A four star delight starring Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Charlie Ruggles, Charles Butterworth, Myrna Loy, and C. Aubrey Smith. Added to the National Film Registry in 1990. "Isn't It Romantic" is #73 on AFI's 100 Top Movie Songs of All Time.Chevalier is a tailor owed money by aristocrat Ruggles, so he follows Ruggles' order of 15 suits to his château. There, the princess (MacDonald) is being courted by an uninspiring Count (Butterworth), put up to it by the Duke (Smith), who is hoping to find an adequate husband for her. The Duke keeps reign on the others because he controls the money, which he won't give to Ruggles or the Countess (Loy). When Chevalier shows up, he charms everyone and is pursued openly by Loy. Of course, there are opportunities for him to sing, and (double) of course, he will win the princess in the end.Though the film "feels" like one of Chevalier's pairings with director Ernst Lubitsch, this one was directed by Rouben Mamoulian.

That is not to knock The Love Parade, One Hour With You and The Merry Widow(Merry Widow is an extremely close second) because they are all excellent too. But while it may lack the Lubitsch touch or be as ground-breaking as The Love Parade(though Love Me Tonight is still influential when it comes to musicals), Love Me Tonight just struck me as being tinsy bit better, the quality between the four films though is very close though. It is elegantly shot with some very clever camera work in Sonofagun is Nothing But a Tailor and with an Expressionistic touch in places and has very sumptuous set and costume design. Rodgers and Hart's score and songs are just sublime, some of their best work, Isn't It Romantic? is irresistibly beautiful and inventively choreographed. The script is often hilarious and filled with sophisticated charm and witty rhymes with some of the dialogue refreshingly ahead of its time, particularly noteworthy is Myrna Loy's pre-censorship response to "could you go for a doctor?". The story is immensely charming, warm-hearted and never with a dull moment, doing very cleverly to avoid becoming stage-bound or contrived with a story that in different hands could easily have been. The choreography is done with much poise and invention and while no Lubitsch(one of the primary reasons why The Love Parade really broke ground, and he had a style of his own) the direction still has great technical skill and plenty of class with some clever touches. Maurice Chevalier has great comic timing, is very natural on screen and has unsurpassed joie-de-vivre and Jeanette MacDonald proves to be a perfect partner for him in a beguilingly acted and sung performance. The supporting roles are very well-taken, special mention going to the uproarious turn of Myrna Loy, and no it's not just for that pre-censorship response or her delivery of it. Overall, really wonderful and the best of the already incredibly high-standard Chevalier and MacDonald outings. 10/10 Bethany Cox

The Princess says she's 22 years old, but she's so sad and she can't sleep at night... so the doctor recommends she must find a boyfriend "of his age". The answer, of course, is Maurice Chevalier, who was 44 at the time. Say no more.Chevalier performing the young man he was 20 years ago, with his terrible voice and his terrible jokes that make us want him dead from minute one.Is there any movie where he dies a terrible death? I'd love to watch that one!Finally, the songs could have been written by my cat: "Good morning, Mrs Bendix, and how is your appendix?". Oh, really? Yes, really, THAT bad.

I have watched this movie in part several times, but caught it tonight on TCM or from my DVR of a recent showing. It is a special one, and was interested in checking out these magnificent sets created for it. They were wonderful.Liked Chevalier in this particularly. I agree with the reviewer who finds Jeannette McDonald's singing a bit of a trial. I don't care for most opera type singing. Get ready for some corn here: Was reminded of something Andy Griffith said about opera singing (from a comic recording), "Some people say opera is just hollerin', and it is; but it's high class hollerin'." It comes across that way to me. That quote may offend the cinematic detail oriented enthusiasts of this film - sorry. However, I have enjoyed a few old operettas, thinking of "Sweet Kitty Bellairs" from 1930 featuring Claudia Dell and Walter Pidgeon. Ms. Dell was easier on the ears than Ms. McDonald. Pidgeon's singing was pleasing, and I found the piece entertaining. In watching C. Aubrey Smith in this, I thought for the umpteenth time whether he was born an old man. He is always ancient in every movie I have ever seen with him. Actually, his Hollywood films were done in his elderly years. Finally looked him up and found he was born in 1863. Wow. He did London stage, Broadway and came to Hollywood much later. He died in California at age 85.This is a good film and has interest for its genre. It is probably my favorite Chevalier. It was odd seeing Charles Ruggles in this. They were talking about Myrna Loy during the intro to the movie, saying this film may have begun her being used in something other than the Oriental evil women or vamp types. Only a few people were making the decisions on casting back then in the studio system, and thankfully, they finally broke her out of that old mold and began to find out how engaging she was as a wife and later as a comedienne.Good film.