Mes hommages, madame

The movie as a whole is wonderful and deserves to be better known. The story is captivating, the timing of the jokes is right, there is a good balance between romance and comedy, and the exterior shots of Paris in the 1920s are interesting.

One of my favorite scenes shows heavyweight Charles Puffy as Talandier in Marlene's apartment. The table is set for an elegant dinner for two, and he can't resist trying the caviar sandwiches. The way he looks around to make sure nobody observes him while he's wolfing down first one sandwich and then a second one is simply hilarious.

Harry Liedke as the lead is believable as the impoverished, but proud Russian count. Marlene Dietrich plays her usual role as vamp with humor and grace. The song "I Kiss Your Hand, Madame", dubbed by then famous singer Richard Tauber, was a big hit at the time. I only wish the sound quality on the copy was better; but then it seems as if we need to be grateful that any kind of copy could be tracked down at all.