Foolish Wives (Silent)

DVD Features:

• Keep Case
• Full Frame - 1.33
• Interactive Features:

Description by OLDIES.com:

Notorious womanizer Count Wladyslaw Sergius Karamzin (Erich Von Stroheim) rents a magnificent villa in Monte Carlo with his two female "cousins." The decadent trio share the lavish lifestyle available only to fabulously wealthy aristocrats. Beneath the veneer of respectability lurks an ugly secret - the trio are flat broke and finance their sumptuous existence through counterfeiting and the funds the Count is able to glean from the upperclass wives he coldly and very successfully seduces. Learning that the American ambassador is arriving for a visit, Karamzin schemes to make the politician's beautiful wife his next victim. Bored and gullible, Mrs. Hughes is the perfect "subject" for the Count's attentions, but winds up with much more than the adventure she seeks - unleashing disasterous consequences.

Exuding immorality, the monocled Erich Von Stroheim gives a stellar performance in Foolish Wives, which he also directed and wrote. Von Stroheim's pointed critique skewers both American dull-wittedness and European Old World decadence. Billed as the "First Million Dollar Movie," this powerful silent classic still shocks today.

Product Description:

Erich von Stroheim's psychologically penetrating and visually gorgeous study of "innocent Americans" abroad, and their inability to understand the longstanding rules of behavior followed by their sophisticated European counterparts. An American diplomat and his wife journey to Monte Carlo, where he proceeds to bury himself in work. His wife, bored and upset with her husband's inattentiveness, and longing to experience the Continental nightlife, gradually succumbs to the flirtations of an elegant and charming "Count" -- who, in actuality, is merely a Russian military officer out to seduce her. As events come tumbling to a disastrous conclusion, the woman learns a valuable lesson about the meaning of true nobility, and the difference between appearance and reality.

Plot Keywords:

Classic | Recommended | Scams And Cons | Silent | Vintage

Production Notes:

• "Foolish Wives" furthered Erich von Stroheim's reputation as a profligate director, who squandered the studio's money; the film cost $1,103,736.38, making it the most expensive movie ever made at the time. Von Stroheim insisted on literally recreating the Monte Carlo atmosphere, with lavish and faithful sets, and 1500 extras -- an insistence that made for a truly breathtaking visual experience. Its American release, according to Variety, ran for 180 minutes, but a print distributed in Latin America had a running time of 6 hours, 48 minutes.
  In addition, von Stroheim's sophistication about sexual matters came across as sordid to Americans, who were less open about the subject that their European counterparts.
• Kino Video's print was remastered from a 35mm archive print that was restored in 1972 by Professor Arthur Lennig of State University of New York at Albany and the American Film Institute. It features an original piano score by Steve Sterner.

Cast and Crew:

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DVD Details:

• Silent With Musical Score
  
• Format: DVD
  
• Genre: Silent Films
  
• Label: Alpha Video
  
• Originally Released in: 1921
  
• Rated: Not Rated
  
• Run Time: 1 hours, 48 minutes
  
• Video: Black & White
  
• Region: Region 0 encoding; Can be played worldwide, NTSC-format.
  
• Release Date: January 27, 2004
  
• OLDIES.com Sales Rank: 1,711
  
• Item Number: ALP 4316D
  
• UPC: 089218431691
  
• Shipping Weight: 0.25/lbs (approx); Counts as 1 item for International Shipping.