Fool's Paradise (1921 film)
- December 9, 1921 (1921-12-09)
Fool's Paradise is a 1921 American silent romance film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film stars Dorothy Dalton and Conrad Nagel. The film was based on the short story "Laurels and the Lady" by Leonard Merrick published in his 1908 collection The Man Who Understood Women. It was adapted for the screen by Sada Cowan and Beulah Marie Dix.[1][2]
Plot
As described in a film magazine,[3] Arthur Phelps (Nagel) has been injured during World War I and while in a French had become dazzled by the beauty of French dancer Rosa Duchene (Harris). Back in the United States in an oil town along the Mexican border, Arthur meets American dancer Poll Patchouli (Dalton) in a Mexican cantina, and she falls in love with him. Rosa and her troupe are billed for a show in the local theater and while Arthur is waiting at the stage door to see his charmer, he lights a cigar that had been given to him by Poll. The cigar is of the trick kind, and the explosion that follows so injures Arthur's eyes that later while sitting in the theater watching the young French woman dance he becomes blind. Later Arthur wanders into the cantina while Poll is doing an impression of the French woman. Realizing that she has caused the blindness of the man she loves, Poll passes herself off as the French woman, imitating her voice and accent so perfectly that Arthur is deceived, and they are later married. They both live happily until Poll learns of the coming of a great eye specialist who could restore Arthur's sight. She takes him to the physician who restores his sight, and then Arthur leaves Poll and starts a search for Rosa. He finally tracks her down in Siam. After an incident there, Arthur realizes that it is Poll that he loves, and he returns to the Mexican border town in time to rescue Poll from the proprietor of the cantina, John Roderiguez (Kosloff). Arthur and Poll are remarried for the resulting happy ending.
Cast
- Dorothy Dalton as Poll Patchouli
- Conrad Nagel as Arthur Phelps
- Mildred Harris as Rosa Duchene
- Theodore Kosloff as John Roderiguez
- John Davidson as Prince Talaat-Ni
- Julia Faye as Samaran, His Chief Wife
- Clarence Burton as Manuel
- Guy Oliver as Briggs
- Jacqueline Logan as Girda
- Kamuela C. Searle as Kay
- Baby Peggy as Child (uncredited)
- William Boyd (uncredited)
- Gertrude Short as Child (uncredited)
Production notes
Production on the film began on April 4, 1921, and concluded on June 2, 1921. The film's budget was $291,367.56 and it went on to gross $901,937.79 at the box office.[4]
Release
Fool's Paradise premiered (in an extended 11,000-foot version) at the Criterion Theatre in New York City on December 19, 1921.[2]
Preservation
Fool's Paradise is fully extant. Prints of the film are held by:
- George Eastman Museum (on 35 mm)
- Library of Congress (on 35 mm)
- UCLA Film and Television Archive (on 35 mm and 16 mm)[5][6]
References
- ^ "Progressive Silent Film List: Fool's Paradise". Silent Era. Retrieved June 21, 2008.
- ^ a b "Fool's Paradise". afi.com. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
- ^ "Reviews: Fool's Paradise". Exhibitors Herald. 13 (26). New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company: 141–142. December 24, 1921.
- ^ Birchard, Robert (2004). Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood. University Press of Kentucky. p. 165. ISBN 0-813-12636-3.
- ^ "American Silent Feature Film Database: Fool's Paradise". Library of Congress. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
- ^ Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress p. 61 , c. 1978 by The American Film Institute
External links
- Fool's Paradise at IMDb
- Fool's Paradise at AllMovie
- v
- t
- e
- The Squaw Man (1914)
- Brewster's Millions (1914)
- The Master Mind (1914)
- The Only Son (1914)
- The Man on the Box (1914)
- The Call of the North (1914)
- The Virginian (1914)
- What's His Name (1914)
- The Man from Home (1914)
- Rose of the Rancho (1914)
- The Ghost Breaker (1914)
- The Girl of the Golden West (1915)
- After Five (1915)
- The Warrens of Virginia (1915)
- The Unafraid (1915)
- The Captive (1915)
- The Wild Goose Chase (1915)
- The Arab (1915)
- Chimmie Fadden (1915)
- Kindling (1915)
- Carmen (1915)
- Chimmie Fadden Out West (1915)
- The Cheat (1915)
- Temptation (1915)
- The Golden Chance (1915)
- The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1916)
- The Heart of Nora Flynn (1916)
- Maria Rosa (1916)
- The Dream Girl (1916)
- Joan the Woman (1916)
- A Romance of the Redwoods (1917)
- The Little American (1917)
- The Woman God Forgot (1917)
- Nan of Music Mountain (1917)
- The Devil-Stone (1917)
- The Whispering Chorus (1918)
- Old Wives for New (1918)
- We Can't Have Everything (1918)
- Till I Come Back to You (1918)
- The Squaw Man (1918)
- Don't Change Your Husband (1919)
- For Better, for Worse (1919)
- Male and Female (1919)
- Why Change Your Wife? (1920)
- Something to Think About (1920)
- Forbidden Fruit (1921)
- The Affairs of Anatol (1921)
- Fool's Paradise (1921)
- Saturday Night (1922)
- Manslaughter (1922)
- Adam's Rib (1923)
- The Ten Commandments (1923)
- Triumph (1924)
- Feet of Clay (1924)
- The Golden Bed (1925)
- The Road to Yesterday (1925)
- The Volga Boatman (1926)
- The King of Kings (1927)
- Walking Back (1928)
- The Godless Girl (1928)
- Dynamite (1929)
- Madam Satan (1930)
- The Squaw Man (1931)
- The Sign of the Cross (1932)
- This Day and Age (1933)
- Four Frightened People (1934)
- Cleopatra (1934)
- The Crusades (1935)
- The Plainsman (1936)
- The Buccaneer (1938)
- Union Pacific (1939)
- North West Mounted Police (1940)
- Reap the Wild Wind (1942)
- The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
- Unconquered (1947)
- Samson and Delilah (1949)
- The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
- The Ten Commandments (1956)