night in the cab, riding around, and not with Richard. Reconciled, Richard is cured of his wandering ways and Felix and Diane are reunited.

Cast

(Cast as per AFI database)[5]

Lonely Wives 10

Production

Tie-in advertisement for Jo-Cur Beauty Products and Lonely Wives.

Pathé announced that the film was going into production in mid-November 1930, with Russell Mack at the helm.[6] Shortly after, it was reported that La Plante had been attached to the cast;[7] La Plante was returning to films after a brief seven-month hiatus, during which time speculation arose that her career might be over.

Her appearance in this film, and its success, would re-ignite her career.[8] On December 7, it was learned that DeLeon would be adapting the story into a screenplay,[9] and on the 10th the announcement came that Esther Ralston and Patsy Ruth Miller would be added to the list of cast members, along with Edward Everett Horton.[10]

Horton and Miller had co-starred the prior year in four films together for Warner Brothers.[11] The following day, December 11, The Film Daily announced that the film had begun production.[12]Included in the cast was Spencer Charters, who had acted with Mack in several Broadway plays.[13]

Lonely Wives 11

Pathe announced that the film would be part of its 1931 schedule, and it began to appear on its list of upcoming releases in the trades, but without a specific release date.[14] The release was held up in late January due to the sale of Pathe to RKO Pictures. By the end of the month the go-ahead was given to release the film.[15] Finally on February 16 RKO announced they would be releasing the film the following week.[16]

Several days prior to its release, Pathe announced that the marketing campaign for the film would include “tie-ins” with a coterie of manufacturers and retail stores. The campaign would include drug stores and department stores, and have advertising material supplied by manufacturers such as Underwood (typewriters), John H. Woodbury (toiletries), and Jo-Cur Laboratories (beauty products).[17] Lonely Wives was released by RKO on February 22, 1931.[5]

Lonely Wives 13

Soundtrack

  • “Madeline”, unknown composer
  • “Baby Feet”, unknown composer, sung by Maude Eburne[1]

 Lonely Wives 14

Reception

Mordaunt Hall, the film critic for the New York Times, gave the film a positive review, calling the direction “skillful”, and singles out the performance of several of the actors, including Esther Ralston, Maude Eburne, Patsy Ruth Miller, and Spencer Charters.

He was especially impressed with Horton, stating that he “delivers a wonderfully clever dual impersonation …”, and is “wonderfully amusing”.[18] The Film Daily also gave the film a nod of approval, calling it “… one of the cleverest and most entertaining comedies of the season”.

Lonely Wives 15

They particularly highlighted the direction of Mack, Horton’s performance in his dual role, as well as complimenting the rest of the cast. The trade paper also gave the highest marks to the cinematography of Edward Snyder.[19]

Photoplay listed it as one of the best films of the month in February 1931, singling out the acting talents of Horton, Ralston, La Plante, and Miller.[20] Picture Play Magazine was a bit more reserved in their review of the film.

While they called it “… the most consistently broad comedy of any film since “The Cock-eyed World”,” they also stated that it was “supposedly hilarious”.[21]

Other positive reviews came from: Billboard, “… destined to be one of the laugh highlights of the screen year”; Motion Picture Herald, “Highly sophisticated comedy, goes over with a great laugh”; Los Angeles Express, “Fast, furious, frothy farce. Lonely Wives is a laugh riot”; and Motion Picture Daily, “Laughs keep rolling out in a steady deluge of ultra-sophisticated wise cracks.”[22]

Lonely Wives 16

Notes

In 1959, the film entered the public domain in the USA due to the copyright claimants failure to renew the copyright registration in the 28th year after publication.[23]

It was released on DVD by Roan/Troma Entertainment in 2001.[24]

The English translation of the 1912 German vaudeville act, Tanzanwaltz, entitled Lonely Wives, written by DeLeon and Mark Swan, was produced by A.H. Woods in Stamford, Connecticut on August 11, 1922.[2] The play was scheduled to open in New York in August 1922, starring a well-known female impersonator of that time, Julian Eltinge as its star, but was never produced, apparently because while humorous, it had no value or integrity.[25]

The film was acquired by RKO when they purchased Pathé Exchange in January 1931.[25]

Lonely Wives 17

References

  1. ^ Jump up to:a b “Lonely Wives: Technical Details”. theiapolis.com. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  2. ^ Jump up to:a b “Lonely Wives: Screenplay Info”. Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on August 20, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  3. Jump up^ “Lonely Wives, Credits”. Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  4. Jump up^ Jewell, Richard B.; Harbin, Vernon (1982). The RKO Story. New York: Arlington House. p. 34. ISBN 0-517-546566.
  5. ^ Jump up to:a b c “Lonely Wives: Detail View”. American Film Institute. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  6. Jump up^ Wilk, Ralph (November 12, 1930). “Hollywood Flashes”. The Film Daily. p. 5.
  7. Jump up^ Wilk, Ralph (November 25, 1930). “Hollywood Flashes”. The Film Daily. p. 6.
  8. Jump up^ “News And Gossip”. Motion Picture Magazine. April 1931. p. 94.
  9. Jump up^ “6 Features And 6 Shorts In The Works At Pathe”. The Film Daily. December 7, 1930. p. 4.
  10. Jump up^ Wilk, Ralph (December 10, 1930). “Hollywood Flashes”. The Film Daily. p. 8.
  11. Jump up^ “A Little From “Lots””. The Film Daily. December 21, 1930. p. 4.
  12. Jump up^ Wilk, Ralph (December 11, 1930). “Hollywood Flashes”. The Film Daily. p. 6.
  13. Jump up^ “A Little From “Lots””. The Film Daily. December 26, 1930. p. 7.
  14. Jump up^ “Complete Release Chart:Pathe Coming Feature Attractions”. Motion Picture News. December 6, 1930. p. 125.
  15. Jump up^ “Pathe-RKO Deal Still Awaiting Signatures”. The Film Daily. January 30, 1931. p. 1.
  16. Jump up^ “”Lonely Wives” Release Feb. 22″. The Film Daily. February 16, 1931. p. 2.
  17. Jump up^ “Exploitettes:Three Big Tie-ups On “Lonely Wives””. The Film Daily. February 18, 1931. p. 3.
  18. Jump up^ Hall, Mordaunt (March 16, 1931). “Lonely Wives: The Lawyer and His Double”. New York Times. Archived from the original on August 15, 2014. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  19. Jump up^ “Lonely Wives”. The Film Daily. February 15, 1931. p. 10.
  20. Jump up^ “The Shadow Stage: The Best Pictures of the Month”. Photoplay. May 1931. p. 49.
  21. Jump up^ “The Screen In Review: Lonely Wives”. Picture Play Magazine. June 1931. p. 98.
  22. Jump up^ “Sell Laughs and You’ll Sell Seats!”. Variety. February 25, 1931. pp. 14–15.
  23. Jump up^ Pierce, David (June 2007). “Forgotten Faces: Why Some of Our Cinema Heritage Is Part of the Public Domain”. Film History: An International Journal. 19 (2): 125–43. ISSN 0892-2160. JSTOR 25165419. OCLC 15122313. doi:10.2979/FIL.2007.19.2.125. See Note #60, pg. 143
  24. Jump up^ “The Troma Shop”. Troma Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 20, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  25. ^ Jump up to:a b “Lonely Wives, Notes”. Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the originalon August 15, 2014. Retrieved August 15, 2014.

Lonely Wives 18.jpg

Lonely Wives 4

Film Collectors Corner

Watch Lonely Wives Now – Instant Video on You Tube

Blu Ray

Not released on Blu Ray

DVD