Monsieur Beaucaire (1924)

When M. Beaucaire, a handsome barber, catches the Duke of Winterset cheating at gambling, Beaucaire exacts Winterset's cooperation in sneaking Beaucaire into a great ball, disguised as the ... See full summary »

Director:

Sidney Olcott

Writers:

Booth Tarkington (novel), Booth Tarkington (play),

Stars:

Rudolph Valentino, Bebe Daniels, Lois Wilson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rudolph Valentino	...	Duke de Chartres / Beaucaire
Bebe Daniels	...	Princess Henriette
Lois Wilson	...	Queen Marie of France
Doris Kenyon	...	Lady Mary
Lowell Sherman	...	King Louis XV of France
Paulette Duval	...	Madame Pompadour
John Davidson	...	Richelieu
Oswald Yorke	...	Miropoix
Flora Finch	...	Duchesse de Montmorency
Louis Waller	...	François
Ian Maclaren	...	Duke of Winterset
Frank Shannon	...	Badger
Templar Powell	...	Molyneux
H. Cooper Cliffe	...	Beau Nash
Downing Clarke	...	Lord Chesterfield

Storyline

When M. Beaucaire, a handsome barber, catches the Duke of Winterset cheating at gambling, Beaucaire exacts Winterset's cooperation in sneaking Beaucaire into a great ball, disguised as the Duke de Chartres, and to introduce him to the beautiful Lady Mary. The disguised barber successfully pulls off the masquerade and is soon the toast of society. But Winterset is embittered at having been blackmailed so, and he sets out to destroy Beaucaire if he can do so without revealing his own duplicity.

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Plot Keywords:

gay interest | based on novel | based on play | character name in title

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Release Date:

11 August 1924 (USA)

Also Known As:

Monsieur Beaucair

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios, Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Danish title is the same.

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood (1980)

User Reviews

Turgid, boring, over-long costume epic/Valentino's nemesis

Although he made only one costume epic it was this effete performance that Valentino's critics jumped on when they labeled him effeminate and a "pink powder puff." This injustice was probably due primarily to jealousy on the part of reviewers. With all due respect to the other reviewer on this page who delivered a rave, I must totally disagree. I found the film long and boring and without interest. The slight story of a ladies man Duke being banished from the court of Louis XV and resurfacing as a barber to test the social snobbery of his conquests is only mildly amusing. Valentino does well in the dual role of the Duke of Chartres and the barber, Monsieur Beaucaire, but it is not one of his better performances. The rest of the cast is merely adequate as are the production values, with the one exception of the lavish costume design. There is one shot, however, that is quite original. During a dueling sequence we see only the swords coming into center screen from either side and center screen we see the concerned servant observing the clash. An oddity has the word "never" in the titles spelled "nevaire" - an attempt at literal French accents, no doubt, as with the substitution of "fren" for "friend." In the print I saw one of two sound recordings made by Valentino singing is used in the early sequence when he serenades a princess from the stage. His singing voice is extremely mediocre - good thing he stuck to films. Unless you're a Valentino fan, you can avoid this one.