It must feel nice to be wanted in a highly-competitive professional field. German director Ernst Lubitsch, after arriving in America to handle Mary Pickford's 1923 "Rosita," was immediately offered a lucrative three-year, six picture deal with Warner Brothers. He took the offer, nearly fulfilling his contract with the studio for four pictures before making the sophisticated comedy July 1826, "So This Is Paris."
Much to the chagrin of the director, studio co-owner Jack Warner was always butting in on the set where Lubitsch held command. The veteran director, used to having independence in his production and little to no supervision from corporate higher-ups, resented such intrusions. He had one more picture to make to complete the Warner contract, but he wanted out. Before "So This Is Paris," the director begged to buy out his contract, to no avail. Jack and Ernst decided to cut the cord and not to extend his contract, much to the delight with Paramount and MGM, who were drooling over getting the innovative director.
Too bad Jack didn't wait a few more weeks when the box office returns came out. "So This Is Paris" did well in the theaters. One sequence in the film especially had viewers and critics buzzing. The story, based on the 1872 play 'Le Reviellon,' by Henri Melhac and Ludovic Halevy, involves two couples who link up with each other spouses without the others knowing about the hanky panky. When the husband and the other wife go to the Artists' Ball (his excuse is he has to serve a three-day jail sentence for speeding), Lubitsch produces what some sources claim is the first choreographed dance scene in a silent movie. The dance number is The Charleston, one of the most popular songs in the Roaring 20s. The New York Times reviewer was astounded by the five-minute sequence, writing the director's "tour de force is an extraordinarily brilliant conception of an eye full of a Charleston contest, with vibrant kaleidoscopic changes from feet and figures to the omnipotent saxophones. The comedy in this film had, up to that time, kept the audience in constant explosions of laughter, but the startling dissolving scenic effects and varied "shots" elicited a hearty round of applause."
The role of one of the wives, Suzanne, who falls for the half-naked husband across the courtyard after reading the lustful novel 'The Sheik' is played by Patsy Ruth Miller. Viewers of 1923's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" will recognize her as Esmeralda. The other wife, Georgette, who was previously a long-time girlfriend of Suzanne's husband and is his dance partner of The Charleston number, was played by none other than Lilyan Tashman. In real life, the actress and her husband, Edmund Lowe, hosted lavish weekly parties at their Beverly Hills home. Their invites were one of the most sought after prizes for the many elite Hollywood-connected.
An observant eye will also spot one of movie's more popular future stars. Twenty-year old Myrna Loy, in her 10th film in bit parts, is in a brief scene as Georgette's maid.
