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

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 Geldart, Carl Miller

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

Marie St. Clair believes she has been jilted by her artist fiance Jean when he fails to meet her at the railway station. She goes off to Paris alone. A year later, mistress of wealthy Pierre Revel, she meets Jean again. Misinterpreting events she bounces back and forth between apparent security and true love.

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Plot Keywords:

female protagonist | apartment | telephone | suicide | railroad station | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 November 1923 (USA)

Also Known As:

Una mujer de París

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$351,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$387,391, 31 December 1924

Company Credits

Production Co:

Charles Chaplin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min 78 min (1976 release)

Sound Mix:

Mono (1978 re-release) Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Quotes

Revel's Valet: By the way, whatever became of Marie St. Clair?

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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.

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Connections

Referenced in The Cat's Meow (2001)

User Reviews

Parisian Melodrama

I was looking in Charlie Chaplin's memoirs and I found that his original idea for the plot of A Woman Of Paris came from pillow talk with Peggy Hopkins Joyce involving one of her former boyfriends, a French publisher. From this came Charlie's idea to direct, but not appear in a film and hopefully make his long time leading lady from slapstick comedy, Edna Purviance a major dramatic star.

The reason given for the non-success of A Woman of Paris is usually given as the fact that people bought tickets and were disappointed that they did not see a Charlie Chaplin comedy. Probably on the silent screen, star images were even more fixed in people's minds than they were when sound came in.

But seeing it today it really does go overboard into melodrama. Edna's a simple country girl who loves Carl Miller, a struggling artist. Some blind mischances of fate and she winds up the paid woman of Parisian rake Adolphe Menjou. It's the tragedy of one romantic and the salvation of sorts for the other that are the basis of the story.

You couldn't make a film like it today, audiences would just laugh at it. In 1923 audiences were looking for laughs attached to the Chaplin name and found none. Edna does a fine job, but the public would not accept her in a drama. Adolphe Menjou as the rake comes off best in the cast.

The film ironically enough was Chaplin's first for the newly formed United Artists of which he was a quarter interest partner. After this one failed at the box office, he went back to cranking out the comedies we expected from him.

Back when I was working person at New York State Crime Victims Board, I had a claimant named Wayne Purviance who was the victim of an anti-gay bias attack in 1982. It was a crime that galvanized the GLBT people of New York City, this person in particular. Wayne was the grand nephew of Edna Purviance.

He's no longer among the living, but to you Wayne Purviance who took some real blows for millions of people, this review is lovingly dedicated to you and your wonderful aunt.