The Rage of Paris
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Henry Koster
Danielle Darrieux
Douglas Fairbanks
Mischa Auer
Louis Hayward
Helen Broderick
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
At the Tower Modeling Agency in New York City, unemployed Nicole de Cortillon, a former Parisian, lies her way into the office of the boss, Mr. Wright. She leaves angrily, however, when he offers her a job posing in the nude for an artist. Moments later, Nicole thinks better of the paying position and grabs what she believes is the job's address from Wright's desk. After arriving at the office of advertising executive Jim Trevor, she starts to undress. Jim suspects her of trying to set him up for a blackmail scheme and when Nicole realizes that he is not the photographer, she flees. Nicole then learns that her landlady has locked her out for being behind in the rent. Another lodger, Gloria, takes in Nicole and introduces her to Mike, a friend and waiter at the Savoy Grand Hotel. Mike has saved $3,000 to buy a restaurant of his own, but still needs another $2,000. Gloria believes that the only job for a woman is marriage and persuades Mike to invest his savings to establish the beautiful Nicole as a rich, eligible girl in the hope that she will capture and marry a wealthy man. With Gloria impersonating Nicole's aunt and chaperone, Mike arranges for her to take a room in the Savoy across from multi-millionaire William Jerome Duncan. Nicole pretends to mistake Bill for a childhood friend, kissing him, then withdraws in shame as the "error" is realized. Bill is enchanted by the beautiful woman and takes Nicole and Gloria to the opera. There, he encounters his old friend, Jim, who recognizes Nicole. At a celebration afterward, Jim threatens to tell Bill how he met her, but she lies to explain the situation and make Bill jealous. Jim, believing Nicole only wants to marry and divorce Bill to receive alimony, locks her in his apartment, but she outsmarts his butler, Rigley, and escapes. As Bill celebrates his engagement to Nicole by introducing her to his enormous family, Jim enters, and the two men quarrel. When Nicole follows Jim to his car, he abducts her and takes her to his cottage in the country, where the caretaker mistakes the couple for newlyweds. Finally, Nicole tells Jim the true scheme and says that she has fallen in love with him, but he still believes the worst of her. Nicole takes the milk truck back to the city. Bill, fearing a breach of promise suit, agrees with Mike's plan to send Nicole back to Paris, for which Mike receives $5,000. After Bill brags that he has escaped cheaply, Jim tells him he is going to marry Nicole. Jim meets Nicole on a ship and arranges for a wedding at sea.
Director
Henry Koster
Cast
Danielle Darrieux
Douglas Fairbanks
Mischa Auer
Louis Hayward
Helen Broderick
Charles Coleman
Samuel S. Hinds
Nella Walker
Harry Davenport
Lionel Pape
Frances Robinson
Mary Forbes
Howard Hickman
Leonard Mudie
Edwin Maxwell
Wade Boteler
Arthur Hoyt
Corbet Morris
Tempe Pigott
Edward Earle
Charles Sherlock
Sidney Bracy
Edwin August
William E. "babe" Lawrence
Alfred P. James
Jenifer Gray
Beryl Wallace
Hugh Huntley
David Oliver
Charles D. Lane
Phil Mackenzie
Matt Mchugh
Edward Gargan
Dewey Robinson
Crew
Bernard B. Brown
Bernard Burton
B. G. Desylva
R. A. Gausman
William Hedgcock
Felix Jackson
Henry Koster
Bruce Manning
Jack Otterson
Charles Previn
Richard H. Riedel
Charles R. Rogers
Frank Shaw
Joseph Valentine
Vera West
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The Call Bureau Cast Service lists the name of Danielle Darrieux's character as Michele although she is called Nicole in the film. This was Darrieux's first American film. After her highly touted performance in the 1936 French film Mayerling, critics predicted stardom for her. The Rage of Paris had a premiere-style preview at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood on June 9, 1938, according to Motion Picture Herald. Later, the film won an Acting Prize at the 1938 Venice Film Festival. According to modern sources Broadway musical comedy star Mary Martin made her motion picture debut in a "bit" in this film. Contemporary sources confirm that Martin worked as a singing double for Margaret Sullavan in the M-G-M film The Shopworn Angel, which was made at about the same time as The Rage of Paris, and that film May have marked her first work in motion pictures.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1938
Released in United States 1994
Released in United States 1938
Released in United States 1994 (Shown at AFI/ Los Angeles International Film Festival (All Night Movie Marathon: "Comedies of Elegance") June 23 - July 7, 1994.)
