Foolish Wives

Foolish Wives, 1922 [Kino edition, Sigmund Romberg score]. A womanizer tries to seduce an ambassador's wife to get her money.

Directed by Erich von Stroheim. Written by Stroheim, with Marian Ainslee, & Walter Anthony. Starring Rudolph Christians, Miss DuPont, & Stroheim, with Maude George, Mae Busch, & Dale Fuller.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: C
Pacing: D
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: It's 2½ hours, cut down from the original 8-ish (now lost). There's no reason for it to be longer than 90 minutes. And in all that time, they never bother to explore the title character, or make her anything more than a plot device (in a very weak plot). I guess that would take away too much of Stroheim's own screen time. Still, for a drama of the era, it's not bad. It has some excitement, high production values (notoriously so), and even a sense of humor sometimes. C

GPA: 2.0/4