Playboy of Paris is a 1930 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Ludwig Berger and starring Maurice Chevalier, Frances Dee (in her film debut), and O.P. Heggie. It was based on a 1911 play The Little Cafe by Tristan Bernard which had previously been adapted into a 1919 French silent film. Paramount produced a separate French-language version Le Petit Café, also starring Chevalier, which broke records for an opening-day attendance in Paris.The Films and Career of Maurice Chevalier (Gene Ringgold, Dewitt Bodeen, The Citadel Press, 1973), . P.95.
The film introduced the song "My Ideal", composed by Richard A. Whiting and Newell Chase with lyrics by Leo Robin, which became a jazz standard.
Plot
Albert Loriflan, a waiter in a Paris cafe, unexpectedly inherits a large sum of money from a wealthy relative. His unscrupulous boss, Philibert, refuses to release him from his long-term contract in the hope that Albert will buy him off with a large payment. But Albert refuses, and continues to work at the cafe even though he is now very rich. Before long he falls in love with Philibert's daughter Yvonne.
Cast Maurice Chevalier as Albert Loriflan Frances Dee as Yvonne Phillbert O.P. Heggie as Philibert Stuart Erwin as Paul Michel Eugene Pallette as Pierre Bourdin Dorothy Christy as Mlle. Berengere Cecil Cunningham as Mlle. Hedwige Tyler Brooke as Cadeaux William B. Davidson as Monsieur Bannack Charles Giblyn as Gastonet
References
Bibliography Bradley, Edwin M. The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography Of 171 Features, 1927 Through 1932. McFarland, 2004.
External links