"Love is always a choice, hour by hour, day by day. You either choose love, or you don't." The above quote came from Maurice Chevalier's character Prince Phillip in the movie A Breath of Scandal. Chevalier plays the father of Sophia Loren, a princess in early 20th century Vienna, where every marriage is a contract and love affairs are expected.
Loren's character made every effort throughout the course of the movie to meet society's expectations and unit two countries in an arranged marriage. Unfortunately, she falls in love with an American who will not settle for being her occasional lover.
The quote concludes a conversation between Chevalier and Loren when Chevalier confides in his daughter that he and her mother have been faithful to each other for 36 years. All of their extramarital affairs were contrived to maintain the family status. Loren, rather bitterly, states, "But you were a prince and she was a princess, you didn't have to make a choice."
While she had a point that they didn't have to make a decision about love versus status, it would have been easy in that day and age to fall into the patterns of society's expectations. It is all too easy for something that starts as a game to become reality. Instead, Chevalier and his wife did choose love "hour by hour" and "day by day."
The movie is light and entertaining. The romantic in me enjoyed the show immensely. Chevalier performs one song, which is a nice treat.
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