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TROUBLE IN PARADISE is a very different type of comedy than what I normally review. While it would be unfair of me to say nobody who frequents Three Stooges boards would watch a film like this, I am going to guess it’s less of you than Abbott and Costello or The Marx Brothers. Show the previously mentioned comedians to a six or seven year old and a lot of them will get it and remain fans for life. Show them TROUBLE IN PARADISE? Way too adult, way over their heads. This is the world of screwball comedy where clever writing and really messed up adult relationships are front and center. It is inhabited by straighter looking characters and actors and actresses who are signed for a film to play comedy, not basing their careers on a single comic character. In this case, the stars of this sex and theft love triangle are Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis and Herbert Marshall. Most of you will know Kay Francis as the villainess in THE COCOANUTS, but they all had established careers far beyond comedy. TROUBLE IN PARADISE is also a director’s film, as Ernst Lubitsch gets above the title billing. A man worshipped by the auteur crowd (which I’m less a part of the older I get), who indeed directed many a classic Hollywood and German silent in his day. Check out his filmography, quite impressive. Writer Samson Raphaelson deserves a ton of credit for bringing this film to life as well.
OK, so if you notice in a lot of my Abbott and Costello reviews, I will state the plot is nonsensical and it’s usually OK if there are a few good routines and the comedians themselves act funny. Those films are simple pleasures and I like them that way. In the case of TROUBLE IN PARADISE, the plot and writing are central to the appreciation of this film, so I don’t know how to review this without spoilers. To those of you who have never seen this movie and do not want spoilers, do not read beyond this paragraph. Just know I recommend this film if you’re in the mood for a well directed, well acted, well written, clever comedy about a love triangle involving thieves and narcissists. It has a pre code eroticism throughout and is fun to watch. For you non spoiler people, end of review.
For those of you who have seen this or don’t care about spoilers, the film opens with a brilliant shot of a man on the ground in the aftermath of a robbery and pans to Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall) in his balcony with his butler awaiting a romantic evening. The dialogue here is fantastic, from the butler’s sycophant yes man routine to Gaston telling the butler, “It must be a marvelous supper. We may not eat it, but it must be marvelous.” Once the lady - Lily Vautier (Hopkins) arrives, she is rambling about all the countesses and barons and other variety of royalty she ran into on the way. She’s afraid being seen going into Gaston’s house for a one night rendezvous will get around and ruin her reputation. Layer by layer, the pretense for both characters falls off. Lily takes a phone call where she’s pretending to be of high society on the outside, but a shot revealing the other end of the call shows she lives in a tenement and is a commoner looking for adventure. Then when Gaston and Lily are eating dinner, Lily reveals to Gaston she knows he was the thief who robbed the man in the opening shot of the film. It is then slowly revealed they have been robbing each other all night, all in a casual manner, mind you. She robbed his wallet and watch and him her diamond pin and garter - yes, her garter. When the mask falls off and both realize they are thieves and not high society, they embrace and fall in love. The way each character gets unmasked is a brilliant piece of writing.
The third person in the love triangle is Madame Mariette Colet, a rich heiress from her much older deceased husband’s perfume company. She purchases a 125,000 franc diamond purse that gets stolen by Gaston. When she posts an ad of a 20,000 franc reward to anybody who finds the purse, Gaston returns it and the love triangle begins. Gaston displays knowledge of what brand lipstick and powder she should wear, interior design and what she should do with her money. His charming manner in addition to his knowledge on such things convinces Madame Colet to hire Gaston as her secretary. Lily also gets hired separately, so the cat and mouse game of sex and larceny begins. Madame Colet reveals herself to be very controlling towards men, toying around with two suitors she has no desire to be with (played by old Hollywood stalwarts Charles Ruggles and Edward Everett Horton) and flat out admits her controlling nature to Gaston towards the end of the film. So three very controlling and manipulative characters and in the end, Gaston and Lily do end up in a wonderful come full circle ending. I know I said spoilers allowed, but even I don’t have the heart to give away the ending gag here. Let’s just say another clever piece of writing and it left me with a satisfied feeling.
A few fun touches throughout the film include the yes sir montages of all the servants. The one with Gaston is awesome. The second to last shot is of a maid who doesn’t say yes, but instead says maybe. Then after that, in a pre code eye popper, we get Kay Francis in shorts, back on the ground and legs WAY back over her head getting a yes from Gaston if this position is OK. For me to accurately describe the position, I would have to consult my Kama Sutra. Stuff like this was just not allowed once the code came in. There is also a great scene at a party where Gaston is talking to female guests behind a screen door so we don’t hear anything. Madame Colet confronts him. We hear no dialogue, but the pantomime obviously displays both her displeasure and him charming his way out of it making all well. Very tasteful storytelling device.
So yeah, TROUBLE IN PARADISE is a screwball comedy in a much different vain than what is usually discussed here, but is absolutely worth watching. A very clever and adult film that can get the armchair psychiatrists in us going all day, and it’s pretty funny as well. Highly recommended.
