Maurice Chevalier under contract with Paramount, his name was so recognized that his passport was featured in the Marx Brothers film "Monkey Business" (1931). In this sequence, each brother uses Chevalier's passport, and tries to sneak off the ocean liner where they were stowaways by claiming to be the singer—with unique renditions of "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me" with its line "If the nightingales could sing like you". In 1931, Chevalier starred in a musical called "The Smiling Lieutenant" with Claudette Colbert and Miriam Hopkins. Despite the disdain audiences held for musicals in 1931, it proved a successful
The Maltese Falcon (1931 film) in San Francisco. The film closely follows the plot of the book. The 1941 adaptation, which began with a revised version of the 1931 script, closely follows the book as well, although most references to homosexuality, stripping (the missing $1000) and other no longer permissible portions under the Motion Picture Production Code are missing. The dialogue for both films is often taken directly from the novel, verbatim. Differences between the two films are due almost wholly to Pre-Code aspects of the earlier film. In addition to an overall lighter tone and looser pace, the 1931 film contains sexually suggestive situations.