Line #16 Film/MonteCarlo1930


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mc_14.png]]
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3	''Monte Carlo'' is a 1930 [[TheMusical musical]] RomanticComedy film directed by Creator/ErnstLubitsch, starring Creator/JeanetteMacDonald and [[Film/TheBandWagon Jack Buchanan]]. Loosely based on the novel ''Monsieur Beaucaire'' by Booth Tarkington, with additional elements drawn from a German play called ''The Blue Coast,'' it is best remembered today for the [[BreakawayPopHit classic song]] "Beyond the Blue Horizon."
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5	Penniless countess Helene Mara ([=MacDonald=]) has [[RunawayBride run out,]] for the third time, on her wedding to the wealthy [[UpperClassTwit Duke Otto von Liebenheim]]. The duke vows to the disappointed wedding guests that he'll bring her back. Meanwhile, Helene, [[NakedInMink dressed only in a fur coat over her underwear,]] hops aboard a train bound for [[UsefulNotes/{{Monaco}} Monte Carlo]], planning to gamble her way into a fortune. On her way to TheCasino, she catches the eye of Count Rudolph Farriere (Buchanan). To get close to her, he poses as her new hairdresser.
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7	Rudolph quickly learns that Helene is losing at the gambling tables, and that her bills are mounting. When the duke arrives to take her back home, she is tempted to finally marry him as a way of solving her financial difficulties. Rudolph asks her to let him take her last thousand francs and gamble with it, saying he has a foolproof system. They spend a delightful evening out on the town, and then he leaves for the casino. A few hours later, he returns with a large amount of money (which he has actually brought from his room). Helene kisses him passionately, and they agree to talk more the next day.
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9	However, in the morning, the countess is embarrassed at having been so familiar with a mere servant. They quarrel, and he walks out. That evening, she [[AtTheOperaTonight goes to the opera]] with the duke and sees a [[ShowWithinAShow performance]] of ''Monsieur Beaucaire,'' about a noblewoman who falls in love with a prince posing as a hairdresser. She also notices Count Rudolph sitting in one of the expensive boxes reserved for nobility. When the duke falls asleep, Helene goes to Rudolph's box, and he reveals his true identity. As she starts to ask if he can forgive her, the main character of the play onstage says the same thing to the prince. In the play, the prince leaves the woman because she rejected him when she thought he was a commoner; but Rudolph tells Helene, "I don't like that ending. I like {{Happy Ending}}s." The movie ends with the two of them departing from Monte Carlo on a train, singing a TriumphantReprise of "Beyond the Blue Horizon."
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11	!!This film provides examples of the following tropes:
12	* AtTheOperaTonight: The final sequence.
13	* TheCasino: Where Helene and Rudolph first meet. She nearly wins a good deal of money on her first day, only to lose it on the last spin of the roulette wheel.
14	* CatchTheConscience: Though it was not the reason for the performance, Rudolph realizes that ''Monsieur Beaucaire'' will have this effect on Helene. Seeing the poster gives him the idea to make sure she sees him at the opera house.
15	* DisposableFiance: Duke Otto.
16	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: On his first day as hairdresser, Rudolph insists on giving Helene a scalp massage despite her protests. She starts out by saying, “No, no, no, no!” and progresses to rapturous moans of “Oh, that feels good … Ohh! Oh, that feels even better.”
17	* FlowersOfRomance: In an early attempt to impress Helene, Rudolph sends her flowers.
18	* FluffyFashionFeathers: Helene wears an evening dress and cape trimmed with ostrich feathers. On her way to the casino, she also carries a large ostrich-feather fan.
19	* GamblersFallacy: Helene loses money because she continues to bet on a winning number.
20	* HappyEnding: Lampshaded by Rudolph, in contrast to the ShowWithinAShow.
21	* MarriageOfConvenience: The only reason Helene ever considers marrying Duke Otto is because he's extremely wealthy.
22	* NakedInMink: Or Nearly Naked In Mink, at least. When she runs away, Helene leaves her wedding gown draped over a chair and boards the train wearing only a fur coat over her underwear.
23	* OneDialogueTwoConversations: Paul talks about his job as Helene's hairdresser, but Rudolph thinks he is her kept lover. (Paul rhapsodizes about how beautiful Helene looks in her negligee and mentions that he switched hotels at her request--"Well, you know what one will do to please a woman!" His only complaint is that she has no money...)
24	* PimpedOutDress: For a night out with Rudolph, Helene wears a dress with ruffles, sparkles, and FluffyFashionFeathers. It has a matching PimpedOutCape.
25	* RunawayBride: Helene. The movie opens with her third runaway attempt.
26	* SerenadeYourLover: Rudolph sings "Give Me a Moment, Please" to Helene over the telephone.
27	* ShowWithinAShow: The performance of ''Monsieur Beaucaire.''
28	* SimpleYetOpulent: Helene's dress for the opera has simple lines and virtually no decoration, but is made of some very shiny material like lamé.
29	* SomewhereSong: "Beyond the Blue Horizon."
30	* StealthInsult: When Duke Otto sings "She'll Love Me and Like It," about how he's going to bring Helene back and make her shape up, the wedding guests repeat his words in a way that turns them into insults.
31	--> '''Otto:''' I have a nasty temper, though I keep it in control
32	--->For, after all, I really am a simple-hearted soul.
33	-->'''Chorus:''' He's a simp, he's a simp, he's a simple-hearted soul!\
34	'''Otto:''' But when my seeds of kindliness have failed to bear me fruit,
35	--->I then become, I must confess, a nasty-tempered brute.
36	-->'''Chorus:''' He's a nas [an ass], he's a nas, he's a nasty-tempered brute!
37	* SubordinateExcuse: Rudolph poses as Helene's hairdresser after more conventional means of wooing her (such as the flowers and the telephone serenade) fail to produce results.
38	* SuddenlySuitableSuitor: Rudolph becomes this to Helene when she finds out he is actually a nobleman.
39	* TakeThatKiss: After Helene rejects Rudolph, he puts on his hairdresser's coat, kisses her passionately, picks her up and dumps her on a chaise longue, and stalks out.
40	* TriumphantReprise: Helene first sings "Beyond the Blue Horizon" while on the train for Monte Carlo. At the end, Helene and Rudolph sing it together on a train leaving the city.
41	* UpperClassTwit: Duke Otto.

Context Film / MonteCarlo1930