The Love Parade ***** (1929, Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Lupino Lane, Lillian Roth) – Classic Movie Review 5768

The Love Parade is celebrated as the film debut of Jeanette MacDonald, the first talkie directed by Ernst Lubitsch, and a huge box-office hit that helped save the fortunes of Paramount Pictures.

Director Ernst Lubitsch’s superlative 1929 operetta film stars the new musicals screen team of Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald and is filmed with the inspired Lubitsch touch at its finest. The Love Parade was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Chevalier), Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Sound, Recording.

It is 1929 and the dawn of the talkies but early sound is only a slight hindrance to the movie. Lubitsch’s triumph in his first sound film is to integrate the music and story so that there are no breaks for production numbers. His approach is exactly the opposite to that of Busby Berkeley, who in his films kept the story realistic and the songs fantastic.

Lubitsch encourages sparkling performances from the young Chevalier and MacDonald in her film début. MacDonald plays the mythical Queen Louise of Sylvania, who marries the rougish diplomat/ courtier Count Alfred Renard (Chevalier) on hearing of his bedroom skills. She is bossy, he is unsatisfied as Queen’s Consort, he teaches her a few things, and they both live happily ever after.

There is good star character actor support from Britain’s Lupino Lane as Jacques, Lillian Roth from Broadway as Lulu, and Eugene Palette as the War Minister, Edgar Norton as the Master of Ceremonies, Lionel Belmore as the Prime Minister, E H Calvert as the Ambassador, Albert Roccard and Ben Turpin.

Also in the cast are Virginia Bruce, June Bupp, Rosalind Charles, André Cheron, Yola d’Avril, Albert De Winton, Winter Hall, Jean Harlow, Perry Ivins, Russ Powell, Albert Roccardi, Carl Stockdale, Anton Vaverka, William von Hardenburg, Josephine Hall and Helene Friend.

The Victor Schertzinger score includes the standout ‘Dream Lover’ sung by Jeanette MacDonald.

All the songs are by Victor Schertzinger (music) and Clifford Grey (lyrics): ‘Ooh, La La’ sung by Lupino Lane, ‘Paris, Stay the Same’ sung by Maurice Chevalier and Lupino Lane, Dream Lover’ sung by Jeanette MacDonald and chorus, ‘Anything to Please the Queen’ sung by Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier, ‘My Love Parade’ sung by Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, ‘Let’s Be Common’ sung by Lupino Lane and Lillian Roth, ‘March of the Grenadiers’ sung by Jeanette MacDonald and chorus, ‘Nobody’s Using It Now’ sung by Maurice Chevalier and ‘The Queen Is Always Right’ sung by Lupino Lane, Lillian Roth and chorus.

The Love Parade is directed by Ernst Lubitsch, runs 110 minutes, is released by Paramount Pictures, is written by Ernst Vajda and Guy Bolton, based on the play The Prince Consort by Jules Chancel and Leon Xanrof, is shot in black and white by Victor Milner, is produced by Ernst Lubitsch, is scored by Victor Schertzinger and Clifford Grey, and designed by Hans Dreier, with Franklin Hansen as the Oscar nominated sound director.

It was also released as the French language version Parade d’amour.

After nearly a decade in stage shows, MacDonald was screen tested by Paramount in 1928, but the studio rejected her. However, a year later Lubitsch saw and liked her test and cast her in The Love Parade. This was lucky. The Love Parade appeared just after the Wall Street crash and became a huge box-office hit, helping to save Paramount Pictures.

MacDonald is fondly remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Chevalier – also Love Me Tonight (1932), The Merry Widow (1934) and One Hour With You (1932) – as well as with Nelson Eddy (Naughty Marietta, Rose-Marie and Maytime).

MacDonald starred in four Oscar nominated Best Pictures: The Love Parade (1929), One Hour with You (1932), Naughty Marietta (1935) and San Francisco (1936). But she was never Oscar nominated and had to be content with being a1960 winner of a Star on the Walk of Fame, well two actually, one for Motion Picture (at 6157 Hollywood Blvd) and the other for Recording (at 1628 Vine Street).

The Love Parade was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Chevalier), Best Director (Ernst Lubitsch), Best Cinematography (Victor Milner), Best Art Direction (Hans Dreier) and Best Sound, Recording (Franklin Hansen). There were no wins.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5768

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