One Hour with You

Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, One Hour with You follows Maurice Chevalier’s Andre Bertier as he finds himself caught between his loving wife (Jeanette MacDonald’s Colette) and her sassy friend (Genevieve Tobin’s Mitzi). Filmmaker Lubitsch, working from a script by Samson Raphaelson, delivers a pleasant yet mostly forgettable musical that benefits from its charming performance and smattering of compelling sequences, and there’s little doubt, certainly, that the picture’s appropriately brief running time enhances its mostly watchable atmosphere (ie the whole thing never quite wears out its welcome). And while Chevalier’s top-notch performance remains an ongoing highlight, One Hour with You admittedly does find itself saddled with a number of songs that aren’t quite able to make the pronounced impact one might’ve anticipated – with the sole notable exception to this a terrific and thoroughly catchy tune called “Oh That Mitzi.” The final result is a decent-enough endeavor that generally does feel like it should be much, much better, which is a shame, certainly, given the proliferation of appealing attributes and talent in front of and behind the camera.

**1/2 out of ****