Monte Carlo (1930) User Reviews (33)

The son of a gun ain't nothing but a Count

[Spondonman · 7/10 · 1 March 2008]

This was Jeanette Macdonald's 4th film in all and 2nd for director Ernst Lubitsch – both getting into their sound-stride and both with many classics still ahead of them, after all – their lives had only begun. Print quality on the DVD is marvellous for a 1930 film, making me wonder why it was never shown on UK TV in the days when they used to cater for people like me.

In the gambling dens of Monte Carlo Countess Jeanette pretends to be rich when she's poor and the guy who fancies her, Count Jack, pretends to be poor when he's rich so as to be her hairdresser. Later famous variations in Paramount films were with Chevalier as her (nothing but a) tailor unintentionally masquerading as a Baron in Love Me Tonight directed by Mamoulian and the fake Baron and Countess in the sublime Trouble In Paradise directed by Lubitsch. The story goes in a few unexpected directions but ultimately all's well that ends well – this was the Golden Age of course. Out of the seven songs only Beyond The Blue Horizon and Always In All Ways were truly memorable, but all were listenable to and pleasant. Zazu Pitts was as sadly underused as Jeanette's maid as was Barbara Leonard as Mitzi's in One Hour With You and Jack Buchanan managed to keep it a dark secret why he was such a big star; the film only lost a little momentum at the opera but overall everything worked well. The sets and costumes were relentlessly beautiful – in fact an extremely colourful black and white. Jeanette looked radiant with her gorgeous hair – Roll Over Madonna!

A lovely little film and a window on 1930 – it's not a classic but it was another building block for those to come from Paramount in the next few years.

Minor Lubitsch, fun at times

[fwmurnau · 7/10 · 5 August 2005]

Even minor Lubitsch rates a 7. His comedic sensibility was unique in its poetry and effortless sophistication.

One doesn't expect an iron-clad plot in musical comedy, but MONTE CARLO's fails to fulfill even the minimal requirements of the genre. It simply makes no sense and creates no tension, erotic or otherwise. A nobleman falls for a runaway countess, and for absolutely no reason he pretends to be a commoner for the duration of the film.

Lubitsch is normally so good at plot construction, it's surprising that this one is so flat. Zasu Pitts, who can be so delightful, makes no impression here. Even the dialogue discouragingly fails to sparkle.

The film's other problem is the leading man, Jack Buchanan, who simply doesn't come across well on-camera and has absolutely no chemistry with MacDonald. Compared to the robust, lusty Maurice Chevalier in other Lubitsch/MacDonald films, Buchanan here is fey and sexless. MacDonald does her best, though, and acquits herself well.

No Lubitsch film is without its pleasures. It's worth seeing, but it's no MERRY WIDOW.

Minor Lubitsch but not bad Lubitsch

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 5 September 2014]

In fact, Monte Carlo is a nice film that left me mostly in a good mood. It does have a few fairly major flaws, starting with Jack Buchanan who is a total charmless wimp of a leading man and his chemistry with Jeanette MacDonald doesn't really convince, Maurice Chevalier would have been a much better fit. The song Trimmin' the Women is forgettable at best and embarrassing at worst, a song that really should have been left on the editing room floor, a shame because there was some clever musical choreography in it. The story also even for a 1930s musical is rather contrived with a few situations stretched to the limits in credibility. And sadly, ZaSu Pitts is wasted and strains for laughs, she's often delightful but her comic talents are just not used very well at all. As ever with an Ernst Lubitsch film Monte Carlo is a lavish-looking film with opulent period detail and attractive cinematography and Lubitsch directs with his usual class and elegant style. The songs, with the exception of one, are lovely and staged in a witty(a couple alternatively intimate) and light as a feather way, the memorable scene being the tear-jerking Beyond the Blue Horizon staged on a moving train. Give Me a Moment Please is very amusing as well and the most story-enhancing of the songs. The dialogue is sweet and funny with some nice interplay between the actors, the supporting performances are solid enough but other than the songs Jeanette MacDonald is the best thing about Monte Carlo. She is effortlessly charming and feisty and her voice while not large is beautiful in tone and shaped with tasteful style and phrasing. All in all, Lubitsch is nowhere near his best here(Heaven Can Wait, the Merry Widow and particularly The Shop Around the Corner are much preferred) but while problematic Monte Carlo is not a bad film at all, lesser Lubitsch but Lubitsch when not on best form is better than most other directors in the same position. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Beyond the Blue Horizon is the highlight!

[Kalaman · 20 September 2002]

Though a bit flawed, "Monte Carlo" is still one of Ernst Lubitsch's most dynamic and inventive musicals. A follow-up to Lubitsch's delightful "The Love Parade", "Monte Carlo" regains Jeanette MacDonald but unfortunately it lacks Maurice Chevalier whose Gallic, continental charm was one of the things that made "Love Parade" (and also Lubitsch's later sublime musicals - "The Smiling Lieutenant", "One Hour with You" and "The Merry Widow") such a joy to watch.

Still, it has one priceless musical number: Jeanette MacDonald rendition of "Beyond the Blue Horizon" while riding a train - a sequence so inventive and spectacular that you forget the rest of the film. It is powerful enough to make the whole countryside alive with song and elation. The song will stick with you long after you completed watching the film.

Frank Tashlin pays an homage to this sequence in his hilarious 1956 musical "Hollywood or Bust": a number called "A Day in the Country", a duet between Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

"One smile, one word, one thrill"

[Steffi_P · 6/10 · 24 February 2010]

The 1930s were the era of the screen partnership. If a duo worked in one picture, the rule was to keep them together, turning out hits until the public got bored. But it wasn't always a rule producers were able to stick to. After the massive success The Love Parade, which united stars Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, producer-director Ernst Lubitsch followed up with Monte Carlo, in which MacDonald had to swap the gallic lothario for English fop Jack Buchanan.

