The Rage of Paris

Danielle Darrieux and friend Helen Broderick are jobless and have plans on marrying men with money. At least Danielle does. Helen tells her "that ship has sailed for me, dearie." But in trying to get a job as a model, Danielle discovers she has to wear nothing but drapes. No, she says. But when someone else has no qualms about it, she reconsiders and snatches the company card off the executive's desk. The only trouble is she picked up the wrong card in her haste. She goes to Douglas Fairbanks' work and thinks she's in the right place and starts to undress! When Douglas sees this, we find that his character has none and that's he's no gentleman. He's only loving this and gazes on and on… She eventually leaves and she and Helen find a name in the news who's scandalously rich. They set their sights on him with some financial assistance from waiter and friend Mischa Auer. Posing as a rich socialite from Paris, she innocently meets Louis Hayward, who just so happens to know Doug. The rest of the film is about Doug warning Louis about the kind of woman Danielle is, because he knows better. Or, does he? Right from the very beginning, this film is flamboyantly funny and tres, tres chic. I found this off Amazon and am so glad I did. How could I not know about such a fun and entertaining film as this, which is worthy of being compared to "The Awful Truth"! It was sweet and romantic one moment and then uproariously funny the next. I don't have to tell you what happens. Can't you guess? Can't you? With zippy one-liners and a great cast, including Charles Coleman, who made a career of being a man's man in films and Harry Davenport, this is one screwball comedy to discover today.

After becoming an international sensation in "Mayerling" (1936), pretty French Danielle Darrieux (as Nicole de Cortillion) arrives in America. Mistaken for a nude model, Ms. Darrieux gets caught in the middle of undress by debonair Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (as Jim Trevor), who gets to utter the amusing line "I'm all ears" (while looking his Gable best). How director Henry Koster gets Mr. Fairbanks to keep his eyes glued upon Darrieux' face after she takes her shirt off is good acting.

When Darrieux is about to be evicted from her room, she "adopted" as a "niece" by matronly Helen Broderick (as Gloria Patterson). "The only job for a woman is marriage," Ms. Broderick tells Darrieux, "There's nothing wrong with you that a nice rich husband couldn't cure." Broderick conspires to marry Darrieux and millionaire Louis Hayward (as Bill Duncan), with the help of busboy turned head waiter Mischa Auger (as Mike). But, Fairbanks has other plans for the French beauty.

****** The Rage of Paris (6/9/38) Henry Koster ~ Danielle Darrieux, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Helen Broderick, Louis Hayward

This is basically a formulaic romcom with predictable beats, but sparkles from the start with Darrieux's unforced sexy comic energy. Her accidental strip-tease is both credible and hilarious; her slight embarrassment at the hustle she finds herself promoting makes her subsequent attempts to pull it off all the more endearing. She shares the screen here with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. but it's pretty much her film. Sweet and fun.

Although it is rarely cited by critics, The Rage of Paris is one of the breeziest and most charming of all of Hollywood's screwball comedies. It stars the lovely French superstar Danielle Darrieux in her greatest American role and second-generation Hollywood legend Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Screwball films are famous for their attempts to push the censors to the limit. And The Rage of Paris does this amazingly. This type of comedy came about as a result of the Production Code, and the screenwriters and directors tried to go as far towards risqué as possible in them.

This picture begins with a young wanna-be model, Nicole (Darrieux). She is given an assignment to pose for a photographer, but she objects to the clothing (actually the lack of clothing) she is being asked to pose with. So the boss asks another model to come into his office to offer her the job. Nicole overhears the salary the model is going to get, and she changes her mind. While the boss and the new model discuss the job, Nicole sneaks over to the boss' desk and grabs what she thinks is the address of the photographer. But, she grabs the wrong address. Instead, she winds up at the office of Mr. Trevor (Fairbanks). Told by his secretary to "make herself comfortable" until Mr. Trevor arrives, she misconstrues and is in the process of undressing when he enters. It is perhaps the finest "meet-cute" in film history. When she finally realizes she got the wrong address, she leaves the office and returns to her dump-of-a boarding house, where her best friend Gloria lives.

Both desperate for money, Gloria and Nicole enlist the help of a head-waiter, Mike, to help them out. He has been saving some money to open his own restaurant, and he has $3,000 in the bank. Gloria proposes a scheme: use that money to buy Nicole some nice clothes, put her up in the hotel, and try to set her up with a rich husband; then, if they succeed, they will return his $3,000 and throw in the extra $2,000 he needs to open his restaurant. Reluctantly, Mike goes along with it.

