Just as she’s about to marry Duke Otto von Liebenheim (Claude Allister), Countess Helene Mara (Jeanette MacDonald) leaves him standing at the altar and hops on the next train to Monte Carlo. Helene may be a countess, but she’s broke and only would have been marrying Otto for his money. She’d rather try her luck gambling with what little money she has than marry Otto.
On her way to the casino one night, Helene passes by Count Rudolphe Falliere (Jack Buchanan) and he knows he has to meet her. He tries to get her attention, but doesn’t have much luck. So Rudolphe comes up with the idea of posing as a hairdresser named Rudy as a way of getting close to her. The plan works and it isn’t long before they fall in love with each other. Helene has no idea that Rudy is actually very rich so as her financial woes continue to worsen, she’s tempted to go back to Otto. But when Rudy offers to take the last bit of Helene’s money to the casino and comes back with 100,000 Francs (not from gambling winnings, from his own money), Helene’s decision gets even harder.
Just when it looks like Helene is going to marry Otto, Rudy gets her to see an opera about a familiar story — a man who gets close to a woman by posing as a hairdresser. During the show, Helene realizes who she really belongs with and finds out the truth about who Rudy really is.
If you’re a fan of Ernst Lubitsch’s musicals, you’ll probably enjoy Monte Carlo. It’s not the best of his musicals, but it is so unmistakably Lubitsch that I couldn’t not like it. It’s a pleasant little lark. Even though the story isn’t the strongest, Lubitsch’s distinctive brand of style and sophistication was enough to hold my interest. However, I didn’t really care for Jack Buchanan as the leading man. I would have preferred to see Maurice Chevalier in his role.