Really, it was not so much the sundering of Chevalier and MacDonald that was the problem. MacDonald was a good singer and a decent actress, but there was no unique chemistry between her and Chevalier. No, it is Lubitsch who has been calamitously separated from the French entertainer. In his new breed of operettas for the screen, earliest examples of how we now define the movie musical, Lubitsch's Ruritanian settings and sly humour needed the cheeky continental charm of someone like Chevalier. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with Buchanan – he was witty, graceful, and could be outstanding in the right role (especially The Band Wagon, two decades later) – but he simply doesn't convince as a philandering French count. There may have been some thinking that Buchanan was to stereotypical Englishness what Chevalier was to stereotypical Frenchness. This is quite true, only stereotypical Englishness isn't what's required!

But Lubitsch potters along, honing the formula of the new genre. This time around, the songs are written by Richard A. Whiting and W. Franke Harling. The melodies are neither as sweet nor as memorable as those written by Victor Schertzinger for The Love Parade, the only standout being the popular hit "Beyond the Blue Horizon". However, the lyrics by Leo Robin are great fun, with internal rhyming reminiscent of Lorenz Hart, and a fun and occasionally witty wordplay. What's more Lubitsch and his screenwriter Ernest Vajda have done a more elaborate job of weaving the songs into the story, and the action into the songs. A good example is "Give Me a Moment Please", which is staged as a phone call between MacDonald and Buchanan (funny how Scottish those two sound when their names appear side by side). The song not only relates to the characters and the narrative, but the plot is furthered through the song.

As for merging action and music, there are some nice touches here which we didn't see in The Love Parade. This is not a dance musical, and yet Lubitsch choreographs dances of ordinary gestures for many of the numbers. Sometimes this is rather blunt and abstract, such as the head turning of the crowd in "She'll love me and like it". Other times it is more subtle and natural, as in "Trimmin' the women". In that song, we see little moves like Buchanan, John Roche and Tyler Brooke all crossing their legs simultaneously, and in the second half of the song making a little dance out of an afternoon tea session. Their movements look natural but also have a musical rhythm to them. This is all important development for the genre.

Ultimately though, this is a box of few delights. I'm not blaming it all on Mr Buchanan – he is actually delightful here and there, but he is not able to carry the picture, and the lack of an appropriate lead man shows up the rather lacklustre storyline. The screen musical would continue to develop, and during the 30s it would belong chiefly to the reliable stars who could be associated with a certain formula – Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Shirley Temple, Chevalier, MacDonald… stars who were draws in themselves and needed no fine drama or creative direction to make a hit.

Not the best Lubitsch but still enjoyable

[elisedfr · 6/10 · 29 August 2008]

Monte Carlo fail to attain the rate of other Lubistch musicals like "Love Parade" or "One hour with you".But this is anyway a very cute,funny and surprising movie who contains some great sequences and some holes.A sort of musical "Bluebeard's eight wife".

Jeanette Mac Donald gives one exhilarating performance.She's used to play the noble lady charming and snob and she excels at it.Just watch the scene where she breaks her hair and shut,while crying:"Here!I'm going to the Opera and i'll say to everyone you dressed my hair!" I couldn't stop laughing.

About Jack Buchanan-well,he's not Maurice Chevalier to say the least.He doesn't seem very comfortable with his part.In some scenes (mainly the one where the count and his friends laugh endlessly) he is mechanical and unnatural.He drift from cynic to genuine lover in a very disturbing way. Anyway,it must be said that in certain sequences he's not bad at all.I liked the way he shook his head when Jeanette calls him Rudolph and at the end,when he affect indifference each time the countess looks at him then smile irrepressibly. The supporting cast is excellent but some characters (as the fiancé's father disappear in the middle of the movie and left a strange impression.

The songs are quite good -except the funny but forgettable little number about hairdresser- Jeanette Mac Donald sings the legendary,Lubitsch favorite song "Beyond the blue horizon" and there is a beautiful duo between the two leads "Always in all ways".At a certain moment of the song,you feel an almost palpable atmosphere of joy.

Verdict: "Not bad,not bad at all".Forgive the script's incoherences and Buchanan's weaknesses and enjoy.

I tried to give arguments, but I completely failed to give my opinion in facts

[mrdonleone · 6/10 · 21 April 2009]

I'm going to try to convince you that this picture is not as good as they say, it bored me like hell. please don't forget that I like the genre, romantic comedies rule (especially Les Pärapluies de Cherbourg). but I don't know, maybe I felt bad about it because I just had an exam or maybe I didn't like the length of it (90 minutes) because I still had to go to school. so yes, maybe the movie was interesting, because I watched it until the end was long gone.

but I'm afraid I will have to confess I only watched this because it was standing in my book with hard to find movie titles in it. maybe I sound a bit negative, which I am not, let me assure you that I can be happy with a small gift. and yes, Jack Buchanan does in fact steal the audiences attention completely to him. but than again, if you like Buchanan, go see The Band Wagon and not this Monte Carlo (even though he doesn't sing bad in here).

so why did I wrote this review, beginning with saying I would prove you the film is not as good as they say it is, writing down why I didn't like the picture? that's no argument. well, maybe it's just a bad movie in my eyes, go see it and judge this picture yourself.

Did she met the Count before ? Yes, but she didn't see him.

