Trouble in Paradise (1932)

Trouble in Paradise (1932)…you can’t ask for much more in a movie. I heard about this fiilm from watching the interview with Samson Raphaelson on Criterion’s DVD release of Heaven Can Wait (1943). Both films were the result of collaboration between screenwriter Raphaelson and director Ernst Lubitsch, my new favorite team of writers/directors. I had to put in a special request to Ohio Link to get the film since Cuyahoga County Library System didn’t have it. I’m glad I did.

Trouble in Paradise is a love story and perhaps a repudiation of high society. Herbert Marshall plays Gaston Monescue, a debonnair playboy grifter of the first order. He falls in love with Lily (Miriam Hopkins) also a small time crook and the two combine forces. Their prey becomes Mariette Colet (Kay Francis), heiress to the Colet perfume fortune. The way Gaston gains the confidence of Mariette is brilliant. In short order, he becomes her personal secretary, taking control of her finances and charming her with wit and sophistication. Marshall’s performance is perfect; playing a conman playing a business savvy dandy. One of these days you and I will be dead, so I’m going to cut this short. Get this movie and watch it…adios!