MartinHafer This is Ernst Lubitsch's first sound film and technically speaking, it's amazing. While the sound technology of the time was VERY primitive, Lubitsch was able to make the first really modern looking musical--with natural movements and a story that is NOT just another Gold Diggers sort of extravaganza (quite the rage at the time). Reading through the trivia on IMDb, I saw that it was the first or among the first musicals to be filmed this way--and that this was done by ignoring the speakers and re-dubbing the film after it was completed! All I know is that compared to other musicals of the day, it stands up very, very well---even if the singing of Jeanette MacDonald (in her first film) is a bit dated stylistically."The Love Parade" starts out with a wonderfully clever scene that illustrates what a cool and confident lover Maurice Chevalier plays in this film. I could say more about it, but really think you need to see it. Chevalier's antics in Paris cause some problems with officials from his home country, Sylvania, and he is ordered back home to answer for his sexual shenanigans. However, instead of being punished, he meets the Queen (MacDonald) and the two soon fall in love--complete with LOTS of singing.Considering how pretty and sweet MacDonald is, you'd think that Chevalier would be ecstatic when they marry. Well, that is NOT the case at all as he has nothing to do and no power. In essence, he's like a royal trophy husband. And, to make matters worse, MacDonald does just about everything she can to keep him emasculated. So, it's not at all a surprise when he walks. Can their love be rekindled or are they destined for separate lives? I will freely admit that this is not a perfect film or even close to it if you compare it to modern films---or even musicals from just a few years later. However, for 1929, it's just about perfect--exceptional in every way. So, if you can understand and appreciate the groundbreaking nature of the film, you'll no doubt enjoy it. Though, you will wonder why the Queen and her Consort have such amazingly different accents considering they both are Sylvanians! I noticed that Lupino Lane played Chevalier's funny butler. He did a great job in the film and it's one of the small number of sound films in which he appeared. Believe it or not, he was a prolific silent comedian--and a very funny one. You get a hint of this in the VERY physical song he and the maid perform at 65 minutes into the movie. I have seen him in a few of his silent films and can recommend you see one if you get the chance. In addition, silent comic Ben Turpin also makes a short cameo appearance.

bkoganbing The Love Parade which was Maurice Chevalier's second feature film is as fresh today as it was in 1929 when it garnered a whole flock of Academy Award nominations. It was Paramount's prestige film of the year, in fact I'm not sure if any other Paramount features got any nominations for anything that year.It was Ernst Lubitsch's first sound feature film and apparently the man with the famed Lubitsch touch hit the ground running in the new medium with a bunch of players who were also fresh to cinema because of the coming of sound. This was Jeanette MacDonald's film debut and while she's not billed over the title as Chevalier was, her part is every bit as important and as big as his. Maurice Chevalier has been cutting a wide swath among the ladies of Paris where he's attached to the embassy of Sylvania. So much so that he's been recalled to Sylvania for a reprimand or so he thinks.Jeanette MacDonald is the new young Queen of Sylvania and she's got to marry for reasons of state. As did many a female monarch, British ones like Victoria, Anne, and the two Marys all took husbands for reasons of state and the method they chose them was as much political as anything else. Only Elizabeth I managed to escape the marriage obligation.While her diplomats look askance on Chevalier's romantic antics, Jeanette sees in him one grand candidate for marriage. If she's got to get married for reasons of state by God she's going to pick a husband who's going to be ready to romp at a royal command.The Love Parade's musical score was written by Victor Schertzinger and Clifford Grey. The first notes Jeanette MacDonald ever sang on screen were from her hit song, Dream Lover. It's not the same song as Bobby Darin had a hit in the Fifties from. Film fans will recognize it as the flying theme that Cecil B. DeMille used as background music when Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde were on the trapeze in The Greatest Show On Earth. Jeanette also sings March of the Grenadiers as she reviews her palace guard.Chevalier's two big numbers were Paris Stays The Same and My Love Parade from whence the title comes. Both were written to suit his grand boulevardier style. Some comic numbers were written for Lupino Lane and Lillian Roth who are the second leads. Lupino is Chevalier's orderly and Roth is one of her maids. They make a cute pair with their impish behavior, aping their masters.The Love Parade got six Oscar nominations, but did not win in any category and the categories were a lot fewer back in the day. It was up for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Maurice Chevalier, Best Sound Recording, Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography. It also has a lot fewer overacted performances that were the norm in those early sound days. It was as if Ernst Lubitsch instinctively knew what to do with sound in film.The story is about a Prince Consort and usually the model that is held up is that of Prince Albert for Queen Victoria. But that's not the road Chevalier wants to take. It's a continental story and yet Lubitsch as he always did, made those stories appealing to American audiences. After 80 years, The Love Parade is still appealing.

