A Bedtime Story

A Bedtime Story
A Bedtime Story
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Norman Taurog
Written by	Benjamin Glazer; Roy Horniman (novel Bellamy The Magnificent); Nunnally Johnson; Waldemar Young (screenplay)
Produced by	Ernest Cohen
Starring	Maurice Chevalier; Helen Twelvetrees; Edward Everett Horton
Cinematography	Charles Lang
Edited by	Otho Lovering
Music by	Karl Hajos (uncredited); John Leipold (uncredited); Ralph Rainger (uncredited)
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	April 1933;
Running time	87 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English/French

A Bedtime Story is a 1933 American pre-Code romantic comedy film starring Maurice Chevalier. The film was directed by Norman Taurog and also stars Edward Everett Horton, Helen Twelvetrees, and Baby LeRoy (in his film debut, as the baby).

Plot

Chevalier plays a Parisian playboy who finds himself obliged to care for an abandoned baby.

Cast

Maurice Chevalier as Monsieur Rene
Helen Twelvetrees as Sally
Edward Everett Horton as Victor Dubois
Adrienne Ames as Paulette
Baby LeRoy as Monsieur "Baby"
Earle Foxe as Max de l'Enclos
Leah Ray as Mademoiselle Gabrielle
Betty Lorraine as Suzanne Dubois
Gertrude Michael as Louise
Ernest Wood as Robert
Reginald Mason as General Louse's father
Henry Kolker as Agent de Police
George MacQuarrie as Henry Joudain
Paul Panzer as Concierge
Frank Reicher as Aristide
George Barbier as Toy Seller
Florence Roberts as Flower Shop Customer (uncredited)

Production problem

The film was notable for the performance of Baby LeRoy, a one-year-old who had been selected from an orphanage by Chevalier and Taurog for his charming appeal. When certain scenes needed to be re-shot, they found that the baby had grown two front teeth, even though the later scenes would be showing the bare gums. There was no way round this.^[1]

Release

The film opened in the week ended April 22, 1933 in Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Los Angeles and Minneapolis, with grosses totalling $90,900 for the week.^[2]

References

^ With Love, the Autobiography of Maurice Chevalier (Cassell, 1960), p. 325.
^ "Theatre Receipts". Motion Picture Herald. April 29, 1933. pp. 32–33. Retrieved April 28, 2024 – via Internet Archive.