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L'opinion publique

Original title: A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate
  • 1923
  • Tous publics
  • 1h 22m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
6.7K
YOUR RATING
Edna Purviance in L'opinion publique (1923)
DramaRomance

A kept woman runs into her former fiancé and finds herself torn between love and comfort.A kept woman runs into her former fiancé and finds herself torn between love and comfort.A kept woman runs into her former fiancé and finds herself torn between love and comfort.

  • Director
    • Charles Chaplin
  • Writer
    • Charles Chaplin
  • Stars
    • Edna Purviance
    • Clarence Geldert
    • Carl Miller
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.9/10
    6.7K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Charles Chaplin
    • Writer
      • Charles Chaplin
    • Stars
      • Edna Purviance
      • Clarence Geldert
      • Carl Miller
    • 58User reviews
    • 30Critic reviews
    • 76Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins total

    Photos56

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    Top cast26

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    Edna Purviance
    Edna Purviance
    • Marie St. Clair
    Clarence Geldert
    Clarence Geldert
    • Marie's Step-Father
    Carl Miller
    Carl Miller
    • Jean Millet
    Lydia Knott
    Lydia Knott
    • Jean's Mother
    Charles K. French
    Charles K. French
    • Jean's Father
    • (as Charles French)
    Adolphe Menjou
    Adolphe Menjou
    • Pierre Revel
    Betty Morrissey
    • Fifi
    Malvina Polo
    • Paulette
    Nellie Bly Baker
    • Masseuse
    • (uncredited)
    Henry Bergman
    Henry Bergman
    • Head Waiter
    • (uncredited)
    Charles Chaplin
    Charles Chaplin
    • Station Porter
    • (uncredited)
    Frank Coghlan Jr.
    Frank Coghlan Jr.
    • Boy
    • (uncredited)
    Antonio Corsi
    • Accordion Player
    • (uncredited)
    Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast
    Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast
    • Man in Nightclub
    • (uncredited)
    Stella De Lanti
    • Revel's Fiancée
    • (unconfirmed)
    • (uncredited)
    Jean de Limur
    • Man in Nightclub
    • (uncredited)
    Charles Farrell
    Charles Farrell
    • Man in Nightclub
    • (uncredited)
    Bess Flowers
    Bess Flowers
    • Mannequin
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Charles Chaplin
    • Writer
      • Charles Chaplin
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews58

    6.96.6K
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    Featured reviews

    Snow Leopard

    Interesting Change of Pace From Chaplin

    If nothing else, you have to give Charlie Chaplin a lot of credit for taking a shot at something so different from his usual fare. (Though he himself only appears on-screen for a few seconds this time, he did almost everything else in the production.) And while "A Woman of Paris" is certainly a cut below his comedy features, it's a pretty good melodrama, and you'd have to think that with experience Chaplin could have gone on to become almost as effective with straight melodrama as he was with his sentimental comedies. It's not really surprising that after this he returned to comedy for good, but that was just to keep audiences happy, not because he couldn't do drama, since this is a decent effort.

    Chaplin's own frequent lady Edna Purviance is convincing as the young woman whose tangled love affairs pull her away from her true love and into a set of tangled relationships in the empty, decadent world of the Parisian idle classes. Except for being rather contrived - there are far too many coincidences and pat developments in the plot, and they do not work as well in serious drama as they would in a comedy - the story is interesting and fairly creative. It does get a bit heavy at times, since there is very little comic relief, but Adolphe Menjou helps keep it from getting unbearably serious with a good performance as the carefree, irresponsible Pierre. He shows that even without dialogue he can make this kind of character lively and memorable.

    Since it doesn't quite measure up to the standard of either the best Chaplin features or the best silent melodramas, "A Woman of Paris" may not have a niche of its own, except for its historical interest. But it's quite an interesting change of pace from Chaplin, and an above average movie that's worth seeing.
    8morrisonhimself

    Beautifully directed and acted

    Charles Chaplin is noted for his comedy performances, and deservedly.

    His direction, though, should be more highly regarded, if only for this one motion picture.

    Compare the quality of the photography and the smoothness of the editing to, for example, "The Gold Rush," of about the same time.

    "A Woman of Paris" is very modern; "The Gold Rush" is downright primitive (but, in spots, brilliant).

    "A Woman of Paris" also shows some admirable acting talent in, really, all the players. Some of the lesser characters are still played beautifully, despite being "lesser," especially Marie's maids and her, more or less, friends, and very especially the masseuse.

    And the scene where the artist's mother, played by Lydia Knott, bent on revenge, comes upon Marie -- with no words, just body movement and facial expression -- she tells the audience what the proverbial thousand words could not so well.

    Credit for part of that good acting must, of course, go to the director, but even the best director can't make much of poor actors.

    Chaplin had very good actors. Adolphe Menjou reached stardom, and deservedly. What a tremendous talent; he could do everything.

    Edna Purviance should have achieved much more acclaim. She performed admirably, especially in this movie, and she was attractive. Fame is certainly fickle.

