''Fool's Paradise'' is a 1921 American silent

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

directed by

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

. The film stars

Dorothy Dalton Dorothy Dalton (September 22, 1893 – April 13, 1972) was an American silent film actress and stage personality who worked her way from a stock company to a movie career. Beginning in 1910, Dalton was a player in stock companies in Chicago; Te ...

and

Conrad Nagel John Conrad Nagel (March 16, 1897 – February 24, 1970) was an American film, stage, television and radio actor. He was considered a famous matinée idol and leading man of the 1920s and 1930s. He was given an Academy Honorary Award in 1940 and ...

and was based on the short story "Laurels and the Lady" by Leonard Merrick. Prints of ''Fool's Paradise'' are preserved at the

George Eastman House The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as ''George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film'', the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in ...

, the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

, and the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the archiv ...

Plot

As described in a

film magazine Film periodicals combine discussion of individual films, genres and directors with in-depth considerations of the medium and the conditions of its production and reception. Their articles contrast with film reviewing in newspapers and magazines whi ...

, Arthur Phelps (Nagel) has been injured during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and while in a French had become dazzled by the beauty of French dancer Rosa Duchene (Harris). Back in the United States in an oil town along the Mexican boarder, Arthur meets American dancer Poll Patchouli (Dalton) in a Mexican

cantina A cantina is a type of bar common in Latin America and Spain. The word is similar in etymology to "canteen", and is derived from the Italian word for a cellar, winery, or vault. In Italy, the word ''cantina'' refers to a room below the ground ...

, and she falls in love with him. Rosa and her troupe are billed for a show in the local theater and while Arthur is waiting at the stage door to see his charmer, he lights a cigar that had been given to him by Poll. The cigar is of the trick kind, and the explosion that follows so injures Arthur's eyes that later while sitting in the theater watching the young French woman dance he becomes blind. Later Arthur wanders into the cantina while Poll is doing an impression of the French woman. Realizing that she has caused the blindness of the man she loves, Poll passes herself off as the French woman, imitating her voice and accent so perfectly that Arthur is deceived, and they are later married. They both live happily until Poll learns of the coming of a great eye specialist who could restore Arthur's sight. She takes him to the physician who restores his sight, and then Arthur leaves Poll and starts a search for Rosa. He finally tracks her down in

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...

. After an incident there, Arthur realizes that it is Poll that he loves, and he returns to the Mexican boarder town in time to rescue Poll from the proprietor of the cantina, John Roderiguez (Kosloff). Arthur and Poll are remarried for the resulting happy ending.

Cast

as Poll Patchouli *

as Arthur Phelps *

Mildred Harris Mildred Harris (April 18, 1901 – July 20, 1944) was an American stage, film, and vaudeville actress during the early part of the 20th century. Harris began her career in the film industry as a child actress when she was 10 years old. She was a ...

as Rosa Duchene *

Theodore Kosloff Theodore Kosloff (born Fyodor Mikhailovich Kozlov, russian: Фёдор Михайлович Козлов; January 22, 1882 – November 22, 1956) was a Russian-born ballet dancer, choreographer, and film and stage actor. He was occasionally cr ...

as John Roderiguez * John Davidson as Prince Talaat-Ni *

Julia Faye Julia Faye Maloney (September 24, 1892 – April 6, 1966), known professionally as Julia Faye, was an American actress of silent and sound films. She was known for her appearances in more than 30 Cecil B. DeMille productions. Her various roles ...

as Samaran, His Chief Wife *

Clarence Burton Clarence Forrest Burton (May 10, 1882 – December 2, 1933) was an American silent film actor. Biography Burton was born in Fort Lyon, in Benton County, Missouri and started in show business at the age of 5, playing stock and musical comedy ...

as Manuel *

Guy Oliver George Guy Oliver (September 25, 1878 – September 1, 1932) was an American actor. He appeared in at least 189 silent film era motion pictures and 32 talkies in character roles between 1911 and 1931. His obituary gives him credit for at l ...

as Briggs *

Jacqueline Logan Jacqueline Medura Logan (November 30, 1902 – April 4, 1983) was an American actress and silent film star. Logan was a WAMPAS Baby Star of 1922. Early life Logan was born in Corsicana, Texas, on November 30, 1902, the only child to Charles A. ...

as Girda * Kamuela C. Searle as Kay *

Baby Peggy Diana Serra Cary (born Peggy-Jean Montgomery; October 29, 1918 – February 24, 2020), known as Baby Peggy, was an American child film actress, vaudevillian, author and silent film historian. She was the last living person with a substantial car ...

as Child (uncredited) * William Boyd (uncredited) *

Gertrude Short Carmen Gertrude Short (April 6, 1902 – July 31, 1968) was an American film actress of the silent and early sound era. She appeared in more than 130 films between 1912 and 1945. Biography Carmen Gertrude Short was born in Cincinnati, ...

as Child (uncredited)

Production notes

Production on the film began on April 4, 1921 and concluded on June 2, 1921. The film's budget was $291,367.56 and it went on to gross $901,937.79 at the box office.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fools Paradise 1921 films 1920s romance films American romance films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Famous Players-Lasky films Films based on short fiction Films directed by Cecil B. DeMille Paramount Pictures films 1920s American films

Plot

Cast

Production notes

See also

References

External links