[VanDerGraafCamel · 6/10 · 4 May 2006]

I have this movie recorded from TV and reading the comment by mgmax I was really perplexed about the fact of the wrongly numbered reels. I don't know if such a thing happened or not but anyway there is nothing baffling in the scene in which Buchanan presents himself to Mc Donald as a hairdresser after having seen her in a preceding scene. This is why he saw her but she didn't see him. I went to have a look to the movie and this is how it happens: when the Count and a friend of him see her going to the casino for the first time he sends his friend to make acquaintance with Jeanette. The friend receives a slap on his face. She touches the humpbacked and goes on her way. The two men then say: why! she's superstitious. So the Count goes after her and tells her to touch his hair if she wants very good luck at the casino. She never turns back and continues going toward the casino's entry door. He follows and goes on speaking, she never answers. Then she enters and closes the door right on his face. He turns back standing near the the door. She puts out an arm and touches the back of the head of the Count then closes the door again. As for the film I agree that Buchanan is not the right actor to interpret the character of the Count, the songs are mostly good but the story is a little cliché.

The Countess of Monte Carlo

[lugonian · 9/10 · 29 December 2001]

MONTE CARLO (Paramount, 1930), directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Jack Buchanan and Jeanette MacDonald, is a witty, sophisticated musical comedy with continental charm, which at times resembles some of the latter films starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers for RKO Radio. Lubitsch, who had recently scored a big hit with MacDonald in THE LOVE PARADE (Paramount, 1929), once again uses her to good advantage, presenting this promo dona as not only a good singer, but a fine comedienne. Although MacDonald would be charmed by Chevalier's smile in three more musicals, this would be her only venture opposite the British import of Jack Buchanan, whose career in early Hollywood musicals (1929-1930), would be short-lived. Although debonair, he failed to click with American audiences, and would spend most of his career in his native England on both stage and screen. Maybe his occasional but sometimes annoying laugh in this production might have found 1930s audiences finding that he is no threat to Chevalier's charm and smile, but on and all, he gets by. Today, Buchanan is best known for his latter Hollywood role supporting Fred Astaire and Nanette Fabray in the lavish Technicolor 1953 musical, THE BAND WAGON.

The story begins during a rain storm where a wedding is about to take place. The stuffy Prince Otto Von Leibeneheim (Claude Allister), the husband-to-be, is awaiting at the church for his future bride, Countess Helene Mara. As the choir sings, Otto receives a "Dear John" letter from Vera, making this the third time that he has been stood up by her. The next scene finds Vera, still wearing her wedding gown, accompanied by her maid, Bertha (ZaSu Pitts), running to catch the next train. Because she is down to her last francs, she decides to make her next stop to Monte Carlo and try her luck at the gambling tables, with much success. While there, she encounters Count Rudolph Fallieres (Jack Buchanan), a ladies man who becomes interested in her. Feeling that caressing her hair will bring him luck at the gambling tables, Rudy succeeds in keeping his identity a secret and getting her to hire him as her hairdresser, later promoted to be her personal servant and chauffeur. Eventually love blossoms, until Prince Otto locates her.

Being mainly a production that consists only of singing, with music and lyrics by Richard Whiting, W. Franke Harling and Leo Robin, the tune fest musical program is as follows: "Day by Day" (sung by church choir); "She'll Love Me and Like It" (sung by Claude Allister and wedding guests); "Beyond the Blue Horizon" (sung by Jeanette MacDonald); "Give Me a Moment Please" (sung by Jack Buchanan and Jeanette MacDonald); "Trimmin' the Women" (sung by Buchanan, Tyler Brooke and John Roche); "Whatever It Is, It's Grand" (sung by Buchanan and MacDonald); "She'll Love Me and Like It" (reprise by Claude Allister, sung by MacDonald); "Always in All Ways" (sung by Buchanan and MacDonald); "Give Me a Moment Please" (reprise by Buchanan); "Always in All Ways," "Monsieur Beauclair Opera Sequence" (with selections sung by Donald Novis); and "Beyond the Blue Horizon." In spite of "Beyond the Blue Horizon" being the film's most remembered and admired song, the one that would obviously get an Academy Award nomination had the Best Song category been around in 1930, "Always in All Ways" is also a delightful tune that shouldn't go without mention. It's even the underscore heard during the movie's opening screen credits and closing THE END logo.

MONTE CARLO also includes a running gag throughout the story in which some members of the cast tell each other a riddle: "She comes from a wedding, she has nothing on, she left her husband behind, she has no ticket, she has no idea where she wants to go, and she goes to Monte Carlo. How old is the husband?" Eventually, when this riddle reaches poor Otto, it slowly but finally dawns on him that it's pertaining to Vera and himself when he goes to tell this same riddle to another.

Regardless, MONTE CARLO, looks strictly modern with its lavish sets and advanced camera technique. In fact, it looks even better than the previous Lubitsch/MacDonald collaboration of THE LOVE PARADE or anything else from 1929. The only slow spot is the final ten minutes set during its prolonged opera theater sequence, but otherwise, a grand show not to be missed. If the story and leading man are forgettable, the sequence where MacDonald sings "Beyond the Blue Horizon" from her window of the train while looking at the countryside, with others such as farmers joining in the rendition as the train passes by them, will remain in memory long after the movie is over. Seldom broadcast since New York City's public television showing on WNET's Cinema 13 during the 1980s, MONTE CARLO has turned up on DVD around 2009 before having its long overdue cable television broadcast on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: December 21, 2012). How fortunate that this, among many films of the early sound era, have not to be among the "lost" movies from that bygone era. (****)

A bit disappointing

[davidmvining · 6/10 · 24 April 2023]

After the dizzying highs of The Love Parade, Monte Carlo is something of a letdown. Leaning more heavily into the elements of farce and masquerade, this musical comedy is less engaging and less delightful than Ernst Lubitsch's previous film while also feeling like something of a step back from a technical perspective. If, a few days ago, you had told me that this was Lubitsch's first sound film and The Love Parade his second, I would have easily believed it. This is technically less accomplished that the previous film while the script feels more rushed like it was pushed to get into production quickly to take advantage of the sound craze.

