In 1929, Maurice Chevaliar was one of the "Innocents of Paris", but a year later he became the Playboy of Paris. He is a bad waiter who inherits a million francs. Before he is told, law clerk Tyler Brooks tells Chevalier's boss, O.P. Heggie, with a scheme to mulct him: Heggie and Chevalier will sign a new contract, and should Chevalier quit, he will pay a fine of 400,000 francs. Heggie and Brooks will split the sum, and Tyler will marry Frances Dee, Heggie's daughter. Just before he quits, Chevalier figures out their scheme. He decides to become a waiter by day and a playboy by night, with Dorothy Christy happy to help him spend his money.Ludwig Berger directs this movie competently, but it's a bit mechanical in its ramblings, with not much in the way of laughs. There are some songs for the cast to sing, written by Richard Whiting and Newell Chase. Only "My Ideal" is noteworthy, although Chevalier performs them with his customary elan.The ranks of comedians in this film are rounded out with Stu Erwin and Eugene Palette, but they add little to the fun. The movie is carried on Chevalier's usual charm, but, alas, without the direction of Lubitsch and the writing that surrounded him in his better Paramount movies, this one is good but not great.

In his few years with Paramount, from 1929-1934, Maurice Chevalier made some remarkable movies, usually with Jeannette MacDonald, directed by Ernst Lubitsch or Rouben Mamoulian. They include masterpieces like "The Love Parade," "The Smiling Lieutenant," "One Hour with You," and "Love Me Tonight," remarkable examples of clever dialog delivered with great cleverness and some great tunes. This was made at the same time, at the same studio, but it's a bomb. The script is uninteresting and certainly not funny. Chevalier, a waiter in a restaurant, comes in to a fortune but gets tricked by his boss at the restaurant such that, if he stops waiting tables, he will owe his boss 400,000 francs. So Chevalier keeps waiting tables during the day, but doing a poor job of it. That's good for only a lame joke or two.He is also seeing a wealthy society woman, from whom he wants to hide his waiter background. She's mildly attractive but very disagreeable, so it's hard to understand why he would go to the bother.There is little music, and what there is is unmemorable.My advice: skip it.

The Playboy Of Paris is set in, guess where with Maurice Chevalier as a happy go lucky waiter whose casual attitude and approach to life drives his boss O.P. Heggie. He also exasperates Heggie's daughter Frances Dee, but that's because she likes him a whole lot.Heggie has what he thinks to be the inside track to a claim on a fortune that he knows Maurice is going to inherit. In a move I've certainly never heard of, Heggie praises Chevalier's services so much that he gets him to sign a contract for his services as a waiter, figuring that when Maurice finds out about his several million franc inheritance, he will look to buy his way out. But Chevalier is one step ahead of him. He doesn't buy his way out, he reports to work every day and does the lousiest job of serving he's capable of. In the meantime he's also at night becoming The Playboy Of Paris, literally burning the candle at both ends. At that point he's too fatigued to do anything else but a lousy job as a waiter. And he's also got gold digging Dorothy Christy looking for ways to spend his money.Although Lewis Berger directs the cast to some good performances, the film would have been a classic with an Ernst Lubitsch at the helm. It has one of the best scores for a Chevalier film with songs by Richard Whiting, Newell Chase and Leo Robin. Two of the songs became big hits for Chevalier, It's A Great Life which is a jaunty philosophical song a salute to moderate hedonism which fits Chevalier perfectly. And Maurice also sings My Ideal one of the big song hits of 1930 and an enduring classic. Chevalier sold a few records during the cash strapped Depression years and some thirty plus years later Robert Goulet enjoyed success in reviving this enduring classic.There are some really great scenes in this film. In a bit that might have inspired Red Skelton's Guzzler's Gin sequence and Lucille Ball's Vitametavegimen girl, Chevalier goes down to the wine cellar to sample the contents in each barrel with inevitable results. Also fellow waiter Stu Erwin and cook Eugene Palette show their stuff as they prepare Chevalier to fight a duel.Why is he in a duel, well you have to watch and enjoy The Playboy Of Paris to find out.

This movie was a treat from start to finish- lots of fun. The entire cast was in great form.A waiter (Maurice Chevalier) receives a vast inheritance and becomes a club-hopping playboy by night (with Stu Irwin as side-kick) and working in a café by day. Stuart Irwin and Eugene Palette also work in the restaurant (in the kitchen). O.P. Heggie is entertaining as the scheming proprietor of the café with Frances Dee as his daughter. Not much as a musical, enjoyable primarily as a chaotic 1930's style comedy.Maurice Chevalier and Stuart Erwin are terrific as usual. Fans of either of these two exceptional talents will not want to miss.