Really Surprised!

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Claudette Colbert stars with Robert Young and Melvyn Douglas in "I Met Him in Paris" from 1937. The beautiful Colbert, as Kay Denham, is en route to Paris via ship, and it's her dream trip, her trip of a lifetime. She can't get her fiancé (Lee Bowman) out her stateroom fast enough. Ah, Paree.We next see her miserable face when she's been in Paris for three days. She's realizing that she should not have come alone, and no one speaks English. Worse than all of that, no one has written to her. I lived in Europe and it's hard when you don't get mail.Then, in the American Bar of the hotel, she meets two men, George Potter (Douglas) and Gene Anders (Young). They start spending time together, and while she likes Gene, she's not so sure about Potter.The fact is, Potter disapproves of Anders. We soon learn why. When Anders invites Kay to Switzerland, Potter insists on coming along as chaperon. I would say the film picks up once they reach Switzerland, because some of the scenes where they try different sports were hilarious. My favorite is when Kay falls off a luge and she's trying to get off the track, but the walls are curved and slick -- and another luge is coming. It was hysterical. They try another activity where they are on skis behind horses and each person holds the reins of their horse as the horses are galloping and they are screaming "Whoa!" They also ice skate and ski.Directed by Wesley Ruggles, the film doesn't have any pace or much humor, again, until they reach Switzerland, and it's based on kind of a dumb premise. If Potter disapproves of Gene, why doesn't he tell Kay why? Why would he agree to go along as Gene tries to romance Kay?Screwball comedies were on their way out when this was made, though there would still be some good ones, Bringing Up Baby and Merrily We Live coming to mind. They would find new life later on television. Unfortunately this falls short, despite a wonderful cast and beautiful scenery.

Claudette Colbert saved and scrimped for a trip to Paris just for her own little self. Even beau Lee Bowman can't talk her out of it. It's not that he's not happy for her or begrudging her well-deserved trip, but he feels anything can happen to her without him there. Though just why he's not going, I don't remember or understand. She goes, meets a waiter who speaks funny English, a French masher, and Robert Young and Melvyn Douglas who rescue her from the masher. But Bob came to her rescue first. The two men are supposedly friends, because they hang out together, but they don't act like it with their constant ribbing and competitiveness over Claudette. For such a good cast, it's hard to describe just how really bad this film is. There's no pace, no laughs, no anything. Just talking, and they're constantly bickering, and Claudette bad-mouths the other guy to the one she's with at the time. This was a total disappointment for all concerned, including director Wesley Ruggles. And, frankly, it's one of the worst old movies I've seen in a long time. Poor Claudette! Who cares who she picked! Stay away from this picture.

Paramount imported two of MGM's second line leading men to appear opposite Claudette Colbert in I Met Him In Paris. This film finds Claudette as a buyer for a New York department store on a holiday in France trying to decide whether she wants to marry staid and established Lee Bowman.But of course the last place you want to go to make decisions like that is Paris because too many temptations will find you. In this case two too many temptations in the form of cynical Melvyn Douglas and romantic Robert Young. Young decides to invite Colbert on a skiing holiday in Switzerland and Douglas decides to invite himself along. The best scenes in the film involve all three of our protagonists learning winter sports. In fact the scene involving Claudette Colbert falling off a toboggan and being in harm's way of another racing toboggan is a great example of a really dangerous situation being played for laughs and quite successfully.I Met Him In Paris which has the bulk of its scenes in Hollywood recreated Switzerland is a great example of a nice comedy which really could have been better if an Ernest Lubitsch or a Leo McCarey had done it. Mona Barrie has a small, but very important part that occurs toward the end of the film which I cannot say more about lest I spoil things.Definitely fans of Claudette Colbert will appreciate this film which holds up very well after over 70 years.

This is a well-acted and enjoyable film in most ways, but one element in this plot really left me flat. It's a shame, as the film, with a few plot changes, could have been much, much better.The movie begins with Claudette Colbert on board a ship which is about to be headed to Paris. Her boyfriend is with her--trying to convince her to marry him and give up this trip. However, she is determined to see something of the world, as her life is rather dull.Once in Paris, however, things don't seem that interesting as Claudette doesn't know anyone or the language (in real life, I am pretty sure that the French-born actress was fluent). When she meets up with two fellow Americans, Robert Young and Melvyn Douglas, they spend the rest of the trip together. Young and Douglas are friends traveling together, but Young has a secret--as he's ardently wooing Miss Colbert, he already has a wife. This really makes him out to be a creep and inexplicably, Douglas (who doesn't approve) says nothing to warn Colbert!! Now considering that Douglas is supposed to be a nice guy, his allowing his friend to chase Colbert is pretty despicable and makes no sense at all--especially since Douglas, too, wants Colbert for himself. So why didn't he just tell her that his buddy was already married and end all the suspense?! I hate it when a film hinges on a plot element that makes no sense and Douglas' complicity makes no sense at all--plus it makes the viewer dislike both male leads.It's a shame, really, as apart from this huge problem, the dialog is witty and the actors try their best. In fact, one of the most delightful aspects of I MET HIM IN France was watching Colbert and Douglas ice skate. They were both remarkably good and doubles were not used in the scenes--it really is the actors doing figure eights and skating backwards.So is it worth seeing? Well, if you are a total nut for classic Hollywood films, sure. But don't rush out to see it. Otherwise, if you aren't already a huge fan, this film will do nothing to convert you and each of the leads has done much better films that you should see first.