Paris Model

The wonderful actor, George Sanders, was married four times....twice to Gabor sisters, Zha Zha and Magda. Imagine my surprise, then, when I saw the third Gabor sister, Eva, starred in this film opposite Tom Conway....George Sanders' brother! It's one of the more fascinating casting decisions of the 1950s, that's for sure.

"Paris Model" is a style of film that you don't see much any more. It's an anthology type story where several different plots all come together with a common thread....a sexy Parisian designer dress. And, for the movie, they have assembled some very beautiful actresses.

Overall, this is an enjoyable film that COULD have been much better. That's because in each story, the twist is okay....just okay. Had there been more irony or a greater sense of humor, the picture would have been more enjoyable. Still, it is worth seeing...a good time-passer.

By the way, during the first story, Eva Gabor's character mentions that she wants to look like Marilyn Maxwell. Well, Maxwell was in one of the later stories in the film!

childish. bizarre.uninspired. awful. nothing surprising for a film who has as the lead actor a...dress. but silly. because it is not the best option to search artistic virtues, Paris model has the virtue to be a kind of museum. maybe, a large museum hall. the presence of Paulette Goddard,Florence Bates, Marilyn Maxwell, Eva Gabor , Tom Conway or the eccentric Michael Romanoff is the only virtue of this film without any purpose, almost without plot, collection of scenes around a provocative dress from Paris and its copies.seduction stories, it is only occasion to remember names of few actors in front with the hard mission to save a film about nothing. and each of theme has the merit to do a decent job in not the most easy conditions. so, a kind of childish joke. or a museum hall.

This movie is a series of four short vignettes primarily tied together by a single Paris fashion dress. The dress starts out costing $890, but keeps getting more and more discounted in each story. In all four stories, a woman is using the dress to try and bend a man to her will. The name of the low cut dress is "Nude at Moonlight."

There are some small links in the stories besides the dress. For example, Tom Conway appears as the turban wearing Maharajah of Kim-Kepore in the first episode and reappears briefly in the fourth episode. Eva Gabor and Conway are delightful in this first story of two people conning each other. Paulette Godard, looking like a tall Bettie Page, shines in the dress in the second wife vs. secretary tale. In the funniest line in the movie, she asks a salesgirl for a Marilyn Maxwell type dress, "clingy and swinging." Marilyn Maxwell then dons the dress in the third episode. She uses it to tease and get a promotion for her husband from her boss, played by the always delightful Cecil Kellaway. Only the fourth episode with Barbara Lawrence doesn't really sparkle. It involves a girl trying to get her long time boyfriend to finally propose.

Some reviewers seem to be disappointed with the limited nature of the production. It is intended to be a "B" film with a few "B" list stars. Three hits out of four is fine. There are plenty of giggles for the hour and twenty minutes. The film looks forward to the more sophisticated and daring sex comedies with Doris Day and Marilyn Monroe that would be coming in the later 1950s.

This movie looks so amateurish it's hard to believe it was released by a major studio, Columbia.

The script might have seemed funny to 9th graders at one time, but anyone older than that would see only a series of lame and very flat jokes.

Eva Gabor's bits with her seductive eyes are done in such an unfunny way you have to wonder if the director, Alfred E. Green, was even on the set when her segment was filmed. (In fact, Green had directed over 100 movies by then, including a few minor hits like The Jolson Story.) The same is true of Paulette Goddard's attempts to seduce her boss. The script and pacing are so poor you can't believe a professional, seasoned director could have been overseeing them. (Goddard, a very talented actress, did what she could with the material, but it still comes off as embarrassing.) And so on for most of the rest of it. Some talented actors, such as Cecil Kellaway and Florence Bates, trapped in a very unfunny script, doing their best not to embarrass themselves.

There is no reason to watch this movie. Even if you're interested in depictions of women's fashions in the 1950s, this has nothing to offer. Try Gentlemen Prefer Blondes or something like that instead.

Yuck.

In Paris, glamorous Eva Gabor (as Gogo Montaine) buys a low-cut dress called "Nude at Midnight" for $890 to attract tired-looking Tom Conway (as Maharajah of Kim-Kepore). At the time, Mr. Conway was Ms. Gabor's brother-in-law (her sister Zsa Zsa Gabor was married to his brother George Sanders). As it turns out, the dress is the "star" of the film, and we move to the second of four tedious stories...

New York secretary Paulette Goddard (as Betty Barnes) tries to seduce her married boss Leif Erickson (as Edgar Blevins) by showing her legs, wearing the low-cut dress, and getting him drunk. They should have cast someone closer to Ms. Goddard's age to play Mr. Erikson's wife. Third story finds bosomy blonde Marilyn Maxwell (as Marion Parmalee) filling the dress to entice old Cecil Kellaway (as Patrick "PJ" Sullivan) into promoting her husband. Finally, in California, curvy Barbara Lawrence (as Marta Jensen) wears the dress to pop a marriage proposal from Robert Hutton (as Charlie Johnson).

*** Paris Model (11/10/53) Alfred E. Green ~ Marilyn Maxwell, Paulette Goddard, Eva Gabor, Barbara Lawrence