Review of Trouble in Paradise (1932) by Javor B — 17 May 2012

Gaston (Marshall) and Lily (Hopkins) are two thieves in love that have made a living out of pick-pocketing, swindling, scamming, and robbing, living luxuriously during the Great Depression. Their next plan is to swindle beautiful perfume executive Mariette (Francis), by getting jobs working for the lovely Parisian widow.

The plan hits a snag when Gaston falls for her-- angering Lily to the point where she plans on ditching him and taking the goods for herself. "Trouble in Paradise" is the movie that made Ernst Lubitsch popular.

End of story. Known for being able to make the nastiest plot in the world charming and witty, he does it again, probably his best time, with this film. For being made in 1932, the film still feels modern, with characters and a story that would still be pretty darn interesting today.

If you can root for the so-called villain's for the film and dislike the person with morals, you know that this just leaks the famous "Lubitsch-touch", a comedy ingredient that many directors have tried to copy but never been able to do.

Stylish, sophisticated, and romantic in a cool way, "Trouble in Paradise" remains today to be Lubitsch's best film. Sure, we all love "To Be or Not To Be" and "Cluny Brown", but this is the quickest, the funniest, and the most clever-- all things that feel so much fresher, considering this was very early in the director's Hollywood career.

The film is made even better by a very sly script-- but overall the film is helped by Marshall and Hopkins' marvelous, hilarious performances that are not only overdone (in a good way), but their comedic time is flawless.

"Trouble in Paradise" is a tad-bit overrated, but as a romantic comedy it works very well.