Bluebeard's 8th Wife (alternately Bluebeard's Eighth Wife) is a 1923 American silent romantic comedy film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Sam Wood and stars Gloria Swanson. The film is based on the French play La huitième femme de Barbe-Bleue by Alfred Savoir which is based on the Bluebeard tales of the 15th century.[1] The play ran on Broadway in 1921 starring Ina Claire in the Swanson role.[2]

Bluebeard's 8th Wife
1923 theatrical poster
Directed bySam Wood
Written byCharlton Andrews (adaptation)
Screenplay bySada Cowan
Based onLa huitième femme de Barbe-Bleue
by Alfred Savoir
Produced byAdolph Zukor
Jesse Lasky
StarringGloria Swanson
CinematographyAlfred Gilks
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • August 23, 1923 (1923-08-23)
Running time
60 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

Paramount remade the story in 1938 directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Gary Cooper and Claudette Colbert.[3]

Plot edit

As described in Exhibitors Trade Review,[4] Mona marries John Brandon and immediately after discovers that she is his eighth wife. Determined that she will not be the eighth to be divorced from him, she sets out on a teaser campaign which proves very effective until Brandon tells her that she is bought and paid for. Furious, she determines to give him grounds for a divorce and is subsequently found in her room with another man. In the end, however, Brandon discovers that she really loves him and they leave for a happy honeymoon.

Cast edit

Preservation edit

As no prints of Bluebeard's 8th Wife have been located in any film archives,[5] it is a lost film.

Further reading edit

  • "Bluebeard's Eighth Wife". Motion picture copyright descriptions collection. Class L, 1912-1977. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. 1923.
  • https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.3856/default.html

References edit

  1. ^ White Munden, Kenneth, ed. (1997). The American Film Institute Catalog Of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1921–1930, Part 1. University of California Press. p. 72. ISBN 0-520-20969-9.
  2. ^ Parish, James Robert (1972). The Paramount Pretties. Arlington House. p. 25. ISBN 0-87000-180-9.
  3. ^ ATAS/UCLA Television Archives. Study Collection (1981). ATAS-UCLA Television Archives Catalog: Holdings in the Study Collection of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences University of California, Los Angeles, Television Archives. Taylor & Francis US. p. 9. ISBN 0-913178-69-1.
  4. ^ "Tried and Proven Pictures: Bluebeard's 8th Wife". Exhibitors Trade Review. New York: Exhibitors Review Publishing Corporation: 40. April 12, 1924. Retrieved November 7, 2022.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ Wood, Sam; Swanson, Gloria (1923). "Bluebeard's 8th Wife". Performing Arts Databases. Library of Congress. Retrieved February 13, 2023.

External images edit

External links edit