With the induction of the Production Code, The Smiling Lieutenant quickly disappeared into obscurity.

At the start of the film she seems spoiled and frustrating, but after she stands up for herself and becomes willing to change herself to win her husband, she becomes inspirational. Claudette’s character is the one we sympathize with the most. Claudette Colbert does some singing of her own, but her contributions to this film go far beyond her singing. The songs are light, with clever lyrics that made me laugh and smile throughout the film. Maurice Chevalier spent his entire career singing and smiling, and he does both better than most. This seems like the kind of movie that everyone involved enjoyed filming. The acting in The Smiling Lieutenant is fun and easy going. Other directors tried to achieve this same style of movie, but few were as successful as Lubitsch. He was able to combine great stories, witty dialogue, and a sexual frankness to his films that was unparalleled.

In the 1930’s, Ernst Lubitsch made some of the most sophisticated and hilarious movies ever made. She must then decide what she can do (and what she is willing to do) to show her husband how important he is to her. They begin having an affair and soon the princess discovers what her new husband is up too. He wanders the streets and one day comes across Franzi. She isn’t the adventurous, free spirited girl that he is used too. Preyn finds himself bored with his new wife. Preyn to see him and he quickly learns that his only way out of trouble is to marry the princess who is obviously attracted to him. As the princess (Miriam Hopkins) rides past she thinks he is smiling (and laughing) at her. Preyn is standing at attention waiting for an arriving king and princess, he flashes a big smile at Franzi who is standing across the street. The plot concerns Lieutenant Preyn (Maurice Chevalier), who after a life of jumping from one woman’s bed to another, falls in love with a violin player named Franzi (Claudette Colbert). Because it is a pre-code film, the sexuality is a major factor in the plot and within a couple of years movies like this would no longer be “appropriate” for the general audiences.

The Smiling Lieutenant is a 1931 romantic comedy musical directed by Ernst Lubitsch.

The smiling lieutenant 1931