Love Me Tonight

Only the second musical written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Love Me Tonight allowed Mamoulian the chance to, in his words, “combine all the elements of movement, dancing, acting, music, singing, décor, lighting” into one fluid, funny, rhythmic production. Taking two of Ernst Lubitsch’s popular stars and embedding them in a coy confection that is singularly Mamoulian, the film reflectively and parodically takes note of itself while embarking upon a sincere love story between Maurice Chevalier’s “lowly tailor” and Jeanette MacDonald’s bored princess. One of the opening numbers, “Isn’t It Romantic?” is an infectious marvel of syncopated movement, music, dialogue and editing that ultimately connects the two socially and spatially distant stars through song. From there, Mamoulian explores his recurring themes of class difference, mistaken identity and love’s transcendent powers via facetious, fanciful use of slow and fast motion, sing-song dialogue laced with double entendres, a pastiche of accents and affectations, and a menagerie of quirky characters on both ends of the economic spectrum—including the princess’ three witch-like aunts who mark the drama with a fluttering, birdlike chorus.

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