Runtime: 83 minutes
Directed by: Ernst Lubitsch
Starring: Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, Herbert Marshall, Charles Ruggles, Edward Everett Horton
From: Paramount
Romantic comedies-whether or not they involve love triangles-typically aren't my bag. That said, the director being Ernest Lubitsch and one of the two lead ladies being Kay Francis (someone I was charmed by in One Way Passage & Jewel Robbery) meant I probably wouldn't go wrong here, and I didn't.
Lubitsch was known for making “sophisticated comedies”-this adaptation of a Hungarian play fit in that category. Herbert Marshall and Miriam Hopkins are a master thief and pickpocket respectively who meet up in Venice and as they have mutual interests, the two become a couple. They scheme to scam Kay Francis, who is filthy rich as in essence she was the Estee Lauder of this universe. Of course, Marshall falls in love w/ Francis and this greatly complicates the scheme.
This was a charming movie; it was set in a lovely Art Deco world where several European cities are visited. There is some racy Pre-Code dialogue and editing plays a key role, whether it be the fast pace or to serve as the skeleton of more than one joke. The music, the costumes, the put-downs, the “rich folks” that come off as bickering fools... it's all an intoxicating mix and it'd be a shame for me to spoil the surprises or witty bon mots so I won't. Just note that it has a capable supporting cast (Charles Ruggles, C. Aubrey Smith, Edward Everett Horton) & seeing more Lubitsch wouldn't be a bad idea on my part.
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