Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

From the script story to the completed film, it is a perfect and beautiful hoax. Thus, the swindler robbed the lady's strongbox gracefully, and the movie controlled the audience's emotion delicately. Therefore, the essence of the so-called Lubitsch touch actually is such a kind of aesthetic feeling of script construction and a kind of expression of the deliberate atmosphere with slight sorrow. Therefore, incomparable romance and sensitivity can be born naturally in a old fashion Hollywood story.

Trouble In Paradise (from 1932) was a very early example of (horrible) Hollywood "Screwball Comedy" (which was an irksome genre that prevailed throughout the 1930s & 40s). I find that the more I see "Screwball Comedy", the more I dislike it in all of its smug pretentiousness.With this particular picture, there was really nothing about it at all that made it stand out in any way from any other film in that genre. If you ask me - Trouble In Paradise really tried way too hard to be both cute and clever at the same time. And, as a result, this caused me to lose my patience with its story's overwhelming absurdity, time and again.Filled, to over-flowing, with petty squabbles, jealous anger, and backstabbing betrayals, Trouble In Paradise was, to me, nothing more than pseudo-sophisticated crap, all around. Thank goodness that this vintage picture had a running time of only a mere 82 minutes

In romantic Venice, attractive pickpocket Miriam Hopkins (as Lily Vautier) meets professional thief Herbert Marshall (as Gaston Monescu). After stealing from each other, the two are mutually attracted. Quickly, they become as thick as thieves. Later, in romantic Paris, trouble begins as Mr. Marshall steals a purse from elegant and beautiful widow Kay Francis (as Mariette Colet). Marshall maneuvers himself into Ms. Francis' employ as her secretary with Ms. Hopkins as his assistant. They plan to steal a fortune from Francis, but she and Marshall also become romantically involved..."Trouble in Paradise" is a triumph for both director Ernst Lubitsch and for filmmaking, in general. It is remarkable how quickly technology brought talking films from crude to smooth. The film was ignored by the "Academy Awards" but made Top 10 polls - most respectably appeared at #2 for the year on "The New York Times" annual list. Co-stars Francis, Hopkins and Marshall are at career highs. Screenplay writer Samson Raphaelson and the Paramount studio crew contribute marvelous work for Mr. Lubitsch. Certain characters are criminals, but they never hurt anyone.********* Trouble in Paradise (10/21/32) Ernst Lubitsch ~ Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, Herbert Marshall, Edward Everett Horton

Trouble in Paradise is a film that could not have been produced only four years after its 1932 release. Under the soon-to-be Hays Production Code, this narrative of con-artists flagrantly breaks levels of decency, sexual innuendo and criminality that the code was set up to eradicate. Lily (Miriam Hopkins) and Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall) join forces in Venice to become a couple of grifters, they live together in sin and have no scruples when stealing is concerned. They move to Paris where they target the famous perfume manufacturer Madame Mariette Colet (Kay Francis), finding confidence with the heiress, Gaston becomes her secretary, and play the long game in consuming as much of her wealth as possible.With romantic entanglements becoming increasingly apparent, Colet practically offers Gaston a position as a gigolo. This menage-e-trois - love triangle - complicates the situation, as relationships become heated. It's a masterwork of comedy, with Hopkins being the most delightful and versatile of the cast. Her plucky attitude, and effervescent presence gives the film a fantastic tone - in one scene she sits at the bedside of Colet, and anxiously holds her hands under her legs so as to stop herself from stealing the jewels on the bedside table.Based on Hungarian playwright Aladar Laszlo's stage work, 'The Honest Finder', this was the first of Ernst Lubitsch's films given the mantle of having "The Lubitsch Touch", this is a perfect example of creative film making. His camera glides through scenes, and from window to window in some scenes (perhaps nothing to a modern audience, but an incredible achievement in 1930's cinematic production). This is possibly the finest film in the pre-code era, and a complete joy in all respects. As it was produced before Will Hays's iron fist came crashing down on Hollywood production, the film doesn't insult its audience with a moral conclusion, as the thieves happily disappear into the sunset, laughing at the "ill-gotten" stash. Beautiful, anti-moralistic comedy at it finest.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com