So This Is Paris

"So This is Paris" is nothing short of perfection, an absolute joy from start to finish. I saw it for the first time very recently and I was overawed by it. Without a doubt, it ranks as one of the great Lubitsch's finest silent films, up there with "Die Puppe", "The Oyster Princess", "Rosita", "The Marriage Circle", "Lady Winderemere's Fan" "The Student Prince In Old Heidelberg" and "Eternal Love". All the familiar Lubitsch touches and themes are here: gaiety, enchantment, naughtiness, cynicism, extramarital affairs, manage a trois, etc. The standout moment is the Charleston sequence at a Parisian ball, where people are dancing and jumping. Lubitsch uses multiple camera angles and superimposition to create a feeling of joy and excitement.

A delightful jazz-age bon-bon.

Lots of fun and frollick, with some lovely "art titles" and simple but effective camera tricks, keep this from being a run of the mill romantic triangle comedy.

Keep your eyes peeled for a quick-as-a-wink appearance by Myrna Loy as the maid of the Lalle household.

... but other than the names of the characters, I see nothing about this film that would indicate anything particularly Parisian about it.

A doctor's wife, Suzanne Giraud (Patsy Ruth Miller) , laps up romance novels about sheiks. Across the way, the apartment of the Lalles, who are professional dancers who dress in Middle Eastern attire, is visible via the window. Through a misunderstanding, Suzanne thinks the man living there has exposed himself to her, and demands her husband (Monte Blue as Dr. Girard) go over there and "get satisfaction" by caning him. It turns out the man's wife is an old flame of Dr. Giraud, Georgette (Lilyan Tashman), and the two begin an emotional affair. Meanwhile, Mr. Lalle, who never even encounters Dr. Giraud, goes to the Giraud apartment to return the doctor's cane, and becomes enamored of Suzanne. She does not return the sentiment only because Mr. Lalle is not her idea of a romantic sheik.

Suzanne is the only one not cheating or attempting to cheat on anybody, but she does have the knowledge - eventually - of the behavior of everybody else. And if Mr. Lalle had been more Valentino and less librarian, she probably would have been having a rendezvous too.

This is just a very light enjoyable film that is a great showcase for the fashions and dance styles of the time. The best scene in the movie is the Artists' Ball with a rowdy band and a rowdier Charleston. It was highlighted in the documentary series "Silent Hollywood" as an example of silent film not having any problems with musical numbers. Warner Brothers recently restored it, and it looks terrific, but I think the music that was used, particularly at the Artists' Ball, was not nearly as good as what was used in Silent Hollywood.

I'd recommend it as a good example of that Lubitsch touch in the silent era. It also showcases Lilyan Tashman as being as good in silents as she was in sound films, her natural mischief coming through.

Seeing this film at my schools auditorium with a packed house of people who actually want to be seeing a 1920's silent film and with a live organ player was a delight. It made me wish I lived in Hollywood where old films are actually shown with a live orchestra and score pretty normally. If it weren't for the obnoxious lady next to me who would not stop laughing at every single thing, I probably would have liked the film even more. So This is Paris was very racy for its time, and I think that's part of the reason why it was so funny. It caught the audience of guard as to just how raunchy it was for its time. But make no mistake, the film is a good time at the theater.

It's about two couples who get caught up in a love quad with each other and attempt to keep it from their significant others. This makes for great comedy if handled correctly. Specifically when we know something that characters don't. The way the film is presented is controversial for its time. There just weren't films made at this time that displayed infidelity, at least not like this. The party scene alone made me think of how everyone may have perceived the film at the time. It was almost like a scene out of the most recent Great Gatsby, very trippy.

The film is definitely funny, but I just didn't get the laughs I do out of watching some of the other 20's classics. I'm much more a fan of the physical comedy. I guess I just don't find reading a joke as funny as seeing it, probably why I don't read books. I was also impressed by the camera movements and the subtle special effects this film had. Such as the drunk visions and even the shrinking scene. With all that said, I think So this is Paris can be a joy to watch even with some of it's faults.

6.8/10

It must feel nice to be wanted in a highly-competitive professional field. German director Ernst Lubitsch, after arriving in America to handle Mary Pickford's 1923 "Rosita," was immediately offered a lucrative three-year, six picture deal with Warner Brothers. He took the offer, nearly fulfilling his contract with the studio for four pictures before making the sophisticated comedy July 1826, "So This Is Paris."

Much to the chagrin of the director, studio co-owner Jack Warner was always butting in on the set where Lubitsch held command. The veteran director, used to having independence in his production and little to no supervision from corporate higher-ups, resented such intrusions. He had one more picture to make to complete the Warner contract, but he wanted out. Before "So This Is Paris," the director begged to buy out his contract, to no avail. Jack and Ernst decided to cut the cord and not to extend his contract, much to the delight with Paramount and MGM, who were drooling over getting the innovative director.

Too bad Jack didn't wait a few more weeks when the box office returns came out. "So This Is Paris" did well in the theaters. One sequence in the film especially had viewers and critics buzzing. The story, based on the 1872 play 'Le Reviellon,' by Henri Melhac and Ludovic Halevy, involves two couples who link up with each other spouses without the others knowing about the hanky panky. When the husband and the other wife go to the Artists' Ball (his excuse is he has to serve a three-day jail sentence for speeding), Lubitsch produces what some sources claim is the first choreographed dance scene in a silent movie. The dance number is The Charleston, one of the most popular songs in the Roaring 20s. The New York Times reviewer was astounded by the five-minute sequence, writing the director's "tour de force is an extraordinarily brilliant conception of an eye full of a Charleston contest, with vibrant kaleidoscopic changes from feet and figures to the omnipotent saxophones. The comedy in this film had, up to that time, kept the audience in constant explosions of laughter, but the startling dissolving scenic effects and varied "shots" elicited a hearty round of applause."

The role of one of the wives, Suzanne, who falls for the half-naked husband across the courtyard after reading the lustful novel 'The Sheik' is played by Patsy Ruth Miller. Viewers of 1923's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" will recognize her as Esmeralda. The other wife, Georgette, who was previously a long-time girlfriend of Suzanne's husband and is his dance partner of The Charleston number, was played by none other than Lilyan Tashman. In real life, the actress and her husband, Edmund Lowe, hosted lavish weekly parties at their Beverly Hills home. Their invites were one of the most sought after prizes for the many elite Hollywood-connected.

An observant eye will also spot one of movie's more popular future stars. Twenty-year old Myrna Loy, in her 10th film in bit parts, is in a brief scene as Georgette's maid.