Only six years after the release of EIN WALZERTRAUM, the 1925 German silent based on the operetta inspired by Hans Muller's novel Nux, der Prinzgemahl, Ernst Lubitsch gathered Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert and Miriam Hopkins, moved them into Paramount's Astoria, Long Island, studios, and made this musical as well as a French-language version, LE LIEUTENANT SOURIANT, with the same cast working from a new French script by Jacques Bataille-Henri. The delightful story is set in Vienna, where Niki (Chevalier), an officer of the Royal Guards, shares romance and an apartment with Franzi (Claudette Colbert), a violinist. During a state visit to the Austrian capital by King Adolf (George Barbier), his desperately plain daughter, Princess Anna (Miriam Hopkins), mistakenly believes that the smile Niki has intended for Franzi was actually directed in her royal direction, but is convinced the handsome soldier is only being kind. When Niki protests that he finds the princess attractive, she falls in love with him, and in no time, bound by his duty to his country, he finds himself married to her. Niki refuses to consummate their marriage, however--that is, until Franzi does a makeover job on Anna that sends the guardsman's head reeling.

The operetta plot bears little resemblance to reality, but the players are so good, the dialogue (by Lubitsch, Ernest Vajda and Samson Raphaelson) so witty, and the direction so skillful that no one minds the logic lapses. The music is delightful, and the songs include such bon-bons as "Spruce Up Your Lingerie." Made and released during the Depression, THE SMILING LIEUTENANT offered welcome escapism for a public reeling under too real economic woes. Colbert--warm, sweet, with touches of sadness--is in wonderful form, and proves to be a fine singer to boot. Hopkins, meanwhile, enjoyed her first major opportunity to display her considerable comic prowess as the princess in need of a makeover, and Chevalier is in his best and most typical form. This was the noted French entertainer's first work together with master director Lubitsch after their successful collaboration on THE LOVE PARADE two years earlier, and the result is an utterly charming film that was box-office hit.

Country of origin: U.S.
Genre: Musical; Comedy
Color or b/w: Black & white
Production Co(s).: Paramount
Released by: Paramount
MPAA rating: NR
Running time: 102

Maurice Chevalier -- Niki
Claudette Colbert -- Franzi
Miriam Hopkins -- Princess Anna
George Barbier -- King Adolf
Charlie Ruggles -- Max
Hugh O'Connell -- Orderly
Robert Strange -- Adjutant von Rockoff
Janet Reade -- Lily
Lon MacSunday -- Emperor
Elizabeth Patterson -- Baroness von Schwedel
Harry C. Bradley -- Count von Halden
Werner Saxtorph -- Josef
Karl Stall -- Master of Ceremonies
Granville Bates -- Bill Collector
Maude Allen -- Woman
Charles Wagenheim -- Arresting Officer

Producer: Ernst Lubitsch
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Writer: Ernest Vajda
Samson Raphaelson
Ernst Lubitsch (based on the operetta A Waltz Dream by Leopold Jacobson and Felix Doermann, and the novel Nux der Prinzgemahl by Hans Muller)
Cinematographer: George Folsey
Editor: Merrill White
Music Composer: Oscar Straus
Music Director: Adolph Deutsch
Art Director: Hans Dreier