Lewis Milestone's nearly-forgotten 'The Garden of Eden (1928)' is an endlessly-pleasant romantic comedy, featuring Corinne Griffith, a major actress of the silent era who has since fallen largely into obscurity. By 1928, Milestone was already an established director, having won his first Oscar for 'Two Arabian Knights (1927),' a war-time comedy; his second award would come for the classic WWI drama 'All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).' Even just from the latter film, one can deduce that Milestone had an incredible flair for visual storytelling, and few will ever forget that poignant image of a soldier's hand reaching out for the quivering wings of a butterfly. 'The Garden of Eden,' despite a considerably less epic storyline, nonetheless boasts equally impressive photography, courtesy of cinematographer John Arnold. Furthermore, a completely unpretentious, if occasionally incredible, screenplay from Hanns Kräly, based on a play by Rudolph Bernauer and Rudolf Österreicher, ensures likable characters and amusing comedic situations. This isn't a forgotten masterpiece, but it is nonetheless a delightful little find.
Toni LeBrun (Corinne Griffith) is an aspiring opera singer who, having tired of making pretzels for her aunt and uncle, strikes out for Budapest for a new life. However, the Palais de Paris nightclub isn't quite as prestigious as she had expected, and the vampiric owner (Maude George) exploits Toni's naiveté to spice up her seedy burlesque house. It is through this job that she meets Rosa (Louise Dresser), an old baroness who improbably works fifty miserable weeks a year to enable an extravagant two-week splurge of her yearly pension. The usual romantic hijinks follow as Toni falls for the dashing Richard Dupont (Charles Ray), despite the competing interests of his aged uncle, and that tiny complication whereby she neglected to mention that she wasn't really the baroness' daughter. There's plenty of hiding-behind-doors gags, the sort that you'd probably find in a Marx Brothers comedy. My favourite scene involves a playful game of "flick your light switch" between the two flirting would-be lovers that turns the entire building into a Christmas tree of flashing lights.
Griffith is gorgeous in the main role, and her character sympathetic, despite being, at times, somewhat befuddling. Just when you think she's been totally charmed by her male suitor, Toni rather rudely snubs him, and you can't tell whether she's playing hard-or-get, or is simply in denial. She even twice replies "no!" to the minister's proposed marriage vows, before inexplicably changing her mind at the last moment. Also memorable is the prelude to the wedding ceremony, which sees the bride strutting down the stairs, half-dressed, all to the tune of the wedding march. Despite being a silent film, 'The Garden of Eden' places considerable emphasis on music, and Milestone uses imaginative visual techniques to simulate the musical notes. Additionally, for the 2002 Flicker Alley DVD release, composer Robert Israel has written an excellent music score that, unlike the bulk of silent film accompaniments, actually takes note of what is happening in the story. A two-strip Technicolor dream sequence, featuring Toni as the opera singer she imagines herself becoming, is considered lost.
Toni LeBrun (Corinne Griffith) is an aspiring opera singer who, having tired of making pretzels for her aunt and uncle, strikes out for Budapest for a new life. However, the Palais de Paris nightclub isn't quite as prestigious as she had expected, and the vampiric owner (Maude George) exploits Toni's naiveté to spice up her seedy burlesque house. It is through this job that she meets Rosa (Louise Dresser), an old baroness who improbably works fifty miserable weeks a year to enable an extravagant two-week splurge of her yearly pension. The usual romantic hijinks follow as Toni falls for the dashing Richard Dupont (Charles Ray), despite the competing interests of his aged uncle, and that tiny complication whereby she neglected to mention that she wasn't really the baroness' daughter. There's plenty of hiding-behind-doors gags, the sort that you'd probably find in a Marx Brothers comedy. My favourite scene involves a playful game of "flick your light switch" between the two flirting would-be lovers that turns the entire building into a Christmas tree of flashing lights.
Griffith is gorgeous in the main role, and her character sympathetic, despite being, at times, somewhat befuddling. Just when you think she's been totally charmed by her male suitor, Toni rather rudely snubs him, and you can't tell whether she's playing hard-or-get, or is simply in denial. She even twice replies "no!" to the minister's proposed marriage vows, before inexplicably changing her mind at the last moment. Also memorable is the prelude to the wedding ceremony, which sees the bride strutting down the stairs, half-dressed, all to the tune of the wedding march. Despite being a silent film, 'The Garden of Eden' places considerable emphasis on music, and Milestone uses imaginative visual techniques to simulate the musical notes. Additionally, for the 2002 Flicker Alley DVD release, composer Robert Israel has written an excellent music score that, unlike the bulk of silent film accompaniments, actually takes note of what is happening in the story. A two-strip Technicolor dream sequence, featuring Toni as the opera singer she imagines herself becoming, is considered lost.