A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate (1923)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writer:

Charles Chaplin (written by)

Release Date:

25 February 1924 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Marie St. Clair believes she has been jilted by her artist fiance Jean when he fails to meet her at the railway station...

Plot Keywords:

Suicide | Railroad Station | Death Of Boyfriend | Broken Home | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Edna Purviance	...	Marie St. Clair
Clarence Geldart	...	Marie's Step-Father (as Clarence Geldert)
Carl Miller	...	Jean Millet
Lydia Knott	...	Jean's Mother
Charles K. French	...	Jean's Father (as Charles French)
Adolphe Menjou	...	Pierre Revel
Betty Morrissey	...	Fifi
Malvina Polo	...	Paulette
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nellie Bly Baker	...	Masseuse (uncredited)
Henry Bergman	...	Head Waiter (uncredited)
Charles Chaplin	...	Station Porter (uncredited)
Frank Coghlan Jr.	...	Boy (uncredited)
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	...	Man in Nightclub (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Mannequin (uncredited)
Karl Gutman	...	Orchestra Conductor (uncredited)
James A. Marcus	...	Tramp (uncredited)
Harry Northrup	...	Revel's Valet (uncredited)
Granville Redmond	...	Man in Nightclub (uncredited)
Philip Sleeman	...	Gigolo (uncredited)
Arthur Stibolt	...	Cook (uncredited)
A. Edward Sutherland	...	Cook (uncredited)
Wilhelm von Brincken	...	Restaurant Patron (uncredited)

Directed by
Charles Chaplin

Writing credits
Charles Chaplin		(written by)

Produced by
Charles Chaplin	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Charles Chaplin		(1976)
Fritz Stahlberg		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Roland Totheroh
Jack Wilson		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Monta Bell
Charles Chaplin		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Arthur Stibolt		(uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
A. Edward Sutherland	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jack Wilson	....	second camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Eric James	....	music associate (1976 version)
Eric Rogers	....	conductor (1976 score)
Eric Rogers	....	music orchestrator (1976 score)
Eddy Joseph	....	music editor (1976 version) (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Toraichi Kono	....	driver: Mr. Chaplin (uncredited)

Other crew
Monta Bell	....	literary editor (uncredited)
Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast	....	researcher (uncredited)
Jean de Limur	....	researcher (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Charles Chaplin Productions
• Regent

Distributors

• United Artists (1923) (USA) (theatrical)
• MK2 Diffusion (2001) (worldwide) (all media)
• Allied Artists (1923) (UK) (theatrical)
• Cinegate Ltd. (1978) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Cinal S.A. (1980) (Spain) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Fox Video (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Roy Export Company Establishment  music copyright by: 1976

Runtime:

USA:78 min (1976 release)

Country:

USA

Language:

None

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (1978 re-release) | Silent

Certification:

Germany:o.Al. | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Argentina:Atp | Spain:T | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating)

Filming Locations:

Chaplin Studios - 1416 N. La Brea Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Charles Chaplin Productions

Trivia:

Michael Powell said in a 1977 interview that the film had such an impact on him that he'd carried it with him throughout his career. Its themes are visible in various Powell films, and the amazing thing is that, from 1923-1976, he had only seen the film once.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003)

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.