The Love Parade

It's Lubitsch, it's got songs, what more do you want. Alas, it's also got Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier but you can't have everything. It's actually quite good, especially for 1929; okay, the songs could be better but the idea of integrating song and story was innovative and though Mamoulian did it better three years later this was clearly his blueprint - AND he had a score by Rodgers and Hart. Victor Schertzinger was a fine composer and later turned director and Clifford Grey was a competent lyricist so that leaves the story, a twist, one of several at the time, on The Merry Widow, which Lubitsch would film with the same two leads in 1934. It remains a fascinating record of Lubitsch's first talkie and early musical film.

This is very much like a Vienese operetta, with its principle couple - Chevalier and MacDonald - and its second couple, the help, who mirror the principle couple in a light way. The music often sounds like minor Johann Strauss or early Lehar, and the plot owes a lot to The Merry Widow. Still, my favorite aspect of this movie is that, being pre-code, it constantly flirts with the edge of what could be dared in those days. It's never in any way obscene or vulgar, but it's constantly winking at the audience about matters sexual, and of course the last shot is of the couple in bed - one bed. Hollywood wouldn't enjoy that freedom for another 30 years. It's all very light and, in the end, not very memorable, but along with One Hour with You, which I probably prefer, a very enjoyable way to spend an evening.

the sort of film that filmmakers to day are unable to make. it is too simple for them. it has a story with a beginning, middle and end. far too simple for the current crop of genius. the stars were real stars i swear they sometimes glittered. the directors famous touch was in fine form and even after many years i can remember walking home in a romantic glow. could anyone do the same after watching one of to days EPICS. i agree there must have been sound faults and other technical problems though i do not remember them. later on i heard a radio version also enjoyed. like far too many films of the past the love parade is unavailable to us on video or DVD. it may have been damaged and no longer usable though i do hope not. if there is any way to urge the current copyright owners to re-issue the film i would certainly like to be involved. are there other enthusiasts out there who agree?

An early musical (Ernst Lubitsch's first talkie), so the sound can be hard on the ears (especially Jeanette MacDonald's high notes). The plot as such is forgettable, but see it for the performances. It seems odd to match Jeanette MacDonald's operetta singing with Maurice Chevalier's cabaret, but each gets their own numbers and they join in the middle for duets. Lupino Lane and Lillian Roth do two wonderful vaudeville style song and dance numbers.