The Dancer of Paris

The Dancer of Paris
The Dancer of Paris
	Still with Mackaill
Directed by	Alfred Santell
Written by	Michael Arlen(story)
Produced by	Robert Kane
Starring	Dorothy Mackaill
Cinematography	Ernest Haller
Production; company	First National Pictures
Distributed by	First National Pictures
Release date	February 28, 1926;
Running time	70 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

The Dancer of Paris is a lost 1926 American silent drama film produced and distributed by First National Pictures. It was directed by Alfred Santell and starred Dorothy Mackaill.^[1]^[2] A vintage movie trailer displaying short clips of the film still exists.

Plot edit

As described in a film magazine review,^[3] Florida flapper Consuelo Cox accepts Sir Roy Martel's proposal, but then overhears him say that he does not really intend to marry her and discovers that his love for her is of the basest sort. She breaks her engagement and swears revenge, vowing to ruin him. Consuelo goes to Paris, becomes a professional dancer at the Boule Rouge, and obtains the apartment across from Sir Roy. At a bachelor party she performs at, the nude female statutes suddenly come to life and join in the festivities. Consuelo falls in love with Noel Anson, a friend of her uncles. Sir Roy, dying in his apartment, calls for her. She dances for him in a decidedly abbreviated costume until he passes, and then falls into the arms of Noel.

Cast edit

Conway Tearle as Noel Anson
Dorothy Mackaill as Consuelo Cox
Robert Cain as Sir Roy Martel
Henry Vibart as Doctor Frank
Paul Ellis as Cortez
Frances Miller as Mammy (credited as Frances Miller Grant)

Reception edit

Film reviews noted that Mackaill's dancer character was barely dressed at times,^[3]^[4] in one scene wearing just stones and beadwork and in the finale wearing only a loincloth, breastplate, and cloke, and then starting to remove this clothing.^[5]^[6] Because of this, like many American films of the time, The Dancer of Paris was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. While the National Board of Review did not require any cuts, the film censor boards of Virginia required 6 cuts, Pennsylvania required 16 cuts, New York 5 cuts, Ohio 10 cuts, and Chicago 4 cuts. The reasons for the cuts varied, while Virginia cut scenes with nudity, Pennsylvania cut nude scenes, suggested drug use, cut or flashed suggestive scenes, and cut or reworded some intertitles.^[7] One intertitle changed by this state was from, "You are obsessed by an insane desire to intrigue women—to make love to them—to hurt them," to the very different statement, "You are obsessed by an insane desire to marry—when the state of your health positively forbids it."^[7]^[8]

References edit

^ The American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films: 1921-30, The American Film Institute, c.1971
^ Progressive Silent Film List: The Dancer of Paris at silentera.com
^ ^a ^b Elliott, Frank (March 13, 1926), "Pre-Release Review of Features: The Dancer of Paris", Motion Picture News, 33 (11), New York City, New York: Motion Picture News, Inc.: 1211, retrieved April 5, 2023, Some Parisian parties and dances that go Avery Hopwood and Earl Carroll several better and costumes that startle in their brevity. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ Orndorff, Marguerite (June 1926). "Theatrical Film Reviews for June". The Educational Screen. 5 (6). Chicago, Illinois: The Educational Screen, Inc.: 360. Retrieved April 5, 2023. An apparently important part of her revenge is to wear as few clothes as possible.
^ Anderson, Patricia (2001). Passion Lost: Public Sex, Private Desire in the Twentieth Century. Canada: Thomas Allen Publishers. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-9190-2841-8.
^ Leff, Leonard J.; Simmons, Jerold L. (2013). The Dame in the Kimono: Hollywood, Censorship, and the Production Code. University Press of Kentucky. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-8131-4345-3.
^ ^a ^b McCabe, George P. (1926). Forces Molding and Muddling the Movies. Washington, D.C. pp. 25–26, 30.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Johnson, William Bruce (2008). Miracles & Sacrilege: Roberto Rossellini, the Church and Film Censorship in Hollywood. University of Toronto Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-8020-9493-3.