Fool's Paradise

Conrad Nagel returns from the Great War hoping to make a lot of money in the oil patch just across the river from Mexico, and an ache in his heart for Parisian dancer Mildred Harris, who visited the invalids when he was wounded. He writes bad poetry about her. Meanwhile, across the river, cantina girl Dorothy Dalton has quarreled with her boyfriend, knife-throwing Theodore Kosloff. She heads to the good old U. S. A. And gets a job at the cigar stand in the hotel that looks to be the only permanent structure for miles around. She sets her cap at Nagel, but he only has thoughts for Mlle Harris. So when she shows up in town to perform, he buys a ticket. But Miss Dalton is so angry at him for not loving her back, she gives him an exploding cigar, which worsens his injuries from the war. He goes permanently blind while La Harris is dancing. Miss Dalton does an impromptu imitation of Harris, which fools Nagel, and they wed to live in his hardscrabble shack. But along comes miraculous eye surgeon Guy Oliver, who cures Nagel, and gets an annulment when he discovers whom he as married, just as the well next to his gushes, making him a millionaire.

Are you following this? Because the overwritten titles don't help much either. And it gets even worse, with sacred crocodiles almost devouring Mlle Harris' glove, and Nagel, too. Demille occasionally went over the top -- anyone who has seen MADAME SATAN will agree with that. However this cast can't handle that sort of ridiculousness, although Miss Dalton makes a try. If you're like me, you won't let that deter you from seeing this -- it is Demille. But be forewarned.