"The Edyth Totten Theatre, in West Forty-eighth Street, has joined the ranks of the little cinemas and the first film offering there is a French piece of work called 'The Lady From Paris.' Although this is a relatively old picture with poor photography and lighting, cheap settings and haphazard make-up, it succeeds in being rather intriguing, which is chiefly due to the adventures of a resourceful international diamond thief and the presence of a beautiful girl. It was probably one of Vilma Banky's first pictures, and while she is far prettier than most of the foreign actresses she really looks older in this subject than she does in 'The Magic Flame, which came out of Hollywood quite recently. The story has a bright basic idea, and there's no telling how good it might have been if it had been made with the present improvements in Hollywood. It is the sort of thing that makes you say that the scenes are preposterous, but you are tempted to stay and learn how the story comes out; so, after all, the tale is better told than most of the film features, for it is so often quite obvious that a woman will be acquitted of murder or that the hero will never be shot by the firing squad.Here, there is a shrewd crook, a man who enjoys his nefarious activities, one who appears as a crafty impersonator on the stage, but whose main idea is to get his fingers on the brilliant gems that lie on velvet shelves in a cabinet."
"This Valescu baffles the police, for he may appear before them as a waiter or a statesman and even give them a clue. He can look twenty-five or seventy-five as the mood takes him. Miss Banky plays the part of Yvonne Baron, who strikes one as the personification of fair innocence, until she slowly signals with her long-lashed eyes. In one sequence she engages a room above Prince Rudolph's, and, as in the picturization of 'Seventh Heaven,' you see the unsuspecting Prince looking over hundreds of diamonds and then you are taken up to the room above and Yvonne is perceived talking to Valescu over the telephone. Valescu is in his den, which is ingeniously guarded from the police. Not long after Miss Banky is introduced she is seen in a bathtub, and the caption writer explains that she has just returned from a tedious journey. Yvonne relishes a life of luxury and she takes her duties as assistant to Valescu very easily, never permitting anything to perturb her and frequently making unfortunate persons very uncomfortable. Ernest Reicher figures as Valescu. He is energetic and obedient, but there are times when his disguises might possibly arouse the suspicion of the most myopic policeman. This production was directed by Manfred Noa. The titles are very amateurish and the words are not always spelled correctly."
-- From New York Times, September 28, 1927. |
