Paris in Spring
{{short description|1935 film by Lewis Milestone}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Paris in Spring
| image = Paris in Spring.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| director = Lewis Milestone
| producer = Benjamin Glazer
| screenplay = Samuel Hoffenstein
Franz Schulz
adaptation by
Keene Thompson
| based_on = {{based on|Paris in Spring (play)|Dwight Taylor}}
| starring = Mary Ellis
Tullio Carminati
Ida Lupino
Lynne Overman
Jessie Ralph
Dorothea Wolbert
| music = Harry Revel
Mack Gordon
| cinematography = Ted Tetzlaff
| editing = Eda Warren
| studio = Paramount Pictures
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1935|05|28|United States Theatrical}}
| runtime = 82 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Paris in Spring (also released as Paris Love Song) is a 1935 black and white musical comedy film directed by Lewis Milestone for Paramount Pictures.{{cite book|last=Leslie Halliwell|title=Halliwell's Film Guide|publisher=Scribner|year=1987|pages=751|isbn=0-684-18826-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D_0pAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Paris+Love+Song%22,+%22Dwight+Taylor%22}}{{cite news|url=http://movies.tvguide.com/paris-spring/cast/108840|title=Paris in Spring|work=TV Guide|access-date=23 April 2011}} It is based on a play by Dwight Taylor, with a screen play by Samuel Hoffenstein and Franz Schulz.{{cite book|author=Library of Congress. Copyright Office|title=Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [C] Group 3. Dramatic Composition and Motion Pictures. New Series|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xVNhAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA232|year=1936|page=232}}
Plot
Afraid of marriage, Simone (Mary Ellis) ends her long term engagement with her fiancé Paul de Lille (Tullio Carminati). Paul heads to the top of The Eiffel Tower with thoughts of suicide. In another part of Paris, and also afraid of marriage, Mignon (Ida Lupino) decides to separate from her young lover (James Blakely). Despairing, Mignon also climbs to the top of The Eiffel Tower intending to leap to her death. There she meets Paul and the two compare stories. After discussion, Paul dissuades her from leaping and the two conspire to make their respective partners jealous by pretending to have an affair with each other.
Cast
- Mary Ellis as Simone
- Tullio Carminati as Paul de Lille
- Ida Lupino as Mignon de Charelle
- Lynne Overman as DuPont
- Jessie Ralph as Grandma Leger
- Dorothea Wolbert as Francine
- Akim Tamiroff as Cafe Manager
- Jack Raymond as Elevator Man
- Arnold Korff as Doctor
- Rolfe Sedan as Modiste
- Arthur Housman as Interviewer
- Jack Mulhall as George, Cafe Simone Doorman
- Elsa Peterson as Hairdresser
- Michael Mark as Bartender
- Billy Gilbert as First Chef
- William Irving as Second Chef
- Francis Ford as Drunken Peasant
- James Blakeley as Albert de Charelle
- Craig Reynolds as Alphonse
- Joseph North as Etienne
- Harold Entwistle as Charles The Butler
- Sam Ash as Clerk
Soundtrack
- "Paris in Spring" by Harry Revel and Mack Gordon, sung by Mary Ellis and Tullio Carminati
- "Jealousy", sung by Mary Ellis
- "Bonjour et Bonsoir", sung by Mary Ellis and Tullio Carminati
Reception and release
The film was first released in US theaters on 28 May 1935. The New York Times reviewer wrote that while Mary Ellis offered a degree of entertainment with her singing, Tullio Carminati did not help the film by treating the film in a burlesque style. The newspaper was of the opinion Ida Lupino and James Blakeley were moderately good in their roles, but any merited praise for acting was to the credit of Lynne Overman, Jessie Ralph, and to the actor in the lesser role of the Chez Simone manager.{{cite news|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9904E2DA173CE33ABC4B52DFB166838E629EDE|title=Paris in Spring (1935)|last=F.S. N.|date=13 July 1935|work=The New York Times|access-date=23 April 2011}}
Reviewer Graham Greene praised Milestone's emulation of Ernst Lubitsch in his ability to create a film that was a "silly, charming tale", and make something "light, enchanting, and genuinely fantastic" out of a nonsense plot device.{{cite journal |last= Greene|first= Graham|authorlink= Graham Greene|date= 12 July 1935|title= St Petersburg/Paris Love Song/The Phantom Light|journal= The Spectator}} (reprinted in: {{cite book|editor-last= Taylor|editor-first= John Russell|editor-link= John Russell Taylor|date= 1980|title= The Pleasure Dome|url= https://archive.org/details/pleasuredomegrah00gree/page/7|page= [https://archive.org/details/pleasuredomegrah00gree/page/7 7]|isbn= 0192812866|url-access= registration}}; reprinted in {{cite book|last=Graham Greene, David Parkinson|title=The Graham Greene film reader: reviews, essays, interviews & film stories|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|year=1994|pages=7, 8, 9|isbn=1-55783-188-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cC3w5Cwr7X0C&pg=PA9}}) Lupino's role in Paris in Spring has been described as "dull", a view she shared.{{cite book|last=Bubbeo|first=Daniel|title=The women of Warner Brothers: the lives and careers of 15 leading ladies : with filmographies for each|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nmjetV92THsC&pg=PA158|year=2002|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-1137-5|page=158}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.allmovie.com/work/paris-in-spring-105549 Paris in Spring] at Allmovie
- [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026849/combined Paris in Spring] at the Internet Movie Database
- [http://images.moviepostershop.com/paris-in-spring-movie-poster-1935-1020197046.jpg Film Poster]
{{Lewis Milestone}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paris in Spring}}
Category:Paramount Pictures films
Category:1935 romantic comedy films
Category:American romantic comedy films
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:Films directed by Lewis Milestone
Category:Films with screenplays by Franz Schulz