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!

WWL in New Orleans used to run the sprockets off this thing when I was a kid, and I always made sure to tune in. It seemed, to my naive and untrained eyes, clever and witty and glamorous--Lubitsch, even, for the Eisenhower Age. What can I say--I grew up in the swamps.

So cut to more than 30 years later and I finally see "Paris Model" once again. The shock starts with the credits: Marilyn Maxwell, at best a "B"-level actress, is billed over Paulette Goddard, who'd headlined some very big movies not that many years earlier. Poor Paulette even is called upon to refer to Maxwell in one scene--and, really, who'd go to a store looking for a "Marilyn Maxwell-type dress"? (I'm guessing that Maxwell, or perhaps a wealthy associate of hers, had some money in the production.) The shock continues as the credits continue, superimposed as they are over a somewhat seedy-looking blonde model. Clearly, this is going to be a really cheap film, and the name of Albert Zugsmith as producer verifies that quite explicitly. So does the screen credit that informs us that the apparently haute-couture gown of the title was the creation of "Junior Sophisticates, New York." (A couple of the other fashions in the show look Simplicity tacky.)

As another reviewer has noted, it's a "Tales of Manhattan"-type yarn showing the progress of an evening gown called Nude at Midnight from Paris original to thrift-store knockoff. From Paris to New York to the Midwest to L.A. it goes, but clearly we've never left the sound stage. The sets are small and rather cramped, and scenes supposedly set in large spaces, like Romanoff's restaurant, take place only in small corners that can only hold a few people. While the pace is adequate (director Green had been responsible for some big films, back in the day), the dialog tries for wit without getting very far, and some good actors are seen at, let's be kind here, less than optimal advantage. Eva Gabor, in the first segment, comes off best--she can do "coquettish" in her sleep and seems to be enjoying herself. The once-mighty Goddard tries to sparkle, but the photography does her no favors at all. Maxwell is generic, as she usually was, and Barbara Lawrence is adequate. The supporting actors are a surprisingly sturdy lot: Tom Conway (looking disinterested), Leif Ericson, Cecil Kellaway, a frail-looking Florence Bates in her final role, perennial male ingénue Robert Hutton, and even El Brendel as Lawrence's yumpin-yiminy dad. None of them get opportunities anywhere near their best roles, but at least they're there. So "Paris Model" can't be recommended to a casual viewer looking for wit and sparkle, but for movie buffs it offers a good deal of interest--even when much of that interest involves tut-tutting over how far into B-movie land the once-mighty have fallen.

This is a series of stories of four women who own, in succession, a Parisian evening gown. As such, it might be considered a female version of Duvivier's TALES OF MANHATTAN. The difference seems to be that in the other movie, the clothes in question -- a set of men's evening clothes -- is largely a linking device; and to a man, one set of evening clothes is pretty much like another: if they fit and they're not disreputable-looking (as they gradually become in the course of the movie), they are, basically, interchangeable. Not so for a woman's evening gown!

Because of that structural issue and because this is a woman's picture it is somewhat less interesting to me. Nonetheless, the talent here is always competent, the lines are frequently interesting -- Tom Conway, as a Maharajah, is offered a succession of haute cuisine dishes but prefers simple fare -- and the result is highly watchable.

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