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Monte Carlo
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch193090 minPre-Code / Musical / Comedy
A countess ditches her foppish prince at the altar, flees to the Riviera with a thin bankroll, and tries to win a fortune at roulette. Ernst Lubitsch’s 1930 musical comedy — a peak example of the famous “Lubitsch Touch” — lets Jeanette MacDonald’s runaway aristocrat hire a charming “hairdresser” who is actually Count Rudolph (Jack Buchanan) in disguise. Lubitsch, the Berlin-trained master of innuendo, closed doors, and worldly wit, treats early sound not as a problem but as a toy: songs slip into conversation, a train becomes an orchestra, and desire is suggested rather than spelled out. MacDonald, at her haughtiest and most musical, and Buchanan, the elegant British song-and-dance star, make the masquerade sparkle; Zasu Pitts tags along as the maid. The showstopper is “Beyond the Blue Horizon,” MacDonald singing from a rushing train while the countryside answers in chorus — Lubitsch turning a getaway into pure cinema.
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A countess ditches her foppish prince at the altar, flees to the Riviera with a thin bankroll, and tries to win a fortune at roulette. Ernst Lubitsch’s 1930 musical comedy — a peak example of the famous “Lubitsch Touch” — lets Jeanette MacDonald’s runaway aristocrat hire a charming “hairdresser” who is actually Count Rudolph (Jack Buchanan) in disguise. Lubitsch, the Berlin-trained master of innuendo, closed doors, and worldly wit, treats early sound not as a problem but as a toy: songs slip into conversation, a train becomes an orchestra, and desire is suggested rather than spelled out. MacDonald, at her haughtiest and most musical, and Buchanan, the elegant British song-and-dance star, make the masquerade sparkle; Zasu Pitts tags along as the maid. The showstopper is “Beyond the Blue Horizon,” MacDonald singing from a rushing train while the countryside answers in chorus — Lubitsch turning a getaway into pure cinema.
- Director
- Ernst Lubitsch
- Year
- 1930
- Runtime
- 90 min
- Genres
- Pre-Code / Musical / Comedy