Café Metropole: A breezy, if slightly messy, night in Paris

Is it worth the watch?

If you have a soft spot for 1930s romantic comedies where everyone talks fast and wears fancy clothes, you'll probably enjoy Café Metropole. It’s light, it’s fluffy, and it doesn't try to solve the world's problems. If you hate old-school banter or the idea of a plot built entirely on a silly lie, skip it. You will absolutely loathe how quickly they fall for this stuff.

There is something about Tyrone Power that makes you forgive a lot of nonsense. He plays the guy who is deep in debt, and he sells the whole 'desperate prince' thing with such a straight face. It’s charming, even when the logic of the movie is basically non-existent.

The pacing is… well, it’s all over the place. One minute they are at a nightclub, then suddenly they are at a train station. It feels like someone kept cutting scenes just to get to the next tuxedo change. It doesn't really matter though, because the outfits are fantastic. 👗

Loretta Young is doing a lot of heavy lifting with just her eyes. There's this one moment where she looks at him, and you can tell she knows he’s a total fraud, but she just goes with it anyway. It’s a nice little beat that feels more human than the rest of the script.

Random Observations

• The nightclub owner is basically a cartoon character, and I kind of loved it.
• I kept thinking about Das Grand Hotel Babylon and how both movies treat luxury like a character trait.
• Why are there so many waiters hovering in the background of every single scene? It's distracting!
• The dialogue is sharp, but sometimes it feels like a race to see who can finish their sentence first.

Is it a masterpiece? No. Does it feel like a nice, dusty postcard from 1937? Definitely. It’s the kind of thing you put on while doing laundry or having a late dinner. It doesn't demand your attention, it just kind of drifts by. 🍸

I found myself wondering if they ever actually ate the food in these movies. Everyone is always clinking glasses or holding a fork, but nobody ever actually takes a bite. It’s a very clean, very polite version of Paris.

Don't look too closely at the plot holes. If you start pulling on the loose threads of the 'fake prince' scheme, the whole thing unspools pretty fast. Just enjoy the ride and ignore the fact that the authorities would have caught him in about five minutes in the real world.