''Das Spielzeug von Paris'' (English title ''Red Heels'') is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

released in 1925 and directed by

Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz ( ; born Manó Kaminer; since 1905 Mihály Kertész; hu, Kertész Mihály; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed cla ...

. It was the first film to feature French actress

Lili Damita Lili Damita (born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré; 10 July 1904 – 21 March 1994) was a French-American actress and singer who appeared in 33 films between 1922 and 1937. Early life and education Lili Damita was born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Car ...

in the leading role.

Plot

A young British

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

( Eric Barclay), who lives in Paris, marries a stage dancer (

). He persuades her to give up her stage career, and they take a cottage in the country. She accepts an invitation from her former manager ( Georges Treville) to attend a party. She performs a dance at the party. She quarrels with her husband, but starts searching for him in the countryside on a stormy night. As a result, she catches pneumonia and nearly dies. After being nursed back to health by her husband, she decides to give up the stage for good.

Cast

Hugo Thimig Hugo August Thimig (16 June 1854 – 24 September 1944), although born in Germany, spent his working life in Austria as an actor, director, and director of the ''Burgtheater'' in Vienna. Biography Thimig was the founding father of one of Au ...

* Eric Barclay *

Georges Tréville Georges Tréville (28 July 1875 – 30 May 1944) was a French actor and film director. Born as Georges Troly, during the silent era, he played the gentlemen thief Arsène Lupin in several short films. He also went to Britain to direct and star ...

* Theo Shall * Hans Moser * Marietta Millner *

Maria Fein Maria Arloisia Fein (7 April 1892 – 5 September 1965) was an Austrian actress who became a star of German theatre and film before the rise of the Nazis forced her departure. During her time in Germany she was largely associated with the theatr ...

as Fürstin Katharina

Production

Based on the novel ''Red Heels'' by

Margery Lawrence Margery Lawrence (8 August 1889 – 13 November 1969) (pseudonym of Mrs. Arthur E. Towle) was an English romantic fiction, fantasy fiction, horror fiction and detective fiction author who specialized in ghost stories.Stefan Dziemianowicz, "Lawre ...

, ''Das Spielzeug von Paris'' was filmed largely in Paris by the Austrian company

Sascha-Film Sascha-Film, in full Sascha-Filmindustrie AG and from 1933 Tobis-Sascha-Filmindustrie AG, was the largest Austrian film production company of the silent film and early sound film period. History The business was established in 1910 by Alexande ...

with the help of finance from the German FPS and the British Stoll film companies.

Reception

Critical response

The film was well received by the film magazines of the time, although sometimes the storyline was criticised for being kitsch.

Artur Berger Artur Semyonovich Berger (german: Arthur Berger, russian: Артур Семёнович Бергер; 27 May 1892 – 11 January 1981) was an Austrian-Soviet film architect and set designer. He was active in Austria between 1920 and 1936, durin ...

's sets in particular were highly praised by film reviewers. The film was universally regarded as a success. Sascha-Film made two more films with the same team.

Samuel Goldwyn Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor an ...

invited

to Hollywood after watching this film.

Other information

Availability

Some copies of the film still exist, the most complete having Spanish intertitles. An advertising trailer also exists.

Pop culture

The film inspired the song ''Tired of Dancing'' by William Helmore.

Soundtrack

The original score of the film is considered lost. In 2009, Austrian musician Florian C. Reithner composed and recorded a new score in which he plays the original "Welte - Kinoorgel" (a cinema organ by German organ manufacturer "Welte") at "Filmmuseum Potsdam", Germany. The new music was first brought to audience in a broadcast by French television channel "France 3" in Winter 2009.

References

*''Poupée de Paris'' 1925 French booklet by Union Artistic Films

External links

*
''Das Spielzeug von Paris''
at Filmarchiv Austria 1925 films Austrian silent feature films Films directed by Michael Curtiz Austrian black-and-white films {{Austria-film-stub