Her Night of Romance (1924)

[randy_byers]

Starring: Constance Talmadge & Ronald Colman

Director: Sidney Franklin

Art Direction: William Cameron Menzies & Park French

Wardrobe: Clare West

This romantic comedy is somewhat similar to Ernst Lubitsch's German film, The Oyster Princess (Die Austernprinzessin, 1919), in its story of an American heiress and her rich daddy pursued by a bankrupt European aristocrat. Of course Lubitsch is much more wicked and satirical, but the ludicrous plot-turns in this one are still pretty damned funny.

As for Menzies' contribution in the art direction, it's not as noticeable as it is in the next Talmadge/Colman movie, Her Sister from Paris (1925), which has a greater variety of settings and more elaborate sets. Although neither holds a candle to his other 1924 design job, for Douglas Fairbanks' The Thief of Bagdad, where the sets are truly epic and extraordinarily beautiful.