Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
Starring Jeanette MacDonald, Jack Buchanan and Claud Allister
Produced by Paramount Pictures
It's a big day for Prince Otto Von Liebenheim. He is prepared to marry the beautiful Countess Helene Mara. The only problem is that is bride has left him at the altar. Again. For the third time. Undeterred, the prince vows to find and wed the countess.
Meanwhile, Helene has boarded a train with her servant Bertha. She's in such a hurry she didn't even bother to check where the train is going. She reviews the train's itinerary and settles on Monte Carlo as a destination. Once there, she can take her relatively modest amount of money, gamble a bit and earn enough to live in the manner to which she is accustomed.
And it almost works. After betting on number 16 and winning four times in a row at the roulette table, she loses it all on her fifth try. While she's at the tables, frittering away her last pennies, Count Rudolph takes notice of the beautiful countess and resolves to win her heart.
After being rebuffed by the bride-on-the-run, Count Rudolph assumes the guise of a hairdresser and begins caring for the woman he loves. She however thinks he is a commoner and no matter how strong her attraction, she decides she must keep away.
What will happen to the countess once the hotel learns she is penniless? Will "Rudy" reveal his secret? And who will Helene choose when the prince arrives to take her back?
As with many of the early sound movies, Monte Carlo is something of a mixed bag. It certainly has its issues (a dud of a leading man and a series of unmemorable songs), but a light tone and Jeanette MacDonald's performance ultimately are enough to carry the film. The movie grabs you from the beginning with a comically over-the-top turn by Claud Allister as Helene's fiancé. When he swears to the crowd he will find and return with his fugitive bride-to-be, the music shows the sly incredulity of the wedding guests that this "simp" of a prince can actually pull it off.
Then we get to spend some time with MacDonald as Helene and she is the perfect combination of beauty, naivete and flirtatiousness. She belts out "Beyond the Blue Horizon" on her train ride to Monte Carlo in a nicely staged scene that combines MacDonald's voice, the sounds of the train and even a chorus of farmhands working in the fields to provide one of the film's high points.
Once Jack Buchanan's Count Rudolph is introduced however, the film just slows to a crawl. Any charisma and charm he has seems to come only in comparison to the amusingly annoying prince. You just don't see what Helene would with Rudy.
That said, the film takes full advantage of its pre-Code status to fill Helene and Rudy's interactions with all manner of double entendres. After his disastrous tryout, Rudy ingratiates himself with the countess by giving her a scalp massage. And the moans of ecstasy MacDonald lets out make her eavesdropping servant blush. She demands that Rudy "service" her and he provides a knowing smile in response. There's a lot of fun to be had in the dialogue.
I did love the ending of this. The film cleverly climaxes with Helene at a play with the Prince watching a story that closely parallels their own. It serves as a fun sort of confession and apology for Rudolph so that the love birds can be together.
On the whole, Monte Carlo is entertaining if not particularly memorable. If you're looking for a fun, pre-Code musical, you could do worse.
*** out of *****
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