Trouble In Paradise (1932)

 

Film: Trouble In Paradise

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Country: Germany / USA

Released: October 1932

Runtime: 83 minutes

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Studio: Paramount

Influenced: Frank Capra, Howard Hawks, Hitchcock, Leo McCarey, Preston Sturges

1932 was a challenging time in America, with unemployment still at 25% owing to the lingering economic effects of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. A genre that emerged in this period was the screwball comedy, a subgenre of romantic comedies that depicted a battle of the sexes (with women often challenging men and their power) and which provided audiences some escapism from their everyday troubles. A key film that emerged at this time was Trouble In Paradise, one of a series of cinematic collaborations between German director Ernst Lubitsh and American playwright Samson Raphaelson.

First things to say is that the script is incredible, a potent mix of poetic dialogue and sharp comedy. Early in the film, jewel thief Gaston Monescu (masquerading as the "baron") asks the waiter for the moon to be seen in the champagne during his romantic meal that evening, and for the waiter himself not to be seen at all! Gaston is played by English actor Herbert Marshall, whose silky performance gives the film its lustre. Marshall meets his match in Miriam Hopkins, who plays fellow thief Lily, both of them practised in the art of seduction and deception, and their witty dialogue masks their affection for one another.

Contemporary references abound in the film, like when a Trotskyite appears at one point berating Madame Colet (played by Kay Francis) for owing an expensive handbag and jewels, while Gaston mentions the "bank crash" and the "nouvelle poor". Madame Colet is the wealthy widow who is consumed with desire for Gaston when he comes to return her missing handbag, and the film's denouement plays out superbly via a series of switcheroos and underhand manoeuvres.

There’s still something of the silent film era in the comedic mannerisms of the character of Filiba trying to remember where he’s seen Gaston (masquerading as Monsieur Laval) before. Ultimately, though, it’s sexual jealously between the two con artists that unravels their masterplan. Gaston's speech at the end of the film about lower class crooks ending up in jail and higher class crooks like Adolf escaping prosecution is a theme for the ages.