The Countess Helene Mara (Jeanette MacDonald) runs from her wedding with the stuffy, effeminate Duke Otto (Claud Allister), boarding a train in nothing but her negligee and an overcoat, along with her maidservant Bertha (ZaSu Pitts), and without a plan for where to go. When the train conductor suggests Monte Carlo, which is on the train's line, she lights up with ideas of winning a fortune, and they're off. In Monte Carlo is the Count Rudolph Falliere (Jack Buchanan) who immediately spies Helene, a blonde, and decides that he must have her.

The problem with this setup is that we barely get any time with Rudolph before his first effort to win Helene's heart fails and he starts on his farcical effort to get in her good graces by lying about who he is. There's also a lack of clarity around whether he loves her for her money or not. She wins big by betting 16 at the roulette table several times in a row, only for the luck to run out and her to run out of it all. However, Rudolph only sees the runup and not the downfall since he runs off to make a telephone call in the middle of it all. I guess that gets settled relatively quickly with Rudolph continuing his pursuit despite her pennilessness, but his missing of her loss just introduces a complication that ultimately doesn't matter. It's kind of weird while obfuscating who Rudolph is and what he wants. The point of the farce is for a character to mask who they are to get what they want, but if we never get a good idea of who the character is before he puts on the farce, or if the character largely remains the same through the farce (which, I think, is what happens here), then the comic potential isn't really realized.

And I think that's my major problem with the film: it's just not that funny. The comic situation wasn't really all that developed to the point where it's actually amusing. I've read some about Lubitsch's method of guiding the writing process with his writers, and it involved a lot of pushing back on the writers (gently and with wit) to find funnier bits of comic business. It feels like that process got short-changed here.

Anyway, Rudolph convinces Helene's hairdresser Paul (John Roche) to let him take his place. How this actually works isn't really explained because it feels like she's attached to individual members of her staff (that she never pays), and another one just showing up is weird. Anyway, she gives him a trial where he screws up, refuses to cut her hair, and forces her to wash her hair when he sneakily dumps some liquid shampoo on her head, and then they're in love. Well, she's at least enamored of him. Now, comparing this to the initial attraction between the mains in The Love Parade is instructive because both of them had been clearly defined before they met. It's unclear who the two mains in Monte Carlo really are. Helene is flighty. Rudolph liked blondes. That's kind of it. The attraction in the moment is slightly amusing considering the light comic business, but it's thin at the same time.

The setup completed, the movie moves into actual dramatic territory and it works a bit better. Otto shows up in Monte Carlo, having followed a joke about himself through the train line to figure out where Helene went (a solid bit of comic timing from Allister), and Helene is caught between her affections with her supposedly lower class, supposedly penniless love in Rudolph and the stuffy, rich man who adores her for her lack of love for him in an ironic sort of way that is Otto. He's got the money to give her the life she wants, but Rudolph is the romantic one. The romance from the point of the start on is the right kind of romantic escalation as Rudolph takes on more duties for Helene, making himself more essential to her running of her household as banks and hotels begin to refuse to extend her more credit.

There's the requisite break in the relationship and a final set piece at an opera where there's a really delightful way that Lubitsch wraps everything up. It's a mirror between the actions of the opera and the actions of the story around it where Rudolph is given small moments to just nod this way or that in agreement or disagreement with the actors on stage. It's the one moment in the film that feels like the classic Lubitsch Touch in full form. That it comes at the end of a truncated, underdeveloped film is unfortunate, but the film before it functions well enough so that the ending can be charming entirely on its own. It elevates a largely mediocre film slightly, just enough to put a real smile on my face by the end.

So, this isn't top tier Lubitsch, which is unfortunate. It's very slight with an ending that does entertain. It honestly feels like a rush job. The more passive camera and less impressively staged musical numbers inform the speed at which the production must have gone. It's not a bad film, but Lubitsch was obviously capable of much more.

Where's Maurice Chevalier when you need him?

[wmorrow59 · 5/10 · 25 March 2006]

The first twenty minutes of Monte Carlo is so enjoyable and promising, you might think you're watching one of Ernst Lubitsch's best musical comedies. The film kicks off with a highly amusing sequence at the palace of a silly aristocrat, where a wedding ceremony goes disastrously awry. First, the well-wishers are doused by a sudden rainfall (as we see a banner proclaiming "Happy is the Bride the Sun Shines On"), and consequently the members of the processional are forced to switch from a stately march to a mad scramble into the church. Then the groom is informed that his intended bride has fled, and we soon learn that this is the third time she has done so. But the groom's father insists that the wedding gifts will not be returned, and sends his son out to calm the guests. The groom, Otto, is played by Claude Allister, a bizarre-looking character actor who specialized in playing silly ass Englishmen. Otto treats the crowd to a song assuring them that he'll retrieve his bride and that "She'll Love Me and Like It!" This number is hilarious, and whets our appetites for more.

Next we meet the runaway bride herself, Countess Helene (Jeanette MacDonald), who, with her maid (ZaSu Pitts) has hopped a train without even bothering to find out where it's going -- nor did she take the time, when fleeing, to dress in anything beyond her slip and a light jacket. Once in her compartment she promptly doffs the jacket. (Can you say "Pre-Code"?) After an amusing exchange with a train conductor played by former Sennett comedian Billy Bevan, Jeanette sets her course for Monte Carlo and then sits back in her compartment, gazes happily out the window, and sings the film's most famous song, "Beyond the Blue Horizon." This sequence is renowned among film historians as one of the best musical numbers of the early talkie era, one that transcended the stage-bound conventions holding back other filmmakers. Here Lubitsch artfully combines a montage of traveling shots, the rhythmic sounds of the train, the swelling strains of the orchestra and MacDonald's voice to create a genuinely exhilarating number.