The man they decide to "catch" with their beautiful bait is Bill Duncan, who "has ten million dollars and owns half of Canada." In a hilarious meeting, Nicole "accidentally" mistakes Bill for her old next-door neighbor. She runs up to him, kisses him, and talks excitedly in French. He tells her she is mistaken, and, embarrassed, she drops a glove and runs back to her room. Bill picks up the glove and begins to follow Nicole...the scheme has worked, and the next thing they know, Bill takes Nicole to the opera. It looks as though everything is going according to plan.

At the opera, Bill sees his best friend whom he hasn't met in a long time. He brings him back to his box, anxious to introduce him to his French aristocratic girlfriend. But it just so happens that his best friend is James Trevor, the same man Nicole was accidentally stripping for three weeks earlier. Instead of revealing her secret to his friend, James decides to see how the situation plays out.

Eventually, he tries to tell Bill about Nicole, but Bill believes James is lying and only wants the beauty for himself. In haste, Bill agrees to marry the girl. At their engagement-announcement dinner, however, James 'kidnaps' her. He takes her to his secluded country home, and the two fall in love.

She hitch-hikes back to the city, where Bill has found out the truth about her. And since he will no longer marry her, the door is open for James!

The story is typical of the times. Once Nicole is disrobed in front of Mr. Trevor, the audience knows they will fall in love. It's inevitable. But it is also so much fun watching it happen!

Furthermore, the entire cast is sensational. In fact, it is one of the most perfectly cast films of all time. Towering above all is the delectable Danielle Darrieux! She is absolutely ideal, using her continental French personality to drive men mad. The way she dictates to Gloria what she wants to eat for breakfast is lovely. It is such a simple moment, yet the actress manages to turn it into one of the most memorable parts of the film. Still, the highlight is her pouty foibles at the home of James Trevor. Her facial expressions when she sees the two-sided photograph and her experience with the troublesome window are totally captivating.

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. is the quintessential debonair leading man. His performance here is one of his finest. His concern for his friend, as well as his slow albeit sure fall into Nicole's charms, make the character quite memorable. As Gloria, Helen Broderick is the cynical sidekick par excellence. And Mischa Auer suits the role of the headwaiter, Mike, so well, that it's hard to imagine another actor doing the part. Louis Hayward, playing Bill Trevor, gives one of the film's finest performances. And Harry Davenport has a part in the funniest portion of the movie, as the eccentric caretaker of James' country house.

The sets are art deco dreams, particularly the hotel rooms and the hotel room doors. Darrieux's magnificent wardrobe accents the star's unbelievable figure, too. Quite honestly, Danielle Darrieux might be the most beautiful woman who has ever lived, and this film, made when she was a young and glorious twenty years old, captures her joie de vivre for all time. The direction is swift and deft, but it's the script that really provides the basis for the film's charm. The writing and scenario are both perfect, and at about 78 minutes, the film is fast and fun.

Go to the ends of the earth to find this film. Buy it, watch it over and over again, and pass it on to everyone you know. It is the one film that will turn just about anybody on to classic films, and it ranks up top with Bringing Up Baby, The Awful Truth, It Happened One Night, and The Lady Eve as one of the five greatest screwball comedies of all time.

An enticing French girl (Danielle Darrieux) named Nicole has no employ and without rent . Then , she's helped by an ex-actress (Broderick) and a maitre of New York City Hotel (Mischa Auer). They are planning a plot for snare a rich hubby and catch the eyes on Bill (Louis Hayward ). The scheme works and the engagement is quickly publicized in the newspapers . But a Bill's friend (Douglas Fairbanks J.R) knows the true intentions and the plans may be thwarted .

The movie is a well acted and fast-paced screwball comedy with several giggles , joyful , tongue-in-cheek and very entertaining . Besides , the sympathetic relationship between lovely Darrieux and gallant Fairbanks into the countryside house is similar to developed between Claudette Colbert and Clark Cable in ¨It happened one night¨ (Frank Capra) . Danielle Darrieux as the French young girl is top-notch , she's a fascinating comedian . Her playing as an attractive and enjoyable French young girl demonstrates experience as future first star , as happened in her unforgettable role as countess in ¨ Five fingers¨(Joseph L. Mankiewicz) . She nowadays follows acting even at ninety years old . The two partners -Douglas Fairbanks and Louis Hayward- are ordinary heroes of adventure cinema, here turned into a sympathetic comedian actors and both are awesome . The veteran Mischa Auer , as always , plays the relief comic role as a likable head-waiter. Furthermore , Mary Martin's film debut . The picture was well directed by Henry Koster . The movie will appeal to classic comedy moviegoers. Rating : Better than average and amusing .