Monte Carlo (1930)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Ernst Lubitsch

Writers:

Hans Müller (play)
Booth Tarkington (novel) ...

Release Date:

27 August 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

As intimate as a lady's boudoir! (original window card poster)

Plot:

Countess Vera von Conti checks into Monte Carlo. She's down to her last 10,000 francs and has fled from her husband-to-be...

Plot Keywords:

Countess | Love | Monte Carlo | Prince | Opera

Cast

Jack Buchanan	...	Count Rudolph Falliere a.k.a. Rudy the hairdresser
Jeanette MacDonald	...	Countess Helene Mara
Claud Allister	...	Prince Otto Von Seibenheim
Zasu Pitts	...	Bertha
Tyler Brooke	...	Armand
John Roche	...	Paul, the 'Real' Hairdresser
Lionel Belmore	...	Duke Gustave von Seibenheim
Albert Conti	...	Prince Otto's Companion / M.C
Helen Garden	...	Lady Mary in Stage Opera
Donald Novis	...	Monsieur Beaucaire in Stage Opera
Erik Bey	...	Lord Windorset
David Percy	...	Herald

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Goofs:

Continuity: Jeanette MacDonald is referred to as a blonde early on in the dialogue. She was actually a redhead, and no attempt was made to lighten her hair to make her look blonde. Her hair photographed the dark grey red hair usually reproduced as on the black-and-white film used in 1930.

Quotes:

Train Conductor: Are you the lady who jumped on this train after we had started?
Countess Helene Mara: Yes, and I shall complain about it. Trains don't go until I get on them!

Soundtrack:

Give Me A Moment Please

Early Lubitsch Magic!

Surprisingly fresh comedy and adult outlooks sparkle in this fun early talkie and musical starring Jeanette MacDonald. It's got a none-too-subtle fetishy undertone to give it a snappy jolt, it's got some unusually naturalistic acting (especially from the pre-Nelson Eddy Miss MacDonald), and it's in glorious black and white. What more could you ask? Well, the supporting cast do tend to be a bunch of stock characters, but it *is* a musical comedy, after all. The climax at the opera has a lovely exchange of wordless acting between MacDonald's Countess and her paramour -- and the whole thing is full of "the Lubitsch touch," from before he had entirely lost his European edge. I recommend it!