The Smiling Lieutenant

The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)

Maurice Chevalier laughing and loving again in Ernst Lubitsch's sparkling cocktail of romantic merriment

An amorous lieutenant is forced to marry a socially awkward princess, though he tries to keep his violin-playing girlfriend on the side.

Date of release
1931-08-01
TMDB
6.8 / 10 (72)
Runtime
1h 29m
Genres
Comedy, Romance
Director
Ernst Lubitsch

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Awards: 0 · Nominations: 1

The Smiling Lieutenant is a 1931 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert and Miriam Hopkins, and released by Paramount Pictures.

Production

The film was not made under pleasant circumstances: the shift to the Astoria, New York, studios accounts for the sense of confinement on set. Chevalier described performing – "smiles and cute winks of the eye" – a "mechanical display of technique" due to grief over his mother's death. Lubitsch also played referee between Colbert and Hopkins, who were determined to be shot from the same angle.

Scenes from the film were included in the 1931 promotional film by Paramount, The House That Shadows Built.

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