KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Jackson Booth-Millard I found this silent film in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, back in its day it was the most expensive film made, billed as the "first million-dollar movie" to come out of Hollywood, originally it was meant to be over 6 hours long, I watched the 2-and-a-half-hour version, directed by Erich von Stroheim (Greed). Basically set after the First World War, in Monte Carlo, a man is posing as Count Wladislaw Sergius Karamzin - Captain 3rd Hussars Imperial Russian Army (Erich von Stroheim) in order to take advantage of unsuspecting women and citizens. With the help of his partners in crime, his two mistresses "Princess" Vera Petchnikoff (Mae Busch) and "Her Highness" Olga Petchnikoff (Maude George), he attempts to seduce rich women to extort money from them. Count Karamzin begins scamming the unworldly wife of an American envoy, Helen Hughes (Miss DuPont), he starts to charm her, despite her husband being close by. Helen is easily impressed by his faux-aristocratic glamor, to the humiliation of her dull but sincere husband, the new U.S. ambassador. Karamzin also has his eye on two other women, hotel maid Maruschka (Dale Fuller), and mentally disabled Marietta (Malvina Polo), daughter of one of his criminal associates (Cesare Gravina), seeing them both as easy sexual prey. Maruschka is seduced and abandoned, in jealousy she goes mad and sets fire to a building in which Karamzin and Mrs Hughes are trapped, Karamzin jumps and saves himself, leaving Helen behind, her husband saves and looks after her. Karamzin's public display of cowardice means his reputation is damaged, he is shunned from high society, he is humiliated, so attempts to restore his pride by seducing Marietta. In the end, Karamzin gets his just desserts, the disabled girl's angered father kills him, dumping his body in the sewer, while the "cousins" are arrested for being imposters and con-artists. Also starring Rudolph Christians as Andrew J. Hughes and Al Edmundsen as Pavel Pavlich the butler. It is a simple enough story about corruption and sexual obsession, a fake "count" swindling rich women, the pace may be uneven by today's standards, and the plot and acting styles are not perfect, but it still has interesting moments, and the casino, hotel, café and boudoir locations look good, overall it is a reasonable silent drama. Worth watching!

JohnHowardReid Copyright 11 February 1922 by Universal. New York opening at the Central: 11 January 1922. 10 reels. (A 10/10 Kino DV).COMMENT: Kino's superb restoration of this million dollar drama of a trio of Russian con artists who fasten on the newly appointed U.S. ambassador and his wife in a most extravagant and elaborate studio-reconstructed Monte Carlo, is must viewing even for non-Stroheim fans. Complete with Sig Romberg's original score and gorgeously tinted photography, the movie holds viewers spellbound from first to last, partly due to the unusual story and its twisted characters and partly due to the drive, yet fastidious attention to detail, of von Stroheim's direction. Needless to say, the von, meticulously attired from polished boots to rakish cap, has seen to it that he is nearly always the center of interest; but Miss DuPont has some great moments as the wife of the title, and Rudolph Christians (in his last film - he died of pneumonia on 7 February 1921) impresses as the naïve but finally open-eyed spouse.

mrdonleone In 1999, I watched a documentary about movies that changed my life. In 2001, my late grandfather gave me a book that changed my life. There were many titles the two both matched, but three of them I'll never forget. The first is 'Dog Star Man' from Brakhage, but that one didn't made up its promise. The two other ones, however, 'Scorpio Rising' from Anger and 'Foolish Wives' from Von Stroheim, truly did. They both tell the story about a guy with a hat made from leather. I was amazed by that leather hat, and 'Scorpio Rising' has become my favorite movie ever. 'Foolish Wives' is not as good as I thought it would be, but still, it's Von Stroheim's best picture (even though I saw 'Greed' too). In fact, you must see 'Foolish Wives' for two things that occur in the picture: Von Stroheim who looks in a mirror, and Von Stroheim who smokes heavily. That's all.

gftbiloxi Today Erich Von Stroheim is best recalled by the general public for his appearances in such films as the 1950 SUNSET BLVD--but fans of silent film know him as one of early cinema's great directors, creator of such films as BLIND HUSBANDS, FOOLISH WIVES, and the legendary masterwork GREED. The film is available in several VHS and DVD releases; perhaps the best, however, is offered by Kino Video, which also includes a profile of Von Stroheim as well.FOOLISH WIVES is generally believed to be the first film made that cost one million dollars. In the modern era, when film budgets often run into many millions of dollars, this may seem slight--but in 1922 Universal Studios was staggered not only by the costs, but by Von Stroheim's seemingly endless shooting schedule; at a time when most movies were made in six weeks or less, FOOLISH WIVES took a year or more to complete and threatened to bankrupt the studio.The circumstances brought Von Stroheim into direct conflict with production manager Irving Thalberg, who threatened to replace him with another director. By most accounts, Von Stroheim laughed in Thalberg's face: not only was he director, he was the star as well, and if he were fired the film would never be completed. Thalberg and Universal had little choice but grin and bear it... but it was something Thalberg would recall several years later, much to Von Stroheim's chagrin.Set in post-World War I Monaco, FOOLISH WIVES presents the story of the ultra-amoral Count Wladislaw Sergius (Von Stroheim) and his two supposed cousins Olga (Maude George) and Vera (Mae Busch) who present themselves as wealthy Russian nobility--but who are in fact a trio of vicious con-artists who generate cash flow by passing counterfeit bills through Monaco's legendary casinos. Eager to deflect suspicion, they scrape acquaintance with an American diplomat and his wife (Rudolph Christians and Helen Hughes)--and in time at all the naive wife is so much putty in the Count's diabolical hands.Von Stroheim recreated a fairly large chunk of Monaco on the Universal back lot, and the sets, costumes, and crowds of extras still put most modern productions to shame. But the film's real fascination are the deadly trio of Maude George, Mae Busch, and most particularly Von Stroheim himself. Within the first few minutes of the film he contemplates advances upon an attractive but mentally deficient young woman--and as the plot unfolds we discover that he has seduced the maid with a promise of marriage he does not intend to keep. This, of course, does not prevent him from taking her life savings for a little gambling money when the need arises! The overall cast is quite good, with Miss DuPont a stand out as the diplomat's wife, and the cast plays without recourse to the broad mannerisms often seen in many silent films. But what drives the film is our curiosity at how far Von Stroheim will take both the film and his own performance. The answer? Plenty far indeed. It's all fascinating stuff, and truly this is the film that gave Von Stroheim the title of "The Man You Love To Hate." FOOLISH WIVES was soundly condemned by the moral authorities of the day, and Universal lost a bundle on the project. In an effort to recoup some of the loss, the studio cut and then recut the film to a more reasonable length for distribution; as a result, great chunks of the film were lost. While a "complete" version is an impossibility, the Kino version seems to restore the film as completely as possible.FOOLISH WIVES inevitably pales in comparison to Stroheim's later GREED, but it is a remarkably fine, remarkably watchable silent--and the two films would have a circular effect. For when Von Stroheim went to Metro to film GREED, he eventually found himself face to face once more with Irving Thalberg... and this time Thalberg, who well recalled the financial disaster of FOOLISH WIVES, would have the upper hand. Strongly recommended, not only for the film itself, but for the backstory involved.GFT, Reviewer