Kiss Me Again (1931 film)

Kiss Me Again
Kiss Me Again
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	William A. Seiter
Written by	Julien Josephson; Paul Perez
Based on	Mlle. Modiste; 1905 operetta; by Victor Herbert; Henry Martyn Blossom
Starring	Bernice Claire; Walter Pidgeon; Edward Everett Horton; Frank McHugh; June Collyer
Cinematography	Lee Garmes; Alfred Gilks (Technicolor)
Edited by	Alexander Hall
Music by	Victor Herbert
Color process	Technicolor
Distributed by	First National Pictures: A Subsidiary of Warner Bros.
Release date	February 21, 1931;
Running time	76 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Kiss Me Again is a 1931 American pre-Code musical operetta film filmed entirely in Technicolor. It was originally released in the United States as Toast of the Legion late in 1930, but was quickly withdrawn when Warner Bros. realized that the public had grown weary of musicals. The Warner Bros. believed that this attitude would only last for a few months, but, when the public proved obstinate, they reluctantly re-released the film early in 1931 after making a few cuts to the film.^[1]^[2]

Like the 1926 silent First National film Mademoiselle Modiste, Kiss Me Again is based on a popular 1905 operetta on Broadway, Mlle. Modiste, by Victor Herbert and Henry Martyn Blossom.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Plot

A French shopgirl (Bernice Claire) obeys her parents by leaving her lover to become an opera star.

Cast

Bernice Claire as Mademoiselle Fifi
Edward Everett Horton as Rene
Walter Pidgeon as Paul de St. Cyr
June Collyer as Marie
Frank McHugh as Francois
Claude Gillingwater as Count de St. Cyr
Judith Vosselli as Mademoiselle Cecile
Albert Gran as General de Villafranche

Music

When the film was re-released in 1931, most of Walter Pidgeon's songs were cut from the film. Only a small abbreviated version of one of his songs is heard on the existing print.

Songs

Ah! But in Dreams So Fair
Alas! To Part, How Great the Sorrow
I Want What I Want When I Want It
If I Were On the Stage
Kiss Me Again
The Mascot of the Troop
Clothes Parade
A Make Believe Ladies Man
Pan Americana
Ballet Medley
Air de Ballet
The Time, the Place and the Girl

Preservation

Only a black-and-white copy of the cut print released in 1931 in the United States seems to have survived. The complete film was released intact in countries outside the United States under the title of Toast of the Legion where a backlash against musicals never occurred. It is unknown whether a copy of this full version still exists.

References

^ The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1931-40 by The American Film Institute, c. 1993
^ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films 1893-1993:Kiss Me Again
^ Brennan, Sandra. "Kiss Me Again (1931), AllMovie, accessed November 8, 2015
^ Mlle. Modiste, on Broadway, Internet Broadway Database, accessed November 8, 2015
^ Traubner, Richard. Operetta: A Theatrical History, p. 351. Psychology Press, 2003 ISBN 0-415-96641-8

External links

Kiss Me Again at IMDb
Synopsis (to 1926 version), allmovie.com; accessed July 22, 2015.
synopsis at AllMovie
Kiss Me Again at the TCM Movie Database
Kiss Me Again at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

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[1] The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1931-40 by The American Film Institute, c. 1993

[2] The AFI Catalog of Feature Films 1893-1993:Kiss Me Again

[3] Brennan, Sandra. "Kiss Me Again (1931), AllMovie, accessed November 8, 2015

[4] Mlle. Modiste, on Broadway, Internet Broadway Database, accessed November 8, 2015

[5] Traubner, Richard. Operetta: A Theatrical History, p. 351. Psychology Press, 2003 ISBN 0-415-96641-8

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