NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Indicator Blu-ray (January 2024): Indicator have also transferred Rouben Mamoulian's Love Me Tonight to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "2023 restoration from a 4K scan", so, we presume this is an updated restoration from the 2020 Kino 4K-restored Blu-ray. There are some differences in the image quality with the Kino. The Indicator shows more information in the 1.37:1 frame, is a bit lighter and expresses thicker, more lush, grain. I'd say it is the superior 1080P image, if only marginally. It has that nice 4K smoky look that translated well to high def TV. 

NOTE: We have added 44 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Indicator use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. This also advances over the Kino's 16-bit DTS-HD Master track although the film still shows its age. It is a notch superior for the film's audio and score by John Leipold (Murder in the Zoo, Christmas in July, The Devil is a Woman, The Flying Deuces, Duck Soup) plus we have the many performed musical numbers most written by Rodgers and Hart; That's the Song of Paree, Isn't It Romantic?, Lover (L'Amour est un Rêve), Mimi, Blanche Friderici, Deer Hunt, The Poor Apache, Love me Tonight (Un Soir d'Amour), and The Son of a Gun Is Nothing But a Tailor. It is still an early 30's production suffering from the limitations of the time it as made - but both lossless are quite an upgrade over DVD in terms of audio. Indicator offer optional English subtitles (SDH) on their Region 'B' Blu-ray.

We get a new audio commentary with writers and critics Glenn Kenny (author of "Robert De Niro: Anatomy of an Actor") and Farran Smith Nehme (Self-Styled Siren.) They discuss that despite being Pre-Code, while it does have some double-entendres, it is far less racy than much of this genre. They talk about why this is not a Lubitsch film, the careers of the performers; Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Charles Ruggles, Myrna Loy and discussion of the director Rouben Mamoulian. They talk about the music by Richard Rodgers and the lyricist Lorenz Hart. There arte many topics covered and this commentary certainly adds value to the package. There are more supplements; Isn’t It Romantic? is a new 1/2 hour, in-depth, discussion of Rouben Mamoulian’s classic musical by writer and critic Geoff Andrew (author of Stranger Than Paradise: Maverick Film-Makers in Recent American Cinema.) Indicator include two 'Hollywood on Parade' excerpts from 1932, one with Maurice Chevalier and the other Jeanette MacDonald who perform musical numbers from the film for the newsreel series. There is an original theatrical trailer and an image gallery of promotional and publicity materials. The package has a limited edition exclusive 40-page liner notes booklet with a new essay by Philip Concannon, a selection of archival interviews with Mamoulian, and film credits.

Rouben Mamoulian's Love Me Tonight is remarkable for being such an amazing musical-comedy (nominated for AFI's Greatest Musicals), and made in the Pre-Code era. The film is an adaptation of the Paul Armont and Léopold Marchand's 1924 play Le Tailleur au château ("The Tailor at the Castle".) It was one of the earliest Rodgers and Hart motion pictures, released a month before The Phantom President with Claudette Colbert and Jimmy Durante. Wikipedia tells us: "For the post-Production Code (Breen Office) re-release (after 1934), Love Me Tonight was trimmed to 96 minutes. The missing eight minutes of footage have never been restored and are presumed lost. Known deletions include Myrna Loy's portion of the "Mimi" reprise, as under the strictures of the Production Code, her negligee was deemed too revealing." A shame. It's been more than 20-years since we extolled the DVD - and the digital packages just keep getting better (the best cover too!) The Indicator Blu-ray gets a very high recommendation for the masterpiece film, updated restoration, new commentary, Geoff Andrew piece, booklet and more. You can't help but enjoy yourself!

***

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (September 2020): Kino have transferred Rouben Mamoulian's Love Me Tonight to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "Brand New 4K Master". We see a little more information on the right and the bottom edges - but less on the top. The 1080P is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate and easily advances on Kino's own interlaced (see bottom large capture) SD transfer from 17-years ago. This looks marvelously textured with rich layered contrast. It's a remarkable upgrade.

NOTE: We have added 38 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (16-bit) in the original English language. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray have duplicated their own 2003 DVD supplements with the educational audio commentary by Miles Kreuger (Founder and President of the Institute of the American Musical), Maurice Chevalier singing "Louise" and Jeanette MacDonald singing "Love Me tonight" (from the Paramount newsreel series HOLLYWOOD ON PARADE), the brief text screenplay excerpts of deleted scenes and production documents and censorship records plus a theatrical trailer.

One of the most re-watchable 'con' films - and it has an adventurous psychological edginess. Love Me Tonight has Rouben Mamoulian's measure dialogue and curious subtext. It's a film I am very happy to own on Blu-ray. An easy recommendation! 

The film remains an early musical masterpiece and is a must-own... a real gem of cinema with modest pre-code innuendo. It such a joy to have it in the vastly improved, 4k-restored, superiority of Blu-ray. Very thankful that Kino have re-released this title in 1080P. It's a joyful film experience - one of the greatest musicals of its time. Very strongly recommended!

Gary Tooze

ON THE DVD (November 2003): The DVD image shows a fair amount of wear and tear mostly in the form of speckles and light scratches. It has occasional pleasing clarity but is not transferred from HD and has 'combing' in horizontals pans (see last image).

The audio shows the age of the film (and lack of restoration) - optional subtitles would have been appreciated. The package has a host of extras - commentary, 2 song numbers and some old production material that many will find quite interesting. Kreuger shares quite a bit of knowledge about Mamoulian and the making of the film - not a bad commentary at all. 

The film is nirvana - a true masterpiece from the pioneer days 'sound films' and it is admirable of Kino to attempt to honor it with one of their best packages. The film is a must-own... a real gem of cinema and one DVD that may likely go out-of-print and sell exorbitantly at auctions. We strongly recommend that you get this while you can!