Tonight Is Ours (1933)

Stars:

Claudette Colbert, Fredric March, Alison Skipworth

At a masked ball in Paris, handsome Sabien Pastal meets beautiful Nadya, queen of Krya, who deserted her country in order to escape her brutal husband. They fall deeply in love and are about to marry when rebels in Krya assassinate the king and his brother and Nadya returns home to take the crown, vowing never to see Sabien again. A year passes and a marriage is arranged between Nadya and Prince Keri of Zolgar, who also forfeited his true love to uphold the honor of his royal title. During the public ceremony in which Nadya first meets Keri, a rebel tries to assassinate her, but Sabien, hiding among the crowd, deflects the bullet. Keri and Nadya agree to marry as friends, and she discovers he is a kind and honorable man. That night, Nadya meets "Monsieur Paris," the man who saved her life, and is astonished to find he is Sabien. Although Nadya has grown bitter, Sabien coaxes her into swearing her love, and begs to see her for one last night to consummate their love. At dawn, as the lovers lie in each other's arms, rebels storm the palace and Sabien is forced to kill two assassins to save Nadya. When he is accused of being one of the rebels and sentenced to die, Nadya confesses that he is her lover and that she can no longer pretend he does not matter to her. The rebel delegates enter to announce their demands and Nadya offers to relinquish the throne so she can marry Sabien, but the leading delegate asks only for a premiership, assuring her a morganatic marriage would restore her favor among the common people. Prince Keri graciously breaks their engagement, and Sabien accepts his new role as Prince Consort.