Back in the 1920s and 30s, Maurice Yvain was the undisputed king of the boulevards, his catchy tunes whistled and hummed dans les rues.

In 1919, he had a hit with Dansez-vous le foxtrot?, sung by his former army pal Maurice Chevalier. The following year saw the first of many collaborations with the redoubtable actress and singer Mistinguett: Mon Homme was another winner, going on to be sung by Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl.

It was Chevalier who introduced him to Albert Willemetz, a gifted writer of situational farce, whose witty libretti graced a string of popular operettas with one foot in comic opera and one in musicals. Yes!, based on Totte et sa chance (Totte and her luck), a bestselling novel by Pierre Soulaine and René Pujol, opened at the tiny Théâtre des Capucines on 26 January 1928. It was an immediate hit, rapidly transferring to larger theatres before playing all over France and even as far as Hungary. 

The plot is frivolous, funny...