Unfortunately, once our Countess reaches Monte Carlo it marks the point where the movie itself has peaked. From here on, it steadily loses momentum and never again regains the propulsive cheer of those opening moments. I'm not entirely sure why the famed Lubitsch Touch faltered in this case, but in my opinion the biggest single error was the casting of Jack Buchanan in the male lead. Buchanan was a popular stage star in London, but he didn't succeed as a star in Hollywood, and his performance in this film demonstrates why. To put it bluntly, the man is an oddball: spindly, toothy, nasal-voiced and entirely too pleased with himself to score a hit as an appealing leading man. I think Buchanan must have been one of those performers like George M. Cohan or Fanny Brice whose stage magnetism didn't translate into movie stardom, or at least, not in this sort of role. He's ideal as the pompous stage director in The Band Wagon (1953), but that's an older, mellower Jack Buchanan in a funny character turn. Here, he's pretty hard to take, and none of his songs are as memorable or as cleverly staged as Jeanette's "Beyond the Blue Horizon." (And strangely, although he was celebrated in England for his dancing, he has no dance numbers at all.) Instead, Buchanan is given the film's most campy, embarrassing song, a paean to barbering called "Trimmin' the Women," a number that looks like it escaped from the Celluloid Closet. Things get worse later on when the plot calls for Buchanan to turn macho, and he gruffly orders Jeanette around, which is like watching Franklin Pangborn portray a drill sergeant.

With no Maurice Chevalier to play opposite (and Nelson Eddy still waiting in the wings), Jeanette MacDonald is pretty much left to her own devices. She's charming, but can't carry the picture by herself. Still, even if she'd played opposite a different leading man, Monte Carlo's verbal humor falls short in the later scenes. Lubitsch boosts the comedy quotient with some characteristic visual gags, bits involving missing boudoir keys and a church clock with mechanical musicians, and these moments help, but too many punch-lines fail to land, and too many scenes conclude on anti-climactic notes. Even ZaSu Pitts has to strain for laughs. I feel the director showed more assurance in this film's predecessor, his first talkie The Love Parade, which was boosted by Chevalier's high energy performance and some terrific supporting comics.

Fans of early musicals will want to catch the first two numbers here, but once you've arrived beyond that blue horizon and reached Monte Carlo, you may want to bail. After the first twenty minutes or so this film will most likely be of interest primarily to Lubitsch buffs and Jeanette MacDonald fans.

Marvelous

[sws-3 · 9/10 · 17 August 1999]

Jeanette MacDonald is luminous, and, to my utter surprise, there is a real erotic charge between MacDonald and Jack Buchanan. Parts of the score may be a bit underwhelming, but "Beyond the Blue Horizon" is as terrific as advertised. Of course, at the root of it all is the peerless cinematic wit of Ernst Lubitsch. A marvelous trifle with a real depth of feeling.

I agree with mgmax, this is a rare Lubitsch dud...

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 19 August 2010]

In the 1930s and 40s, the German comedian/director Ernst Lubitsch came to Hollywood and made a succession of wonderful movies--movies that had such artistry that they were said to have 'the Lubitsch touch'. However, despite marvelous films like "The Smiling Lieutenant", "Trouble in Paradise" and "Ninotchka", he did make an occasional dud--as "Monte Carlo" is a very tough film to enjoy. There are many reasons the film fails--though Lubitsch's direction and style is still a plus in this movie--it is lovely to look at and is a pretty movie. But, there are so many problems that mar anyone enjoying it--especially here in the 21st century. The biggest problem is perhaps the singing. While Jeanette MacDonald was a huge star in her day, her songs in this film are just dreadful and there is just too much singing--and not the cute or pleasant singing but warbling that hurts your ears. The other problems are the male leads. Claud Allister is cast as Jeanette's fiancé--but he appears to be a homosexual and the idea of their marriage seems ridiculous. So of course Jeanette breaks the engagement--but the idea of there even being an engagement in the first place makes no sense. As for the main male lead, Jack Buchanan, he simply is a dull looking man who seems like he isn't up to the task of playing a romantic male lead. Mgmax's review compared his looks to Paul Muni (not exactly romantic leading man material) and I would say that this is true--but Buchanan is even less suited for this sort of role. And finally, the whole plot about a penniless lady living above her means and trying to find a way out of her financial difficulties is hard to enjoy--and Jeanette just seems, at times, shallow--particularly when this was made during the Depression. Trials and tribulations of a pampered countess who wants to find a rich husband is a plot who probably found little resonance with the audiences of the day! Overall, while the film has moments, the overall package isn't particularly enjoyable and seems easy to skip. You just wouldn't expect that from one of Lubitsch's American films...but it's true.

Rare Lubitsch dud

[mgmax · 18 September 2004]

Certainly when you look at this film as a 1930 musical, the way that songs are integrated into the plot is a marvel, and it has a fluidity that belies the year it was made. That said, this is rather a chore to sit through, compared to the likes of The Smiling Lieutenant and One Hour With You, and despite the appeal of MacDonald in her early, earthy days, before she became partner to the eunuch Nelson Eddy.

