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Monte Carlo (1930 film)
Encyclopedia
Monte Carlo is a 1930 American
musical comedy film
directed by Ernst Lubitsch
. It stars Jeanette MacDonald
as Countess Helene Mara. The film is also notable for the song "Beyond the Blue Horizon", which was written for the film and was performed by Jeanette MacDonald. The film was also hailed by critics as a masterpiece of the newly emerging musical genre. The screenplay was based on the Booth Tarkington
novel Monsieur Beaucaire
.
and checks into a hotel. When she arrives at the casino a count
named Rudolph Falliere takes a liking to her and poses as a hairdresser whom she hires and falls in love with but could not marry if he is a commoner. Her fiance later arrives and takes her to an opera and she sees Rudolph there in one of the expensive seats indicating he is too wealthy to be a hairdresser. When he reveals to her that he is a count, she realises she can marry him.
and W. Franke Harling, with uncredited music by Karl Hajos, Herman Hand, Sigmund Krumgold, and John Leipold. The best-known song in the film is "Beyond the Blue Horizon" by Richard Whiting and W. Franke Harling
with lyrics by Leo Robin
. The song became an immediate hit record for Jeanette MacDonald on the film's release and again in the 1970s when it was covered by Lou Christie
.
Other songs in the film are:
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
musical comedy film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
directed by Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch was a German-born film director. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as his prestige grew, his films were promoted as having "the Lubitsch touch."In 1947 he received an Honorary Academy Award for his...
. It stars Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy...
as Countess Helene Mara. The film is also notable for the song "Beyond the Blue Horizon", which was written for the film and was performed by Jeanette MacDonald. The film was also hailed by critics as a masterpiece of the newly emerging musical genre. The screenplay was based on the Booth Tarkington
Booth Tarkington
Booth Tarkington was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novels The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams...
novel Monsieur Beaucaire
Monsieur Beaucaire (novel)
Monsieur Beaucaire is a short novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Booth Tarkington that was first published in 1900.-Plot:The setting is Bath during the eighteenth century. Before the action of the novel begins, Beau Nash, an historical figure who served as Master of Ceremonies of Bath, has...
.
Plot
Countess Helene Mara is engaged to be married to Prince Otto Von Liebenheim but leaves him at the altar. She flees on a train to Monte CarloMonte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
and checks into a hotel. When she arrives at the casino a count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
named Rudolph Falliere takes a liking to her and poses as a hairdresser whom she hires and falls in love with but could not marry if he is a commoner. Her fiance later arrives and takes her to an opera and she sees Rudolph there in one of the expensive seats indicating he is too wealthy to be a hairdresser. When he reveals to her that he is a count, she realises she can marry him.
Cast
- Jack BuchananJack BuchananWalter John "Jack" Buchanan was a British theatre and film actor, singer, producer and director. He was known for three decades as the embodiment of the debonair man-about-town in the tradition of George Grossmith Jr., and was described by The Times as "the last of the knuts." He is best known in...
as Count Rudolph Falliere / Rudy - Jeanette MacDonaldJeanette MacDonaldJeanette MacDonald was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy...
as Countess Helene Mara - Claud Allister as Prince Otto Von Liebenheim
- ZaSu PittsZaSu PittsZaSu Pitts was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas and comedies, transitioning to comedy sound films.-Early life:ZaSu Pitts was born in Parsons, Kansas to Rulandus and Nellie Pitts; she was the third of four children...
as Bertha - Tyler BrookeTyler BrookeTyler Brooke, real name Victor Hugo de Bierre, was an American film actor. He appeared in 92 films between 1915 and 1943....
as Armand - John Roche as Paul
- Lionel BelmoreLionel BelmoreLionel Belmore . When he was born, Wimbledon was in Surrey. He was an English character actor and director on stage for more than a quarter of a century, appearing with Wilson Barrett, Sir Henry Irving, William Faversham, Lily Langtry and other famous actors. He entered in films from 1911...
as Duke Gustav Von Liebenheim - Albert Conti as Prince Otto's Companion
- Helen Garden as Lady Mary in Stage Opera
- Donald NovisDonald NovisDonald Novis was an English actor and tenor.-Life and career:Born in Hastings, East Sussex, Novis came to the United States in the late 1920s to pursue an acting and singing career. He made his film debut as the Country Boy in the detective film Bulldog Drummond...
as Monsieur Beaucaire in Stage Opera - Erik Bey as Lord Windorset
- David Percy as Herald
Music
The songs in the film were written by Richard WhitingRichard A. Whiting
Richard Armstrong Whiting was a composer of popular songs including the standards, "Hooray for Hollywood", "Ain't We Got Fun?" & "On the Good Ship Lollipop"....
and W. Franke Harling, with uncredited music by Karl Hajos, Herman Hand, Sigmund Krumgold, and John Leipold. The best-known song in the film is "Beyond the Blue Horizon" by Richard Whiting and W. Franke Harling
W. Franke Harling
W. Franke Harling was a composer of film scores, operas, and popular music.Born William Franke Harling in London, he was educated at the Grace Choir Church School in New York City...
with lyrics by Leo Robin
Leo Robin
Leo Robin was an American composer, lyricist and songwriter. He is probably best known for collaborating with Ralph Rainger on the 1938 Oscar-winning song "Thanks for the Memory," sung by Bob Hope in the film The Big Broadcast of 1938.-Biography:Robin was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and...
. The song became an immediate hit record for Jeanette MacDonald on the film's release and again in the 1970s when it was covered by Lou Christie
Lou Christie
Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco , known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American singer-songwriter best known for three separate strings of pop hits in the 1960s , including his 1966 smash, "Lightnin' Strikes" and his incredible 3 octave vocal range.-Biography:Sacco was born in Glenwillard,...
.
Other songs in the film are:
- "Give Me A Moment Please"
- "Always in All Ways"
- "She'll Love Me and Like It"
- "Days of Days"
- "Trimmin' the Women"
- "Whatever It Is, It's Grand"
External links
- Criterion Collection essay by Michael Koresky