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.
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.