Chevalier decides to ingratiate his way into Smith's castle and remain there until the bill is paid. Along the way he meets Jeanette MacDonald, the more prim of Smith's two love-starved daughters. Chevalier flirts outrageously, and MacDonald pretends to be offended.
At the castle, Ruggles passes off Chevalier as old royalty, and Maurice becomes popular with elderly Smith, Smith's hottie young daughter Myrna Loy, and MacDonald's three doting aunts, Elizabeth Patterson, Ethel Griffies, and Blanche Friderici. Chevalier also makes a minor enemy of Charles Butterworth, whose own pursuit of MacDonald has proven ineffective.
Inevitably, Chevalier's purported charm melts the purportedly frosty heart of MacDonald. They sing their love to the other, but she doesn't know he's merely a tailor. When she learns the truth, she is affronted, as is the entire household, down to the servants. But since it is a movie, love conquers all, and provides a happy ending.
How others will see it. This pre-code comedy has its share of risqué moments, such as Chevalier measuring MacDonald's bosum, not long after telling her, "I'm thinking of you without these clothes." Such naughtiness is manna from heaven for classic movie lovers accustomed to more tame MacDonald fare from her many films with Nelson Eddy. Alas, some scenes were eventually deemed too naughty, and were trimmed and lost during a later reissue.
Love Me Tonight is also well known for its Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart soundtrack, which includes the standards "Mimi" and "Isn't It Romantic." Some will find these numbers highly entertaining, and others will consider them cornball.
Those who focus on directors will be impressed by the name of Rouben Mamoulian, whose career includes at least two very good films, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) and The Mark of Zorro (1940).
Love Me Tonight was ignored by the Oscars, but its critical reputation has grown ever since. It was an early addition to the National Film Registry. Today, the user ratings at imdb.com are very high at 7.9 out of 10. Surprisingly, women under 30 favor it (at 8.5) much more than do women over 45 (at 6.3). Perhaps the older women are more familiar with Chevalier's type, which consists of hot pursuit and a quiet exit the next morning. This stereotypical French personality is satirized by Pepé Le Pew in several classic Warner Bros. cartoons.
How I felt about it. Love Me Tonight may be set in France, but it has a theme shared by many films of the Great Depression: the rich are lampooned. Cinemaphiles of the era must have believed that heiresses want nothing more than to seduce the next available forty-something male, while their fathers are grouchy, their brothers are scoundrels, and their aunts are eccentric.