    In some ways, "A Woman of Paris" might be written off by a few as "soap opera." But it is well worth watching for the performances and, especially, for the directing.
    Bob A-2

    Graceful, elegant photography and concise storytelling are made imperfect by missing narrative elements that would have made the film more plausible.

    Finally saw Woman of Paris: this was a legendary film in its day, but mostly because it was virtually never re-released for sixty years after it premiered in 1923, so the legend grew in its absence. The parts of the story that were not told would have made a better movie than the movie, for example why the lovers' fathers at the beginning of the film are against the marriage, and how Marie (Edna Purviance) became a (shudder) "Woman of Paris" during the year following her departure from her fiance. So I didn't buy the story but the camera work and editing do marvelous things with the story that is there. The melodramatic climax is a bit much to be believed, but not comical as a lot of silent mellers appear today. A little D.W. Griffith (sophisticated early use of photography to tell story and set mood), a little Tolstoy ("bad woman" story contrasted with storyteller's emphasis on happy marriages and wholesome family life), a touch of Dreiser ("sinful" characters shown with realistic insight) and I'd guess a soupcon of Terrence Ratigan (sophisticated attitudes) but I doubt he was around then. The ad copy for this film says Chaplin has a cameo as a railway porter but I didn't notice one in the train scene: I suspect instead he was the ticket agent whose hand appears pointing out the ticket window toward the train. Altogether a satisfying and entertaining film, but the story would have been better if Chaplin had worked on it a little longer.
    8bacardi_ben

    An excellent drama from the first genius of Cinema

    A Woman Of Paris was an acclaimed success with the critics when it was Originally released on 1st October 1923. However, the audience despised it as they wanted to see Charlie Chaplin the tramp starring in a film not a film directed by Chaplin in which he does not appear (albeit in a small cameo role). When i first saw the film on BBC2 around Christmas 1998 i thought Chaplin had a starring role so was naturally disappointed when i found out this wasn't the case. However, since then i have become a huge fan of Chaplin and all his work so now I think this film is rated among Chaplin's best features. His musical score composed in 1976 with Eric Rogers was Chaplin's last ever work in his film career which spanned 62 years. By 1976 Chaplin was very frail and struggled to communicate so the fact that he could compose the music for a near 80 minute film is amazing and the fact that the music score is as good as any of his other films is also astonishing. Charles Chaplin was a true genius of Cinema and A Woman Of Paris is an excellent example of Chaplin as director, writer and composer.
    8AlsExGal

    A Chaplin film without Chaplin as a performer

    1923's "A Woman of Paris is probably not what you'd expect in a Chaplin film based on the totality of his body of work, both in features and in shorts. However, that doesn't mean it's not worthwhile viewing. It just means if you are new to Chaplin, you might not want to start here.

    "A Woman of Paris" showed Chaplin's talent behind the camera without him appearing in front of it, except for a lone cameo in which he quickly appears and then disappears acting as a luggage boy. He made it for two reasons, to do some pioneering in cinematic technique and to help give his long time costar and companion Edna Purviance a career boost. The film is actually quite good with great performances by Purviance and by Adolphe Menjou as a carefree playboy. The film did make a star out of Menjou. It didn't really help Purviance that much. The film is about a pair of star-crossed lovers that circumstance drives apart and then brings back together and the eventual tragedy that occurs due to the weakness of will of Purviance's character's one time fiancé, played by Carl Miller.

    The film was a failure at the box office, not because it was bad, but because audiences expected to see Chaplin when they went to a Chaplin film. After the failure of this film, Chaplin went back to formulas that were tried and true for him and never really went out on a limb experimenting again, which is too bad for all of us.

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    Related interests

    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)
    Romance

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The reissue of this film, with a musical score and new cut by Sir Charles Chaplin, was the last work of his entire film career. By then, the 87-year-old Chaplin was visibly frail but still walking. His score was aided by arranger Eric James, and he took a small theme from Monsieur Verdoux (1947), but most of the score was Chaplin's. The film was reissued posthumously in 1977 with the new score to overwhelming critical and public praise. At that time, many critics praised it (as in the trailer) as one of the best films ever made.
    • Goofs
      When Jean starts fighting with Pierre in the restaurant, Pierre's glass of wine or champagne gets knocked over. When Pierre sits down on the table afterwards, the glass stands on the table filled with drink as if it hadn't been knocked over.
    • Quotes

      [Intertitle]: Time heals, and experience teaches that the secret of happiness is in service to others.

    • Alternate versions
      During 1976, Chaplin was preparing a reissue of A Woman of Paris/Sunnyside but died before completion. The project was completed after his death, and the films were reissued in the United States by Kino International Corp. in 1978. This version, however, dispensed with an opening subtitle, as well as a few brief insert shots.
    • Connections
      Featured in Chaplin Today: Modern Times (2003)

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    FAQ18

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 31, 1924 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Instagram
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Una mujer de París
    • Filming locations
      • Chaplin Studios - 1416 N. La Brea Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Charles Chaplin Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $351,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $12,921
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 22m(82 min)
    • Sound mix
      • Silent
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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