mukava991 Poor Queen Louise – when she is awakened by her attendants she has been dreaming of love but must face another day in the Kingdom of Sylvania without a husband. When an errant military adjutant is recalled from Paris to face her censure she falls for his charms and he for hers, and they marry. But the Queen's new husband is unhappy in the role of obedient consort. Conflict arises but is eventually resolved, as we know it will be in operetta land. This early Lubitsch musical rates about the same as MONTE CARLO made a year later. The highlight here is the performance of Maurice Chevalier as the consort, a sort of pre-Cary Grant Cary Grant, Gallic style. He has the same effortless magnetism and charm and a certain physical resemblance. Jeanette MacDonald is as good here as in MONTE CARLO, handling songs and dialogue with equal aplomb and looking gorgeous in her filmy gowns. As is usual with Lubitsch, there is a superior supporting cast, here including the formidable Lupino Lane as Chevalier's valet, a sassy and brassy Lillian Roth as Lane's love interest and Edgar Norton as the "Master of Ceremonies," the personification of royal lackey. Another Lubitsch hallmark, the measured depiction of ritualistic daily activities, gets much display in the context of the protocols of a royal palace. The songs by Victor Schertzinger and Clifford Grey are only passable and the primitive sound recording doesn't help in getting them across but the tone of the whole enterprise is so frothy and pleasant that one doesn't mind not hearing all of the lyrics. When you compare this film to other musicals from the dawn of the sound era like Broadway MELODY the difference is glaring. Lubitsch's camera is liberated and fluid and we get an assortment of physical approaches to song and dance numbers which themselves vary in style from pompous operetta-military to musical hall slapstick to Gilbert-and- Sullivanesque call-and-repeat choral to intimate romantic duets. There is a hint of LOVE ME TONIGHT in some of the ensemble work, particularly with the palace staff. And the script is studded with witty observations and clever comic constructions, some via dialogue, some through pure visuals. THE LOVE PARADE illustrates that in 1929 Rouben Mamoulian (APPLAUSE) was not alone among film directors in recognizing the value of sound as an artistic element and in refusing to subordinate the freedom of the camera to the dictates of miking.

Ron Oliver Domestic difficulties between the strong-willed Queen of Sylvania and her stubborn Consort may cause them both to miss THE LOVE PARADE.Director Ernst Lubitsch spread his special brand of sophisticated naughtiness in this visually impressive & engaging early talkie musical. Depending much on the intelligence of the viewer, the film serves up unexpected bons mons of wit (e.g. the dog barking his farewells to the pooches of Paris) which never fail to enchant. Lubitsch would contribute a series of delightful little comedies over the next several years, making the title of this confection pertinent in more ways than one.Maurice Chevalier practically oozes Gaelic charm in a wonderfully hammy, ingratiating performance. His French charisma dominates the screen; he embraces his songs rather than just singing them. His immense joie de vivre & exceptional talent was perfectly attuned to the sound motion picture. In her film debut, the lovely Jeanette MacDonald proves a charming partner to Chevalier. Imperious or coquettish by turns, she beguiles the viewer as well as Maurice--her celebrated voice (when intelligible) put to good use in the seduction.British physical comedian Lupino Lane is a winner as Chevalier's highly energetic little valet; lanky Lillian Roth, as a palace maid, joins him for some humorous knockabout songs. Lionel Belmore & Eugene Palette bring appropriately hefty gravitas to their roles as government ministers. Diminutive Edgar Norton appears as an unflappable majordomo.Movie mavens will recognize silent screen comic Ben Turpin as a cross-eyed lackey, Russ Powell as the Afghan Ambassador and young Jean Harlow as one of a group of women applauding Chevalier at the theatre, all uncredited.