Parisian Love

Parisian Love (1925)

** (out of 4)

A lot of times "B" movies are put down for not having enough plot and not running long enough to matter. That saying is really put to the test here as this film runs a mere 62-minutes but there are enough plots here for ten movies. The film starts out as Apache lovers Marie (Clara Bow) and Armand (Donald Keith) break into the house of the rich Pierre Marcel (Lou Tellegen). Marie takes off when the police arrive but Armand becomes "friends" with Pierre who eventually saves him from blood poisoning. Still awake? Pierre then hooks Armand up with another woman, which Marie finds out about as she's gone undercover in the house as a maid. This upsets Marie so she plans on marrying Pierre to get even with him while other goons try robbing him for more money. There are several other subplots going on in this thing, which happens to be just one of fifteen movies Bow would make in 1925. The amazing thing here is how much stuff they try throwing at the viewer and for the life of me I really can't figure out what it was for. There's really no romance here even though, I guess, in the end that's what the story is suppose to be about. None of the goons are ever threatening and there's no tension from anything that happens with them. There's very little comedy and there's really no strong character development. There's pretty much nothing going on here but the thing is just so weird, so over-the-top that you can't help but keep watching just to see what's going to happen next. I would call this a really bizarre film but it's worth noting that director Gasnier would later make REEFER MADNESS so I guess this film could have gone even further (although there is a cocaine snorting scene here). I think the main reason people will be drawn to this film is just to see Bow. This isn't the greatest performance out there but she does a fair job with the role. Some of her acting towards the end of the picture is too far out there but she's nice to look at. Keith is a tad bit too bland in his role and Tellegen is so far gone that you can't help think he'd perfectly fit into REEFER MADNESS.

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.

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.

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.

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".