Foolish Wives (1922)

Director:

Erich von Stroheim

Writers:

Marian Ainslee (titles)
Walter Anthony (titles)
(more)

Release Date:

11 January 1922 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The first real MILLION DOLLAR PICTURE

Plot:

"Count" Karanzim, a Don Juan is with his cousins in Monte Carlo, living from faked money and the money he gets from rich ladies...

Plot Keywords:

Melodrama | Society | Partially Lost Film

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Rudolph Christians	...	Andrew J. Hughes (U.S. Special-Envoy to Monaco)
Miss DuPont	...	Helen Hughes, his wife
Maude George	...	Her Highness Olga Petchnikoff
Mae Busch	...	Princess Vera Petchnikoff
Erich von Stroheim	...	Their Cousin, Count Wladislaw Sergius Karamzin (Capt. 3rd Hussars Imper. Russian Army)
Dale Fuller	...	Maruschka, a Maid
Al Edmundsen	...	Pavel Pavlich, a Butler
Cesare Gravina	...	Cesare Ventucci, a Counterfeiter
Malvina Polo	...	Marietta, his half-witted daughter (as Malvine Polo)
C.J. Allen	...	Albert 1., Prince of Monaco
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nigel De Brulier	...	Monk (uncredited)
Robert Edeson	...	Andrew J. Hughes (uncredited)
Louise Emmons	...	Mother Garoupe (uncredited)
Harrison Ford	...	Rude Soldier / Armless Soldier (uncredited)
Valerie Germonprez	...	Extra (uncredited)
Patsy Hannen	...	(uncredited)
Mrs. Kent	...	Dr. Judd's wife (uncredited)
Mme. Kopetzky	...	Actress (uncredited)
Mary Philbin	...	Crippled Girl (uncredited)
Edward Reinach	...	Secretary of State of Monaco (uncredited)
Louis K. Webb	...	Dr. Judd (uncredited)

Directed by
Erich von Stroheim

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Marian Ainslee		titles
Walter Anthony		titles
Erich von Stroheim		screenplay
Erich von Stroheim		story
Erich von Stroheim		titles

Produced by
Irving Thalberg	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Sigmund Romberg

Cinematography by
William H. Daniels		(as William Daniels)
Ben F. Reynolds		(as Ben Reynolds)

Film Editing by
Arthur Lennig		(reconstruction)
Arthur Ripley

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack R. Proctor	....	assistant director
Edward Sowders	....	assistant director
Louis Germonprez	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Richard Day	....	architect (as Capt. Richard Day)
Elmer Sheeley	....	architect
Van Alstein	....	scenic artist (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Harry Joe Brown	....	illumination and lighting effects (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Daniel Mandell	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Bob Roberts	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Edward Sowders	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Julius Stern	....	supervising editor (uncredited)

Music Department
J. Frank Cork	....	conductor: premiere (uncredited)
J. Frank Cork	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Carl Laemmle	....	presenter
R.H. Cochrane	....	publicity chief (uncredited)
Robert Edeson	....	double: Rudolph Christians (uncredited)
J. Lambert	....	research assistant (uncredited)
Gustav Machatý	....	assistant: Mr. Stroheim (uncredited)
William Meyers	....	technical director (uncredited)
James R. Sullivan	....	technical director (uncredited)
George Williams	....	technical director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Film Manufacturing Company

Distributors

• Universal Film Manufacturing Company (1922) (USA) (theatrical)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Arccades Vidéo (2006) (France) (DVD)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Jokanan (????) (France) (DVD)
• Kino Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (video)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Western Costume Company  costumes

Also Known As:

Esposas Levianas (Portugal) [pt]
Esposas frívolas (Spain) [es]
Femmine folli (Italy) [it]
Folies de femmes (France) [fr]
Hupsut vaimot (Finland) (video title) [fi]
Järjettömiä naisia (Finland) [fi]
Närrische Frauen (Austria) [de]
Närrische Weiber (Germany) [de]
Oi anoites gynaikes (Greece) (reissue title) [el]
Rouletten (Denmark) [da]
Szalone zony (Poland) [pl]
Törichte Frauen (Germany) [de]
Tolle Weiber (Austria) [de]
Trelles gynaikon (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

117 min | Sweden:384 min | Canada:140 min (Ontario)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Canada:G (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal Film Manufacturing Company

Trivia:

A Super Jewel Production. Universal, not owning a proprietary theater chain, devised a 3-tiered branding system in order to market its feature product to independent theater owners: Red Feather (low budget programmers), Bluebird (mainstream releases) and Jewel (prestige pictures produced to draw higher roadshow ticket prices). At $1.104 million, this production was so costly that the studio wanted to differentiate it from even it's Jewel releases, branding this a "Super" Jewel, ensuring it special promotion and premium admission prices. Although the film made a nice profit, Erich von Stroheim (acting as producer as well as director) was rapidly becoming unemployable due to his flagrant excesses which enraged Carl Laemmle.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the original actor playing Mr. Hughes died in the middle of filming, he was replaced by a double, who completed his scenes with his back mostly to the camera. Apparently, however, nobody noticed that the original actor had significantly darker hair than his replacement. Therefore, Mr. Hughes's hair turns white in several scenes, including the sequence where his wife says goodbye to him in the casino, and his confrontation with the count at the villa.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

One of the first big budgets

I liked this movie for a reason: when I saw it I got a glimpse of some shots and found that Stroheim was really ahead of his time where it concerned his shots. There are some really amazing views in this movie, which almost scream "widescreen me!". I saw this one in my film school and I enjoyed, in spite of being a little laughable in some parts, much due to the fast movement of the actors caused by the camera, which reminds us some of the movies by Buster Keaton. But a really nice movie altogether.