There are three main culprits: first, a plot which just doesn't compare to the comedy-dramas of sexual tension and yearning that Lubitsch's best films offer. The others are fantasies, but this is flat out unbelievable, with too many mistaken identities, arbitrary shifts in attitude by the leading lady, and a lack of tension (since all of MacDonald's romantic choices are stinking rich). It's just impossible to care about. The second is leading man Jack Buchanan. It's not just that you can imagine Maurice Chevalier getting something innocently naughty out of the lines which might actually be charming, but as lightweight as he is, Buchanan seems too smart to believe what a doof-slash-stalker he's playing. Imagine Fred Astaire being replaced in Top Hat by Herbert Marshall, or maybe Paul Muni. And finally... at best the songs are unmemorable ditties cleverly staged. One, however, "Trimmin' the Women," could make the short list of worst movie numbers of the golden age of Hollywood. In short, be glad that Paramount compelled MacDonald and Chevalier (who she apparently disliked) to get back together in time for Love Me Tonight.

NOTE: Since viewing the film I have learned that the reels are misnumbered on nearly all surviving prints-- a fact which explains the otherwise baffling scene in the movie where Buchanan, who has already met MacDonald (IF you've seen it out of order), goes to work for her and she has no idea who he is. I'm not saying the movie would be radically better if it was in the correct order, but it would undoubtedly make somewhat more sense.

You'd have to have a severely ingrown toenail not to watch Monte Carlo with a smile

[Terrell-4 · 8/10 · 21 March 2008]

What is there about Lubitsch endings? In this 1930 film Monte Carlo we're in the Monte Carlo opera house watching two people as they watch the end of the operetta, Monsieur Beaucaire. In one box is the handsome and debonair Count Rudolph Falliere. In another box is the beautiful and sad Countess Helene Mara. Monsieur Beaucaire is all about a nobleman who pretends to be a hairdresser so he can be close to and woo a noblewoman. Lubitsch's Monte Carlo is all about…well, a nobleman who pretends to be a hairdresser so he can woo a noblewoman. The situation as it plays out for us observers is amusing, clever and sophisticated. We wind up thinking, because we know what's going on, that perhaps we're amusing, clever and sophisticated, too. It's a wonderful way to end the movie.

How we got to this point is just about as amusing as the ending. Countess Helene Mara (Jeanette MacDonald) left her twit of a fiancé, Prince Otto Von Seibenheim (Claude Allister) at the alter. Otto is the product of far too much noble inbreeding. She hops a train with her maid and decides to go to Monte Carlo where she will, of course, make piles of money at the casino. Count Rudolph, a charming and rich fellow, falls for her as soon as he sees her. Without a proper introduction, of course, he decides he must take the place of her hairdresser in order to meet her. Before long, he has also taken the place of her lackey and her chauffeur…and speculates about the moment when he'll take the place of her maid. And pursuing Helene Mara is her fiancé, the dim-witted Prince Otto. There are some songs, some kisses, much nearly transparent lingerie worn fetchingly by Helene Mara, a number of cocked eyebrows by Rudolph (now Paul the hairdresser) and much light-hearted suggestiveness by Lubitsch. "Oh, oh, oh, oh... ohohohoo... that feels good!" says Helene Mara, while her maid listens behind a closed door. "... oh, oh!...that feels even better... you must have electricity in your hands! I've never felt like this before!" Lest we speculate with as much interest as the maid, Paul is merely massaging Helene Mara's scalp. Unlike Monsieur Beaucaire, this couple has a happy ending because, reasonably enough, that's what they want.

Jeanette MacDonald gives a first-class performance that combines haughtiness, longing and sexuality. She looks great in her scanties. When she hides the key to her bedroom so that she won't be tempted to open it and let Paul enter, it involves three keys, each smaller than the last, two boxes and a pillow. MacDonald is just as delightful in the morning trying to figure out what she did so she can get the bedroom door unlocked.

For modern American audiences, Jack Buchanan probably is something of an acquired taste. In Britain during the late Twenties and Thirties he was a huge star, particularly on the British stage. Critics called him the English Fred Astaire. The upper U accent, the careless confidence, the high-nose nasality, the slight hint of upper-class entitlement are a little dated today. Like many leading men of the Twenties and Thirties, before the style went out of fashion, he seemed to promise for duchesses and shop girls alike days of laughter and nights of exquisite passion, without dwelling too much on the mechanics of that passion. While his style is now dated, watch how he uses inflections, a quick expression, some physical business, how he laughs. Buchanan knew what he was doing and he was good at it. There are several things of his from the Thirties that you can see on YouTube. Nowadays he's better known as having played Jeffrey Cordova in The Bandwagon with Astaire.

You'd have to have a severely ingrown toenail not to watch Monte Carlo with a smile, especially that ending.

Movie Odyssey Review #102: Monte Carlo (1930)

[Cyke · 5/10 · 13 February 2009]

102: Monte Carlo (1930) - released 8/27/1930, viewed 6/23/08.

KEVIN: I feel compelled to keep this brief, because I don't think this movie will stick with me. I didn't hate it, I just couldn't fall in love with it like I usually do with Ernst Lubitsch. There were plenty of enjoyable moments to keep me watching until the end, but I found the love story somewhat confusing. I blame this on Jack Buchanan as the male lead. His character is not only a liar, but a manipulator and stalker, and I must say there wasn't anything terribly charming about him. Buchanan played him just too creepy for me to root for him. Jeanette MacDonald was excellent, as usual, but her growing infatuation with this creep was what really confused me. I suspect when we've watched all of Lubitsch's other hits, this one will not rank so high.

DOUG: Only Ernst Lubitsch could make such a breezy, likable comedy with such despicable characters. Jeanette MacDonald plays the flighty, naïve Countess Helene, who ditches her wedding to head off somewhere fun and ends up in Monte Carlo. Jack Buchanen plays Count Rudolph, a total creep who decides to court Helene by getting hired as her barber and stalking her at every turn. Claud Allister plays Prince Otto, the dim-witted older man Helene is set to marry. The proceedings are amusing in that fun Lubitsch kind of way; everyone's just on the edge of crazy throughout and are all the more enjoyable for it. The love story is rather dated though; I found Rudy to be an obsessive manipulative loon, scheming his way into her bedroom and saving locks of her hair. Because it's Lubitsch, it's all fluffy and lighthearted, but this is maybe my least favorite of his films so far.

