Rage of Paris, The (1938)

The Rage of Paris (1938), directed by Henry Koster.

A neglected screwball comedy. With a little tweaking it could have been one of the best. Plenty of snappy patter, but also some dead lines. Funny bits, but also clumsy timing. Despite its faults, it's a keeper.

Waifish and funny Danielle Darrieux, looking for modeling work, has an embarrassing close encounter with Douglas Fairbanks Jr when she undresses in his office by mistake. Later she and a gal pal borrow from the always frantic and funny Mischa Auer to fund a gold-digging assault on a millionaire. As she begins to have ethical qualms Fairbanks arrives to save his friend from her clutches. They spar for a while and he finally kidnaps her and takes her to one of those great, lavish country cabins that exist only on movie sets. How do you suppose it ends?

Actor Charles Coleman, Fairbanks' valet, has 231 titles in the IMDB, almost all of them valets, butlers, doormen, etc.

Available for free download. My Alpha Video DVD is pretty sad and I would really like a nice restoration. The IMDB's only disc entry is for a French version: "La coqueluche de paris", but the Alpha is in stock at Amazon.

Later: This is also available on the AMC "Romance Tough Love Classics" DVD with The Eagle (1925). I wouldn't call the image "good", but it is an upgrade from the Alpha Video. "Digitally Remastered, Sound Enhanced".

Still later: the Film Detective DVD is still better. Not a proper restoration but you can see it was made from a film source rather than an old video tape.