Michael_Elliott Parisian Love (1925)** (out of 4) A lot of times "B" movies are put down for not having enough plot and not running long enough to matter. That saying is really put to the test here as this film runs a mere 62-minutes but there are enough plots here for ten movies. The film starts out as Apache lovers Marie (Clara Bow) and Armand (Donald Keith) break into the house of the rich Pierre Marcel (Lou Tellegen). Marie takes off when the police arrive but Armand becomes "friends" with Pierre who eventually saves him from blood poisoning. Still awake? Pierre then hooks Armand up with another woman, which Marie finds out about as she's gone undercover in the house as a maid. This upsets Marie so she plans on marrying Pierre to get even with him while other goons try robbing him for more money. There are several other subplots going on in this thing, which happens to be just one of fifteen movies Bow would make in 1925. The amazing thing here is how much stuff they try throwing at the viewer and for the life of me I really can't figure out what it was for. There's really no romance here even though, I guess, in the end that's what the story is suppose to be about. None of the goons are ever threatening and there's no tension from anything that happens with them. There's very little comedy and there's really no strong character development. There's pretty much nothing going on here but the thing is just so weird, so over-the-top that you can't help but keep watching just to see what's going to happen next. I would call this a really bizarre film but it's worth noting that director Gasnier would later make REEFER MADNESS so I guess this film could have gone even further (although there is a cocaine snorting scene here). I think the main reason people will be drawn to this film is just to see Bow. This isn't the greatest performance out there but she does a fair job with the role. Some of her acting towards the end of the picture is too far out there but she's nice to look at. Keith is a tad bit too bland in his role and Tellegen is so far gone that you can't help think he'd perfectly fit into REEFER MADNESS.

JohnHowardReid It's hard to believe, but on the evidence of this delight of a movie, undoubtedly true, that Louis J. "Reefer Madness" Gasnier was once a highly competent director. Even in the condensed 62-minute version currently available (with at least two obvious cuts, one of them right before the fade-out), directorial ability shines through every scene, particularly those with the three principals. As usual, Clara Bow rivets attention right from her very first entrance to her final clinch, skilfully managing the remarkable transition from energetic hoyden to graceful débutante with charisma, style and panache; while Lou Tellegen (whom I have been waiting to see for 52 years and have finally caught up with) subtly conveys the charm, presence and instant audience identification that illuminated his stage roles opposite the great Sarah Bernhardt; and, as expected, Lillian Leighton is a comic riot when her awesomely pugnacious La Frouchard transforms herself into a pillar of Parisian society.The other players, including personable hero, Donald Keith (who disappears for a long stretch), have little to do, although "Monsieur Frouchard" provides some splendid bits of comedy inaction in the domestic fight scene when La Leighton lets loose.Of course, you can't really take the convoluted plot (or even the characters) too seriously, but who cares? It's all great entertainment.Beautifully photographed and most attractively costumed and set, this big-budget movie is presented on an excellent (10 out of ten) Kino DVD with "Down to the Sea in Ships".

FerdinandVonGalitzien In spite that Dame Clara Bow has "It", she haven't an astounding career with a lot of masterpieces or even remarkable films ( for this German Count only two or three films of her deserves such Teutonic silent glory ). Her film career consisted of, on the contrary, a lot of inoffensive, trifle and insignificant films starring the Amerikan actress…until fame knocked at her silent and Paramount door."Parisian Love" it is a perfect example of what this German aristocrat is talking about, that is to say, an unimportant film directed by Herr Louis J. Gasnier ( an anodyne film director who goes well with the spirit of those Dame Bow films ). It seems that nobody pays attention to our star in spite of the fact that she does exert herself with excessive intention, overacting many times. She suffers many vexations such as dancing the Apache gang dance at night in Paris (a hybrid between tango, flamenco and personal attack ), changing her criminal life for an honest one as a servant or a convent bred fraulein, being ignored by her former fiancée, Armand ( Herr Donald Keith ) and his mentor Marcel ( Herr Lou Tellegen ) in which there's a kind of subtle and silent homosexual relationship. It's probably due to the fact that the chemistry between Dame Bow und Herr Keith it is defunct. The only standout in this simplistic Dame Bow film is the Paris underground art designer.And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must to bow and scrape his fat German heiresses.Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/

tedg Spoilers herein.Usually when I comment on a film, it is in the context of ideas. I root myself in the notion that ideas can have power, including emotional effect. Further, I suppose that many of these ideas come from thinking filmmakers.That sets me apart from others that look for dramatic engagement and credit actors with great influence.But my reaction to this film is different than both. In this case, I am reminded that some things in life take on their own identity and do what is necessary to promulgate. Things like musical tunes can be thought of as living, selfish entities that adapt so that they stick in your mind and induce you to hum or play them so that they can similarly stick in someone else's mind.Ideas like equality and justice and god are in this class which is generally called `memes.'Powerful films are full of memes, many of which aren't known at the time. Some of these we notice after the fact. Here, we have a few phases in the language of eyes. This was a new language in 1920, just when movies were inheriting the soul of our culture, that place where we collectively develop our imaginations. And Clara Bow was the first great artist of sculpting emotions with her eyes.And once those eye-phrases are captured, they do what they need to to survive and promulgate. Their expression in this film is secure, as it is now on DVD and thoroughly distributed throughout the planet. Not even a dinosaur-sized asteroid could kill that now. But the more effective promulgation is that now some of Clara's phrases have entered the music of everyday sexual dialog.See this as one of the better vehicles for various opportunities she has to play her eyes, probably better than most of the others easily available. Otherwise the film is a waste, except for recalling a time when it made movie sense to portray a man of culture as a French scientist. That's a meme that is dead.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.