Kiki (1926)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Clarence Brown

Writers:

Hanns Kräly (writer)
André Picard (play)

Release Date:

4 April 1926 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot Keywords:

Based On Play | Character Name In Title

Cast

Norma Talmadge	...	Kiki
Ronald Colman	...	Victor Renal
Gertrude Astor	...	Paulette
Marc McDermott	...	Baron Rapp
George K. Arthur	...	Adolphe
William Orlamond	...	Brule
Erwin Connelly	...	Joly
Frankie Darro	...	Pierre
Mack Swain	...	Pastryman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eugenie Besserer	...	Landlady (uncredited)
Agostino Borgato	...	Doctor (uncredited)
André Cheron	...	Maitre d' (uncredited)
Mathilde Comont	...	Maid (uncredited)
Fred Malatesta	...	Cheron, the Tenor (uncredited)

Directed by
Clarence Brown

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Hanns Kräly		writer (as Hans Kraly)
André Picard		play

Produced by
Norma Talmadge	....	producer

Cinematography by
Oliver T. Marsh		(as Oliver Marsh)

Camera and Electrical Department
Melbourne Spurr	....	publicity photographer (uncredited)

Other crew
Joseph M. Schenck	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Norma Talmadge Film Corporation

Distributors

• First National Pictures (1926) (USA) (theatrical)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Norma Talmadge Film Corporation

Movie Connections:

Remade as Kiki (1931)

Delightful silent screwball comedy vehicle for Talmadge

Report from Cinesation 2006: KIKI (****) As Jeanine Basinger says in her book on Silent Stars, perhaps the biggest hole in our understanding of silent stardom is the career of Norma Talmadge-- she likens it to knowing talkies without ever seeing Bette Davis. This sparkling new Library of Congress restoration of a 1926 Parisian showbiz farce is atypical for the grande dame roles Talmadge usually played, but as with Marion Davies and Show People, it wouldn't be the worst fate for a star to be known mainly to history for a first-class comedy.

Talmadge, at thirtysomething more game than gamine, is a plucky street gal who weasels her way into producer Ronald Colman's chorus line, his home, and his heart. Because a number of folks present had seen it just a month before at Cinecon, I was prepped for the idea that it was something of a screwball comedy with neither lead behaving in any way that real humans would. (The word "stalker" was used on alt.movies.silent, and aptly so.) But taken as kind of a silent Twentieth Century or Bringing Up Baby, it had lots of laughs, and Talmadge pulls off the comedy beautifully (as does George K. Arthur, as her archrival among Colman's servants).