Das Spielzeug von Paris (1925) - film review

Célimène, a beautiful young music hall dancer, rapidly becomes the main attraction in Paris.  One of her most fervent admirers is Miles Seward, an English diplomat.  Although he is engaged to another woman, Miles is consumed by his love for Célimène and cannot prevent himself from making known his feelings for her.  Célimène is not immune to Miles’s entreaties, nor his charms, but she owes a debt of gratitude to another man, the Viscount de Maudry.  It was Maudry who made Célimène a star, and, although he is much older than she is, the dancer has a great affection for him.  But can affection and gratitude out-weigh true love?  Realising that it is Miles who has won her heart, Célimène agrees to give up her career and live a modest life with him on the coast of Brittany.  Célimène finds it hard to adapt to her new life and boredom soon sets in.  Then, one day, she receives a letter from the Viscount, inviting her to a party held in her honour...

Das Spielzeug von Paris was the film that catapulted one-time Parisian music hall dancer Lili Damita to stardom, and was also an important milestone in the career of its director, Michael Curtiz.  This is one of around 20 films that the Hungarian-born Curtiz made for Sascha-Film during his productive yet often overlooked period in Austria.  He and Damita were married for a short time and worked together on two further films, Fiaker Nr 13 (1926) and Der Goldene Schmetterling (1926).   Towards the end of the decade, they would both end up in Hollywood, to embark on successful separate careers.  Damita would marry Errol Flynn, in 1935, the same year that Flynn went from bit-player obscurity to international stardom, through his appearance in one of Curtiz’s films, Captain Blood.

Curtiz’s early films are generally less interesting than those of other European-born directors who made it big in Hollywood in the 1930s and ’40s (Fritz Lang, Ernst Lubitsch, Alfred Hitchcock, etc.), and it is fair to say that the director did not get into his stride until the late 1930s.  Das Spielzeug von Paris may have been a popular film in its time but today it is little more than a tepid melodrama, albeit one that is crafted with skill and confidence by a talented young filmmaker.    The plodding story is made bearable by Damita’s star presence, which enlivens the production, particularly in the expertly staged dance routines.  Whilst hardly a classic, the film will certainly be of interest to anyone curious to know how one of Hollywood’s most successful filmmakers cut his teeth.

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