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The Smiling Lieutenant Overview:

The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) was a Comedy - Romance Film directed by Ernst Lubitsch and produced by Ernst Lubitsch.

Academy Awards 1931/32 --- Ceremony Number 5 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best PictureParamount PublixNominated
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The Smiling Lieutenant BlogHub Articles:

Musical Monday: The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)

on Mar 19, 2018 From Comet Over Hollywood

It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals. In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals. This week’s musical: The Smiling Lieutenant ... Read full article

The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Aug 29, 2016 From 4 Star Films

One would never think that one well placed wink would change the course of an entire life or be the basis for an entire film, but on both accounts it is true. Ernst Lubitsch’s The Smiling Lieutenant represents all that is good and right about one of his films. It’s light and airy with a ... Read full article

The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Aug 29, 2016 From 4 Star Films

One would never think that one well-placed wink would change the course of an entire life or be the basis for an entire film, but on both accounts it is true. Ernst Lubitsch’s The Smiling Lieutenant represents all that is good and right about one of his films. It’s light and airy with a ... Read full article

Pre-Code Crazy: The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)

By shadowsandsatin on Jan 7, 2016 From Shadows and Satin

If you know anything about me at all, you might know that I’m not a huge fan of musicals. Oh, don’t get me wrong – I definitely have my favorites, like Golddiggers of 1933, 42nd Street, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Singin’ in the Rain and, of course, The Wizard Oz. But as a rule, ... Read full article

THE SMILING LIEUTENANT-1931

By Theresa Brown on Jun 19, 2015 From CineMaven's Essays from the Couch

Ra-ta-ta-ta, ta-ta-ta, ta-tahhhhh! WHEW!!! I need a cigarette. STAT!!! Well wouldn’t you if you were participating in the Sex Blogathon? Yep. Click on this banner and dive <—into the smorgasbord of sex and desire in classic cinema by bloggers all over the blogosphere. My contribution wi... Read full article

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The Smiling Lieutenant Quotes:

Franzi: Girls who start with breakfast don't usually end up with supper.
Franzi: Jazz up your lingerie!
King Adolf XV: This is unheard of. Flausenthurm without an "h?" Don't they know, in Vienna, how to spell my country?
Princess Anna: It's a deliberate insult, Papa. They're trying to make us feel, just because we've a little country, we shouldn't have so many letters.
Princess Anna: I love him so dearly.
Franzi: I'm just wild about him.
Princess Anna: Isn't he good-looking?
Franzi: Oh, and how!
Princess Anna: That's it exactly! And how! Did you see him in his new uniform?
Franzi: At the wedding? Stunning!
Princess Anna: But to tell you the truth, I like him even better in his dinner-coat.
Franzi: With the straw hat?
Princess Anna: Yes, with the straw hat!
Franzi: Oh, that's nothing. Did you ever see him in... oh, never mind!
Princess Anna: Papa, you may not realize it, but I'm desperate. I'm no longer responsible. I'm capable of anything. If you don't let me have my Lieutenant, do you know what I'm going to do?
King Adolf XV: What?
Princess Anna: I'm going to marry an American!
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The Smiling Lieutenant Facts
The operetta by Felix Dormann and Leopold Jacobson opened in Leipzig, Germany, on 31 May 1907. An English version, entitled "A Waltz Dream", with music by Oscar Straus and English book by Joseph W. Herbert, opened in New York City, New York, USA, on 27 January 1908 and ran for 111 performances. It is not known if any of Straus' music from that production was used in this film. The songs, however, had a new lyricist and new titles.
The delightful rhythmic underscoring of the film which comments ironically on the mood of the characters may be the first work of the great orchestrator, Conrad Salinger, whose magnificent symphonic arrangements set the style of the MGM musicals of the 1940s and 50s. Salinger was a pupil of Delius.
A French version with dialogue and lyrics by Henri Bataille was shown in New York on 15 October 1931 and was also a big hit in Paris. It had the same three leading actors and probably was a dubbed English print.
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