Last film viewed: The Divorcée (1930). Last film chronologically: The Big House (1930). Next film viewed: The Criminal Code (1930). Next film chronologically: Animal Crackers (1930).

Beyond the Blue Horizon

[dave-2395 · 8/10 · 15 July 2013]

This time it's the beautiful and witty early Jeanette MacDonald, before Nelson Eddy came along - in an unusual Lubitsch romantic comedy musical! A high society romp involving financially embarrassed Countess Helene (Jeanette MacDonald) bolting during a wedding to stuffy but rich Duke Otto (Claude Allister). Her idea is to escape to Monte Carlo and gamble herself back into the upper circles, without depending on men in her life. It doesn't work out, due to many twists of the wheel as well as the plot, involving Count Rudolph (Jack Buchanan) - and Duke Otto - now both after her. Lots of sophisticated laughs at the antics of the high-born, sort of verbal slapstick. And some great music too, even beyond the blue horizon!

Possibly for Claude Allister Fans

[theowinthrop · 5/10 · 23 September 2005]

Aside from introducing "Beyond the Blue Horizon" to the public, this musical is pretty weak for MacDonald and Ernst Lubitsch. As several of the writers on this thread have pointed out, the leading man (Jack Buchanan)is just not strong enough to lift his half of the love story plot. He is a count at Monte Carlo, and he pretends to be a hairdresser to keep close to Countess Jeanette. He is given such third rate songs like "Trimmin the Women" and "Always in All Ways" to sing (only MacDonald had a really memorable tune, and it was sung too early in the film). Even Claude Allister's "She'll Love Me and Like It" has more bounce and pizazz to it - and it is not a good song. Also, Buchanan may have been terrific on the West End stages of the 1930s and 1940s, buy his movie career was spotty. His most memorable part was as Jeffrey De Cordoba, the great man of the theater in THE BAND WAGON who almost destroys the musical that Fred Astaire is trying to put on - and while good in that role, the thought that Clifton Webb might have played the role makes Buchanan's performance irritating. Webb was Astaire's chief Broadway rival in the 1920s, and this would have been his one chance to show the early Webb reputation as a great song and dance man with his one peer. Oh yes, Buchanan's was the "star" of Preston Sturges' last film THE FRENCH, THEY ARE A FUNNY RACE. That is regarded as Sturges' worst film.

The best thing in the film tends to be Claude Allister's performance as the cuckolded fiancé Prince Otto. Besides his big song number (totally unexpected), Allister puts on more force than normal for his usual "silly ass" Englishman performances. He suddenly reappears at Monte Carlo to confront Jeannette (who keeps leaving him at the alter) and immediately takes control of her situation. In fact, given his more active personality Allister deserved to win Jeannette - he just looks preposterous, so he has to lose to the better looking Buchanan. That seems a more ridiculous reason to accept the conclusion of any film.

Because Jeannette pushed some real excitement across the screen with "BEYOND THE BLUE HORIZON" twice in the film, and Allister does manage to squeeze unexpected juice out of his role and performance, I give this a five. If Buchanan's co-stars had been equally dull as he, it would have gotten a 2.

Operatic

[tedg · 23 July 2008]

I seem to be spending time with films like this. If you take away the story (excepting the last five minutes) the characters, the dialog and the songs, this is a very fine movie. It has such deft technique that it can support a tone of light humor regardless of the main attraction.

This fellow was a master. Too bad he only made useless movies.

There is what I call a narrative fold. The story is that a nobleman disguises himself as a servant to get close to a penniless noblewoman. They fall in love. He is shunned because he is a commoner — or perhaps because he has no money, it isn't clear. As all simple love stories do, this one must end with discovery and happiness. It occurs when the two at an opera where: guess what? The story is the same.

In that last few minutes, the songs and words on the stage of the opera overlap with those on the stage of the movie. Its nice.

The craft is enough for this.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

"Goodbye To Things That Bore Me, Joy Is Waiting For Me"

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 14 December 2008]

When Jeanette MacDonald sang those lyrics she knew something better had to be waiting for her in Monte Carlo than what she was leaving. Jeanette who's a countess has run out on Claud Allister for the third time because she just can't quite take the plunge. She and her maid Zasu Pitts just hop the first train and it happens to be going to Monte Carlo.

Jack Buchanan who plays a count takes one look at Jeanette and knows she's for him, but the only way he can finally gain entrance to her rooms is pretending to be her hairdresser. So the games begin, those magical continental games that Ernst Lubitsch brought to the screen with that delightful Lubitsch touch.

Jeanette and Jack got to sing some nice songs written by Richard Whiting, W. Frank Harling, and Leo Robin chief of which are Beyond The Blue Horizon and Always In All Ways. The staging of Beyond The Blue Horizon was quite innovative at the time, the motion of the locomotive synchronized with Jeanette's voice. A prime example of the Lubitsch touch.

Jack Buchanan was a popular English music hall star who went back across the pond and appeared in several English films which occasionally were shown here. But his next American appearance was memorably opposite Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in The Bandwagon.

My favorite in the cast though is Claud Allister. That man took a patent out on playing silly upper class twits, usually of the British variety. No one else could do them quite as good. He's most memorable opposite Ronald Colman in two Bulldog Drummond films as his friend Algy.

A nice musical score and a cast more than capable of delivering the song and story with class makes Monte Carlo still a joy waiting for you.

Even Lubistch can make a dud...a musical comedy with only one memorable song...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 21 December 2012]

Strictly for devotees of Jeanette MacDonald who have to see every one of her films. Pairing her with leading man Jack Buchanan is a big mistake here. He has neither the looks nor charm to be believable as her love interest.

