# "Isn't It Romantic?"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-romantic/373049>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [September 17, 2006, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-romantic/373049 "2006-09-17T07:49:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-romantic/373049/1 "2006-09-17T07:49:40Z")

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I got this song in my head earlier today, looked it up in Youtube, and lo and behold someone had posted it just yesterday, the original introduction from the movie “Love Me Tonight”: [link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCaO7i-FXec). Great scene, and very innovative in the way it develops the song – check it out. Anyone have any other good classic movie scenes from YouTube they’d like to share? (Preferably ones that are not necessarily spoiler-ridden, if that’s possible…)

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**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-romantic/373049/2 "2006-09-17T14:55:58Z")

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That is one of the greatest musical film scenes ever (and, of course, one of the great musical films ever). Now I’ll have it stuck in my head the rest of the day, and one hopes everyone I pass will in turn pass it on . . .

"Isn’t it romantic, going to do laundry on a sunny day . . . "

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-romantic/373049/3 "2006-09-17T23:34:06Z")

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A film by that title holds the record for shortest review:

Leonard Maltin: No.

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**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-romantic/373049/4 "2006-09-18T01:53:18Z")

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[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers]  
A film by that title holds the record for shortest review:

Leonard Maltin: No.  
[/QUOTE]

Proving once again that ain’t no beard: it’s the fungus leaking out of Leonard Maltin’s brain.

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**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-romantic/373049/5 "2006-09-18T02:07:07Z")

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[QUOTE=Eve]  
Proving once again that ain’t no beard: it’s the fungus leaking out of Leonard Maltin’s brain.  
[/QUOTE]

In fairness Maltin was talking about [this](http://imdb.com/title/tt0040479/board/threads/) movie, not “Love Me Tonight.” Though you’ll find no argument from me about Maltin’s leaking brain…

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**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-romantic/373049/6 "2006-09-18T02:26:39Z")

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[QUOTE=Eve]  
Proving once again that ain’t no beard: it’s the fungus leaking out of Leonard Maltin’s brain.  
[/QUOTE]

Oh, I think that’s a good line. One of the classic movie reviews, along with the (possibly apocryphal?) one-line review of _I Am A Camera_: “Me no Leica.”

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**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-romantic/373049/7 "2006-09-18T04:26:00Z")

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I like the opening of _Manhattan_: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyY4EUR4by8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyY4EUR4by8)

Black and white shots of Manhattan, and Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”.

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**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-romantic/373049/8 "2006-09-18T05:33:53Z")

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[QUOTE=Dignan]  
I like the opening of _Manhattan_: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyY4EUR4by8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyY4EUR4by8)

Black and white shots of Manhattan, and Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”.  
[/QUOTE]

Good one! Glad you posted that, 'cause I’ve been meaning to watch that movie again…

Listening to the “Isn’t it Romantic?” clip again, I’m reminded how much _faster_ many songs of the '30s and '40s are than we are used to hearing them – and for the better, IMO. These songs are lively, witty, funny, and, yes, romantic. They don’t all need to be crooned at snail’s pace.

Actually, “Isn’t it Romantic?” can kind of get away with it. But some other songs make you wonder… Listen to any 1920’s or '30s version of Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do It” and compare it to, say, Ella Fitzgerald’s interminably slooooooow version. :mad:

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**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-romantic/373049/9 "2006-09-18T17:00:03Z")

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Truly one of the greatest musicals ever (and criminally underappreciated). And Myrna Loy has never been hotter!

Couldn’t find any of the Busby Berkeley setpieces I hoped to, so [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dtoie1MD9w) are the Nicholas Brothers from the same year.
