Casanova Maurice Chevalier is torn between sexy bandleader Claudette Colbert and dowdy princess Miriam Hopkins. All of the leads are at the top of their game and the amount of charm on-screen rivals any other film ever made. As is usual with Lubitsch, the sex narrative is always underneath it all, and it drives the characters to do ridiculous, and hilarious, things. The climactic musical number is about underwear, if that tells you anything about where this film’s heart is.

About this series:

Scholar Dr. Caroline Frick joins us for a celebration of Hollywood films from the period of Hollywood history now known as the pre-code era. During this time, the studios had not yet made arrangements to self-censor their films for moral purity. As you might imagine, these movies are much wilder and more fun than the ones that followed a few years later, after the censorship code had been enacted. The first screening of each film will be followed by an audience discussion.

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Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
USA, 1931, 1h 33min, 35mm
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Tickets: https://www.austinfilm.org/screening/the-smiling-lieutenant/