She does get to warble at least one attractive and well-remembered song: "Beyond the Blue Horizon," but all the other musical numbers are patter songs that merely fill in the gaps between some not too witty dialog.

The tiresome tale is about a girl who runs away from her wedding and then mistakes a wealthy man (a Count) for a hairdresser. The mistaken identity goes on for almost the entire film without resulting in any real payoffs. Jeanette is her usual charming self but Jack Buchanan is really wasted here and never gets a chance to show what a great tap dancer he was--as in "The Bandwagon" years later with Fred Astaire.

This is one even Jeanette's most ardent fans can afford to skip.

Awesome

[mgconlan-1 · 8/10 · 2 March 2008]

The world of Jeanette MacDonald fandom is divided into two groups: those who love her early films, usually with Maurice Chevalier as her co-star (though in this case she got Jack Buchanan instead) and sophisticated directors like Ernst Lubitsch and Rouben Mamoulian, and those who swear by her eight films with Nelson Eddy that followed. Count me in as part of the first group (though there are some quite good MacDonald=Eddy films, especially "Maytime" and "Sweethearts"). "Monte Carlo" isn't at the level of "The Love Parade" or "Love Me Tonight," and frankly it would have been more fun with Chevalier in the male lead (Jack Buchanan is a bit too stuck-up for his character, and for some reason Lubitsch didn't give him an opportunity to dance, at which he was good enough that in 1930 he was considered a rival to his future "Band Wagon" co-star Fred Astaire), but it's still a great movie, with plenty of the famous Lubitsch "touches" (the torrential rain in the opening wedding scene, the use of peasants MacDonald's train is passing by as her backing singers, the clock that features statues of musicians with different instruments playing one of the score songs) and an overall insouciance and sophistication far, far above the plodding retreads of old operettas that constitute most of the MacDonald-Eddy films. Thank you, Eclipse, for finally giving me a chance to see this!

Lethargic Lubitsch

[st-shot · 5/10 · 29 December 2021]

In between solid leading men Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy, Jeanette McDonald made this light Ernst Lubitsch musical with respected stage actor Jack Buchanan and while not exactly a sour note he lacks the charm of of the former and the pipes of the latter to spar with the entitled countess played by Jeanette.

On the eve of her marriage to a duke (Claude Alister), Countess Helene splits with her maid (Zasu Pitts) to Monte Carlo. There she meets Rudolph (Buchanan) who pretends to be a hairdresser to get close.

Lacking Chevalier's savoir faire and Eddy's baritone, Buchanan's performance is stage oriented and broad, the chemistry between the two limp. McDonald looking a little broad in the beam does get to warble Beyond the Blue Horizon but the rest of this silly musical is just that, silly with little evidence of Lubitsch's risqué wit.

Early Lubitsch Magic!

[R Becker · 10/10 · 25 January 2006]

Surprisingly fresh comedy and adult outlooks sparkle in this fun early talkie and musical starring Jeanette MacDonald. It's got a none-too-subtle fetishy undertone to give it a snappy jolt, it's got some unusually naturalistic acting (especially from the pre-Nelson Eddy Miss MacDonald), and it's in glorious black and white. What more could you ask? Well, the supporting cast do tend to be a bunch of stock characters, but it *is* a musical comedy, after all. The climax at the opera has a lovely exchange of wordless acting between MacDonald's Countess and her paramour -- and the whole thing is full of "the Lubitsch touch," from before he had entirely lost his European edge. I recommend it!

Only failed Lubitsch MacDonald vehicle due to Buchanan

[bbmtwist · 5/10 · 29 May 2013]

This is the only one of Lubtisch's five films with MacDonald and Chevalier that can be considered a failure and primarily because of poor casting.

There are lovely Lubitsch touches: the red carpet, the rain, the discovery of the missing bride, all without dialogue; the slap and the hair pat; the clock with first trumpet, then tuba, then flute; the elaborate four key locking of her chambers.

The error is in casting Jack Buchanan, ugly, effeminate and silly, as her leading man. She runs to him from the equally ugly and effeminate Claude Allister. What were they thinking???? She needed a "man," not someone playing a man. I have no idea of the sexuality of either Buchanan or Allister, but she did not have a "real man" by Hollywood standards to play against, yet did her valiant best, as she always would in all her films. At one point in the dialogue, MacDonald accuses Buchanan of "not being a man at all."

I'm not homophobic - I'm a gay man myself, but it must be said, Miss MacDonald was very poorly served in this outing.

Yet, there is a grand original score, including two real gems: BEYOND THE BLUE HORIZON and ALWAYS, IN ALL WAYS. Enjoy it for Jeannette, Lubitsch and the songs, despite the non chemistry with her leading man and the long, long dull parts of the play itself.

Songs:

Day of Days – Chorus She'll Love Me and Like It – Allister BEYOND THE BLUE HORIZON – MacDonald GIVE ME A MOMENT PLEASE – MacDonald and Buchanan Trimmin The Women – Buchanan, Roche, Brooke WHATEVER IT IS, IT'S GRAND – MacDonald and Buchanan YOU'LL LOVE ME AND LIKE IT– reprise – Allister and MacDonald ALWAYS, IN ALL WAYS – MacDonald and Buchanan Give Me A Moment Please – reprise – Buchanan ALWAYS, IN ALL WAYS – reprise –MacDonald and Buchanan BEYOND THE BLUE HORIZON – reprise – MacDonald and Buchanan

MacDonald sings 5 songs: Beyond The Blue Horizon; Give Me A Moment Please; Whatever It is , It's Grand; You'll Love Me And Like it; Always, In All Ways – plus two reprises.