I Met Him in Paris - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

I Met Him in Paris



Movie:
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Movie
As someone who had a massive “old timey” celebrity crush on Claudette Colbert growing up as a teen (I had older parents from the silent generation, so black and white classics were a staple growing up) I realized I had never seen I Met Him in Paris, so when Universal Studios released 4 classic Claudette films this last month I decided to dip my toes in the water and check out the one that I had never seen. It was advertised as a lighthearted romantic comedy with a “modern” (for 1937) twist, so I was all in.

Kay Denham (Claudette Colbert) is a restless young New York City girls who has saved for 5 whole years to afford a trip to Paris, and does so to avoid her simpering boyfriend Berk (Lee Bowman) from proposing ANOTHER time. You see, Kay is enamored with the idea of being a modern liberated woman, free from the shackles of boring marriage to a normal guy. She wants to spread her wings and have her “hot girl summer”, so to speak, in Paris. Dashing off to the city of love, Kay soon finds out that she’s in over her head a bit. The men there barely speak English and try to take advantage of her within moments of setting foot on the ground. Her only saving grace comes from a dashing young American socialite named Gene (Robert Young) and his older playwright friend George (Melvyn Douglas). Gene sweeps her off her feet immediately and promises her the world, if ONLY she will accompany him to Switzerland for a week.

Seeing that Gene was about to bowl the poor girl over with enthusiasm, George offers to step in and act as their chaperone for the trip, and off they go to Switzerland. What unfolds next is a classic menage a trois three-way relationship with Gene vying for her young Kay’s affection, while poor George soon finds himself doing the same. The film dances around with the idea of a physical relationship, putting just the right amount of hints in the viewers' minds before dancing right back into the G-rated production code of the time. It’s silly, fluffy, and sometimes cute. But at the same time has a hard time actually sticking the landing on many of the plot points.

The film tends to play out as a 1937 fantasy, with 3 different men (including her boyfriend) all vying for her affections, while Kay verbally slays the group of them with her condemnation and, at times, adoration. And of course, she ends up with one of them by the end of the movie, and it is EXACTLY who you thought it would be.

I Met Him in Paris is one of Claudette’s lighter and fluffier films, but also one of her least classic worthy. And by that, I simply meant that it is a decent rom-com for the time period, but not going to rival the likes of Skylark or other classic old-time films from that period. It has its moments, but it is exceptionally puff pastry-fluffy and devoid of any real depth. I enjoyed it for what it was, but I also have to fully admit that even by 1937 standards, the film was not going to win any Oscars. Ironically, our rose colored glasses tend to remember only the hits of yesteryear and not the ones that get ignored. And this one slips through the cracks for a reason. It’s fun, cute, and actually has a solid ending. But the film struggles to define itself past the old-timey power fantasy of being a “modern couple” that it toys with. Modern audiences may struggle with some of the tropes from nearly 100 years ago, but overall, it strangely fits right in line with some other modern issues that we're facing today. So I will say that while it's not a perfect film, it strangely has the ability to resonate with modern audiences while simultaneously making them cringe just a bit.




Rating:

Not Rated By the MPAA




Video:

Struck from what looks like a decent, but aging, master, I Met Him in Paris looks pretty good on Blu-ray. The black and photography looks fantastic for the most part, with great detail levels, good contrast, and deep blacks. If I have any complaints, it's that there is some really obvious degradation and print debris going on, with vertical lines being the most prominent. Speckles and flecks crop up here and there, but overall, nothing horrible. I noticed some softness and overabundance of some clumping grain off and on, but not to the detriment of the picture for the most part. I will say that the speckles and debris were distinctly less than some DVD images I’ve seen online, so I’m guessing a restoration or remaster has gone on fairly recently for the film, but it still has some issues that are pretty noticeable.









Audio:

The 2.0 Mono DTS-HD MA lossless audio track sounds surprisingly good for its age. It’s not going to blow your socks off, and there’s some thinness to the vocals on higher ranges, but the audio mix is rather capable for the fluffy little rom-com that it is. Voices come through distinctly (if not a bit sharply), and the score by famed composer Friedrich Hollaender comes through cleanly. Again, this is a mono track, so it’s not going to rock the home theater system, but everything is captured very nicely.









Extras:

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Final Score:

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Despite some misgivings, Claudette Colbert is an absolute delight in the production. As usual, she runs a tightrope thing line of being absolutely adorable, and a powerhouse feminist (as it was meant at the time, rather than its definition in today’s society) simultaneously. Both Melvyn and Robert Young do good jobs as her male cohorts, though it’s really Robert that seems to mesh with her the best. The Blu-ray release from Universal looks and sounds solid enough, though definitely from a non-restored master. All in all, if you love Claudette Colbert, then this is a no-brainer, and if you want to check out less popular classic films from this time period, it's a good place to start. Nice and fluffy watch will be my final recommendation.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Claudette Colbert, Melvyn Douglas, Robert Young
Directed by: Wesley Ruggles
Written by: Claude Binyon, Helen Meinardi
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Universal Studios
Rated: NR
Runtime: 87 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: December 2nd, 2025

Recommendation: Fluffy Watch

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