Foolish Wives (Silent)

A corrupt aristocrat seduces unsuspecting women out of their fortunes.
5.1K ratings
Price: $6.90
List Price: $8.98
You Save: $2.08 (23% Off)
Available: Usually ships in 5-7 business days
Format:  DVD-R
item number:  FR57
Made-on-Demand
Also released as:

DVD-R Details

  • Silent With Musical Score
  • Rated: Not Rated
  • Run Time: 1 hours, 57 minutes
  • Video: Black & White
  • Encoding: Region 0 (Worldwide)
  • Released: January 27, 2004
  • Originally Released: 1921
  • Label: Alpha Video

Performers, Cast and Crew:

Starring , , &
Performer:
Directed by
Screenwriting by &
Written by
Cinematography by &
Director of Photography:

Entertainment Reviews:

Fresh92%

TOMATOMETER
Total Count: 13

Upright73%

AUDIENCE SCORE
User Ratings: 1,108
Rating: 4/5 -- The original 'Eyes Wide Shut,' confronting the erotic obsession with frankness and confrontational humor.
Fort Worth Business Press
Dec 8, 2004
A masterwork of counterfeit characters Full Review
CinePassion
Feb 20, 2015
Rating: 3.5/4 -- A towering example of Erich von Stroheim's intimidating genius and astonishing egocentrism. Full Review
Film Freak Central
Apr 19, 2005
Rating: B+ -- The film that made the monocle wearing von Stroheim famous as The Man You Love To Hate. Full Review
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Jul 3, 2006
All of this is carried out in the name of high "realism," yet Stroheim's compulsions far outstrip the merely naturalistic. Full Review
Chicago Reader
Jan 1, 2000
...This silent Erich Von Stroheim extravaganza is a treat...
USA Today
Jan 25, 1992
The sets, together with a thoroughly capable cast, are about all the picture has for all the heavy dough expended. Full Review
Variety
Oct 16, 2008

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.

Keywords:

This product is made-on-demand by the manufacturer using DVD-R recordable media. Almost all DVD players can play DVD-Rs (except for some older models made before 2000) - please consult your owner's manual for formats compatible with your player. These DVD-Rs may not play on all computers or DVD player/recorders. To address this, the manufacturer recommends viewing this product on a DVD player that does not have recording capability.

Movie Lovers' Ratings & Reviews:

Customer Rating:
Based on 5150 ratings.
Write an online review to share your thoughts with other customers.
The First "Million Dollar Picture" Movie Lover: from Walnut Creek, CA US -- January, 24, 2009

A masterpiece (of film and irony- a movie about a fake Count directed by a genius who was later discovered to himself be a fake Count). The image quality of this DVD is fine, of the AFI film restoration as the Kino version, but is somewhat spoiled because it is a silent run at sound speed (usually Alpha takes better care with silents, so this is a double shame; the notorious scene of the evil Count looking the counterfeiter's retarded daughter up and down and then creepily licking his lips just doesn't have the same impact in fast-motion) and accompanied by different, annoyingly irrelevant music. I would have preferred a different, even if damaged, print at silent speed. This movie was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 2008; a fictionalized "making of" was the subject of a Young Indiana Jones episode. The DVD picture quality is fine enough, though, and it's still a great movie.


Eric The Evil Movie Lover: from Brick, NJ -- May, 18, 2005

Eric Von Stroheim is the perfect villain in this movie. He is so despicable that you can hear the audiences of 1921 hiss when he comes on camera. There is no redeeming virtue in the character he plays.

He set the stage for all movie villains to come. Darth Vader looks tame by comparison.


Great Silent Film From Von Stroheim! Movie Lover: from Knoxville, TN US -- July, 5, 2004

Few Silent films hold up to the modern audience -- but this one does! Great film about a rich Grifter family that will do anything to roll in the bucks. Great gambling sequences and good direction by Actor/Director Von Stroheim. Film is very entertaining and has a twist ending.


Alpha Video DVDs
Studio Vaults

Similar Products

Genres:
Labels:

Product Info

  • Sales Rank: 16,136
  • UPC: 089218431691
  • Shipping Weight: 0.25/lbs (approx)
  • International Shipping: 1 item

To place an order or for customer service, call toll-free 1-800-336-4627 or outside the United States, call 1-610-649-7565
Open Monday-Friday: 9am-5pm, (Eastern Time)