Trouble in Paradise

1932 "HIS PARADISE BECAME A MERRY HELL!"
7.9| 1h23m| NR| en
Details

Thief Gaston Monescu and pickpocket Lily are partners in crime and love. Working for perfume company executive Mariette Colet, the two crooks decide to combine their criminal talents to rob their employer. Under the alias of Monsieur Laval, Gaston uses his position as Mariette's personal secretary to become closer to her. However, he takes things too far when he actually falls in love with Mariette, and has to choose between her and Lily.

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Reviews

ShangLuda Admirable film.
FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Edgar Allan Pooh . . . that they never got away with imposing upon Broadway theater or the book publishing industry, because these Fat Cat Rich One Per Center Bozos knew that U.S. 99 Per Centers almost never see Broadway plays or read books, but nearly all of them flock to movies, and they were scared to death of flicks showing the "Little People" how Romans were hypocritical superstition mongers, while bankers sucked the life-blood from ordinary folks, not unlike swamp leeches. TROUBLE IN PARADISE focuses upon this latter legion of "legal" looters of their "Lessers." Toward the end of TROUBLE IN PARADISE, master thief Gaston Monescu ruefully complains to Fat Cat Mariette Colet that as a low-born "self-made crook" he's lucky to filch 100K at a crack, while Madame Colet's Blue-Blood Board Chairman Adolph J. Giron has been able to easily embezzle millions from her as an unquestioned birthright. TROUBLE IN PARADISE, of course, is "Pre-Code." Post-Code, pervasive thought censorship persists throughout Hollywood right down to Today, as the Fat Cat Roman Bankers easily squelch anything similar to TROUBLE IN PARADISE vaguely resembling free speech, as spelled out in the 2006 documentary THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED.
jacobs-greenwood Produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch, with an adaptation by Grover Jones and a screenplay by Samson Raphaelson that were based on a play by Aladar Laszlo, this essential romantic comedy was added to the National Film Registry in 1991.It stars Miriam Hopkins and Herbert Marshall as thieves who are 'two peas in a pod' and romantic soul mates who meet while trying to con others, and each other; they are Lily and La Valle, respectively. The notorious La Valle then finds employment as Gaston Monescu, becoming a live-in assistant to Madame Mariette Colet, played by Kay Francis. He courts Mme. Colet as he cons her, and later involves Lily in his scheme, though his partner in crime is unsure of his real attraction to the wealthy woman, who's also being romantically pursued by others from within her same class, like the Major (Charles Ruggles) and François Filiba (Edward Everett Horton), who are also very protective of her. C. Aubrey Smith plays Adolph J. Giron and Robert Greig plays Colet's butler Jacques.A marvelous comedy and film which demonstrates (as well as any) the 'Lubitsch' touch, the director's unique style that includes its Art Direction, Cinematography, and overall feel. Luis Alberni and Leonid Kinskey are among those who appear uncredited.
writtenbymkm-583-902097 Thank you, "Dailyshampoo48," whoever you are! I feel like I used to feel when my parents insisted on moving every year or two the whole time I was growing up (I went to 5 high schools in 5 different cities in 4 years). Every time we moved I was totally displaced, plopped down into a new, strange, often hostile environment, baffled, confused, lost. That's how I feel when I read all the rave reviews of this absolute and total piece of pretentious B.S. The dialog was stilted and often incomprehensible. The acting was a joke (a bad joke). I don't care how esteemed or glorified or respected this bizarre filmmaker is or was, this movie (and I use the term loosely) is awful. I'm not even sure what it's supposed to be about (other than what I've read). I give it a big fat zero.
richard-1787 The line "they don't make movies like that anymore" is one of the most overused in talking about pictures, but in this case it is true. This is a remarkable example of the sort of sophisticated, innuendo-laced light comedy that Hollywood was making until the Hays Code put an end to them. There is not one crude line; we never see anything sexier than a kiss, and they are far from torrid. But this movie implies sex, and more interestingly sexual intrigue and passion, throughout. The duologue is uniformly wonderful, with lines that you will never forget. I can't say there is any real substance to this picture. There isn't. But it is gossamer of the finest quality. Herbert Marshall, who usually strikes me as a cypher, here shows what made him so popular for awhile: he has a wonderful voice, which he can shape and mold to imply whatever he wants. Miriam Hopkins' charms still generally elude me, though she is good in the opening scene. Kay Francis is much more enjoyable here delivering double-entendres than in the sort of heavy parts she got assigned to too often. In short, everything is wonderful.I couldn't believe how fast this movie flew by. There was not a dead moment. This is not a celluloid masterpiece, another Citizen Kane or Les Règles du jeu. But it is one remarkable, sophisticated comedy. You will definitely enjoy it.-------------------------------I watched it again tonight, and still found it enjoyable. The dialog is clever, the tempo just right and never lags. As I wrote before, it's a piece of fluff, but a perfectly-paced, perfectly-acted one that will never let you down, even for a moment. Not as good as the Lubitsch movies with Chevalier and MacDonald, but still a fun hour plus.