Shadows of Paris (1924 film)

1924 film by Herbert Brenon

February 17, 1924 (1924-02-17)

Running time

70 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageSilent (English intertitles)

Shadows of Paris is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Herbert Brenon and starring Pola Negri, Charles de Rochefort, and Huntley Gordon. The screenplay involves a young woman who rises from an apache dancer to become a wealthy woman in post-World War I Paris.^[1] It was based on the play Mon Homme by Francis Carco and André Picard.

Plot

As described in a film magazine review,^[2] Paris in 1918 knows Claire only as "The Blackbird," the Queen of the Apaches. Her lover Fernand is reported killed at the front during the War. She then masquerades as a society woman and becomes the wife of Raoul Grammont, the Minister of the Interior, but occasionally visits her old haunts in disguise. Fernand reappears as an Apache leader and they meet again. After several adventures, Claire comes to see that Fernand is only a monster of greed, and that her affections belong only to the man who made her an honorable wife. Fernand is shot and killed by her husband's secretary, Georges de Croy. Although he knows the truth about Claire and Fernand, he tells Raoul only that he shot a burglar. Claire then confesses all to her husband and is forgiven.

Cast

Pola Negri as Claire, Queen of the Apaches / The Blackbird
Charles de Rochefort as Fernand, an Apache
Huntley Gordon as Raoul Grammont, Minister of the Interior
Adolphe Menjou as Georges de Croy, His Secretary
Gareth Hughes as Emile Boule
Vera Reynolds as Liane
Rose Dione as Madame Boule, Café Owner
Rosita Marstini as Madame Vali, A Poetess
Edward Kipling as Pierre, a Roué
Maurice de Canonge as Robert, A Taxi Driver
Frank Nelson as Le Bossu, the Hunchback
George O'Brien as Louis
Sam Appel as Monsieur Boule

Preservation

With no prints of Shadows of Paris located in any film archives,^[3] it is a lost film. Only a minute of footage survives in the Paramount compilation short Fashions in Love (1936).^[4]

References

^ Basinger p. 246.
^ Pardy, George T. (March 1, 1924). "Box Office Reviews: Shadows of Paris". Exhibitors Trade Review. 15 (15). New York: Exhibitors Review Publishing Corporation: 27. Retrieved September 19, 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: Shadows of Paris
^ Internet Movie Database; trivia Retrieved December 19, 2014