"A Woman of Paris was a courageous step in the career of Charles Chaplin. After seventy films in which he himself had appeared in every scene, he now directed a picture in which he merely walked on for a few seconds as an unbilled and unrecognisable extra – a porter at a railroad station. Until this time, every film had been a comedy. A Woman of Paris was a romantic drama." --David Robinson.By 1923 Chaplin felt that his leading lady, Edna Purviance, was growing too mature for comedy. A Woman Of Paris, was his attempt to launch her on a new career as a dramatic actress. Although the film received positive critical reviews, it failed at the box office. Chaplin was so disappointed by the public's rejection of his film that he removed it from circulation at the end of the 1920s--not to be seen again for nearly 50 years.
Edna attended the Los Angeles premiere and was given a "loud burst of appreciation" when she appeared on stage after the film. She did not attend the New York premiere on Oct. 1st.
Edna. |
During a party in the Latin Quarter, the sheet around a "mannequin" is slowly unraveled. I read somewhere that Bess Flowers, who played the mannequin, was really naked underneath the cloth. |
Charlie directs Malvina Polo, who plays Paulette. I think it's interesting that Chaplin had a character in one of his films named Paulette, nearly ten years before he met Paulette Goddard. |
it's such a shame that this film didn't do well when it was released originally because it stopped chaplin from repeating the experiment of staying behind the camera.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Perhaps he should have released it under a pseudonym. Although with Edna as the star, it wouldn't have been hard to guess who was behind it.
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