Trouble in Paradise

(Ernst Lubitsch, US 1932, 83 min., 35mm)

UCLA Festival of Preservation Tour | Free Member Film. Playboy/thief Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall) meets the expert pickpocket Lily (Miriam Hopkins) on the Riviera, and they, of course, fall in love. Initially, they try to steal from each other—a kind of foreplay among thieves—before realizing their mutual interests make them a perfect team. In Paris, Gaston gets a job as personal secretary to the wealthy heiress to a perfume company, Madame Mariette Colet (Kay Francis), hiring Lily as maid, so they can rob her blind. This movie is certainly one of the most delightfully ironic of Lubitsch’s pre-Code romantic comedies. Preservation funded by the George Lucas Family Foundation and the Film Foundation. Preceded by Dinah (Dave Fleischer, US 1932, 7 min., 35mm), a short featuring the Mills Brothers, inviting you to follow the bouncing ball and sing along with their rollicking rendition of “Dinah.” Funding provided by the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA-Hollywood). Free to members (May 9 only).

Also showing: Saturday, May 12, 7:30 p.m.