Parisian Love

It's hard to believe, but on the evidence of this delight of a movie, undoubtedly true, that Louis J. "Reefer Madness" Gasnier was once a highly competent director. Even in the condensed 62-minute version currently available (with at least two obvious cuts, one of them right before the fade-out), directorial ability shines through every scene, particularly those with the three principals. As usual, Clara Bow rivets attention right from her very first entrance to her final clinch, skilfully managing the remarkable transition from energetic hoyden to graceful débutante with charisma, style and panache; while Lou Tellegen (whom I have been waiting to see for 52 years and have finally caught up with) subtly conveys the charm, presence and instant audience identification that illuminated his stage roles opposite the great Sarah Bernhardt; and, as expected, Lillian Leighton is a comic riot when her awesomely pugnacious La Frouchard transforms herself into a pillar of Parisian society.

The other players, including personable hero, Donald Keith (who disappears for a long stretch), have little to do, although "Monsieur Frouchard" provides some splendid bits of comedy inaction in the domestic fight scene when La Leighton lets loose.

Of course, you can't really take the convoluted plot (or even the characters) too seriously, but who cares? It's all great entertainment.

Beautifully photographed and most attractively costumed and set, this big-budget movie is presented on an excellent (10 out of ten) Kino DVD with "Down to the Sea in Ships".

This is a film with a very strange plot. There are so many bizarre plot elements that I think the overall picture comes off as very, very difficult to believe and is one of the worst films I've seen that stars Clara Bow. Now the film sure LOOKS nice...but the plot?! Weird.

The film begins with a gang of thieves breaking into a rich professor's house. However, things don't go smoothly. One of the robbers wants to kill Professor Marcel--but the other stops him. Just then, the cops arrive. Marie (Clara Bow--who is the lookout) escapes, the would-be killer is killed and Armand (the good thief) is protected by the Professor--who tells the police that he's his house guest. You can understand this--after all, this lovely thief did save Marcel. However, this scene and the subsequent scenes might be interpreted to have a gay subtext when seen today--especially when the Professor invites Armand to live with him and treats him in a very familiar manner.

In the meantime, Marie sneaks into a party at Professor Marcel's house and sees Armand--with another woman. She assumes that he no longer loves her and she is angry--determined to destroy Marcel for taking Armand away from her. So, she later pretends to be a rich lady and meets Marcel--and makes him fall in love with her. Just after the marriage, Marie's mother reveals to Marcel the truth--and that she'd stolen Marie from a rich family when she was a baby(???!!!). And, without knowing the truth, Marie then tells Marcel that she married him just to get revenge on him for breaking up the relationship between her and Armand(??!!). JUST THEN (again), Armand shows up--and the old gang does as well and shoots Marie!!!! Then, she miraculously survives AND the Professor leaves--allowing Armand to have Marie for himself!!!! This has to be the most contrived plot I've ever seen in a silent film--and I've seen about a thousand of them. So many silly surprises and twists thrown into a film barely over an hour long--it made me laugh with all these story elements. While the film looks nice and is entertaining, it also is fundamentally stupid. Not one of Bow's shining moments and the sort of fluff she'd no longer be doing once she really hit it big with films like "Wings" and "It"...at least until her star faded at the advent of sound.

The first thing I noticed about Clara Bow is her huge eyes which she uses to great effect when words won't do. As portrayed by her, Marie is not a nice girl at all, she's scheming, she's common (interesting question - if she's a street girl, an 'Apache', where did she learn to dance?), she's not good enough for little Armand (the boy thief who is even prettier than her) or for Marcel (who is far more interested in Armand anyway, or at least that seems to be the way Lou Tellegen is playing the role - perhaps unintentionally, but ...). Clocking in at just over an hour, this is a small film which feels rushed towards the end after a very long-winded beginning. However, it manages to combine humour, a slightly ridiculous script, and peripheral characters who are there for a few seconds then disappear. I liked the boozy 'Madame' who is stealing all the drinks at the party (who has previously broken bottles over her slow-moving husband's head). Donald Keith as Armand has too little to do except look cute. Worth watching for Bow and Tellegen and for the gorgeous tinting on the restored print.

Though of course broken up by intertitles, it's worth observing right away that the storytelling is more fluid than it was in no few other silent films. The acting, direction, and pacing come across as mostly very natural, a step away from the stilted and less authentic sensibilities derived from stage drama and vaudeville and toward the style modern viewers are familiar with. Still the picture maintains a steady clip, advancing the plot swiftly, but never at such a pace as to feel rushed or forced. What follows is a tale blending two discrete elements of crime and romance into a form that seems to have fallen out of fashion in cinema of the latter half of the twentieth century, with dashes of both comedy and drama peppering the proceedings for variety of flavor. 'Parisian love' may not be utterly essential among such older movies, but it's solid, and remains quite worthwhile on its own merits.

As one would well expect of the silent era, when visuals were extra important, the presentation here looks fantastic. The production design and art direction are outstanding, flush with detail, as is the costume design. The hair and makeup work is terrific, and very noticeably and gratifyingly more rich and varied than has been true elsewhere in early cinema; characters are readily distinguishable just by their appearance (a credit as well to preservationists, for there's scarcely any sign of degradation or loss of fidelity in the digitized print). And the cast is most excellent, demonstrating range and personality, but also welcome nuance exceeding what was common among most of its contemporaries. Naturally silent superstar Clara Bow stands out the most in the lead role, showing why she was so beloved and sought after, but her co-stars are just as well with what they bring to the feature, breathing vivid life into their characters.

Save perhaps for the gracefulness of its fundamental craft, there's not necessarily anything about 'Parisian love' that stands out so much as to make this a must-see. It's well made and acted, but maybe doesn't have any major spark of vitality to it. Yet the story is engaging and enjoyable, despite occasionally coming off as uneven, and the scene writing actively entertaining to keep us keenly interested. Louis J. Gasnier's direction is sturdy and capable, as is the work of everyone behind the scenes. This is the sort of classic that doesn't abjectly demand viewership, but is still deserving and appreciable for what it does represent. It's those who are already enamored of silent pictures that will get the most out of this - but, perhaps, it's sufficiently well done to possibly serve as a point of entry for those who are curious about older movies, or trying to get their feet wet. Not specifically flawed, not specifically stupendous, 'Parisian love' is still worth checking out if you have the inclination and opportunity.

In spite that Dame Clara Bow has "It", she haven't an astounding career with a lot of masterpieces or even remarkable films ( for this German Count only two or three films of her deserves such Teutonic silent glory ). Her film career consisted of, on the contrary, a lot of inoffensive, trifle and insignificant films starring the Amerikan actress…until fame knocked at her silent and Paramount door.

"Parisian Love" it is a perfect example of what this German aristocrat is talking about, that is to say, an unimportant film directed by Herr Louis J. Gasnier ( an anodyne film director who goes well with the spirit of those Dame Bow films ). It seems that nobody pays attention to our star in spite of the fact that she does exert herself with excessive intention, overacting many times. She suffers many vexations such as dancing the Apache gang dance at night in Paris (a hybrid between tango, flamenco and personal attack ), changing her criminal life for an honest one as a servant or a convent bred fraulein, being ignored by her former fiancée, Armand ( Herr Donald Keith ) and his mentor Marcel ( Herr Lou Tellegen ) in which there's a kind of subtle and silent homosexual relationship. It's probably due to the fact that the chemistry between Dame Bow und Herr Keith it is defunct. The only standout in this simplistic Dame Bow film is the Paris underground art designer.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must to bow and scrape his fat German heiresses.

Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/