Bluebeard's 8th Wife

1923 film by Sam Wood

August 23, 1923 (1923-08-23)

Running time

60 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageSilent (English intertitles)

Bluebeard's 8th Wife (alternately Bluebeard's Eighth Wife) is a 1923 American silent romantic comedy film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Sam Wood and stars Gloria Swanson. The film is based on the French play La huitième femme de Barbe-Bleue by Alfred Savoir which is based on the Bluebeard tales of the 15th century.^[1] The play ran on Broadway in 1921 starring Ina Claire in the Swanson role.^[2]

Paramount remade the story in 1938 directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Gary Cooper and Claudette Colbert.^[3]

Plot

As described in Exhibitors Trade Review,^[4] Mona marries John Brandon and immediately after discovers that she is his eighth wife. Determined that she will not be the eighth to be divorced from him, she sets out on a teaser campaign which proves very effective until Brandon tells her that she is bought and paid for. Furious, she determines to give him grounds for a divorce and is subsequently found in her room with another man. In the end, however, Brandon discovers that she really loves him and they leave for a happy honeymoon.

Cast

Gloria Swanson as Mona deBriac
Huntley Gordon as John Brandon
Charles Greene as Robert
Liane Salvor as Lucienne
Paul Weigel as Marquis DeBriac
Frank Butler as Lord Henry Seville
Robert Agnew as Albert deMarceau
Irene Dalton as Alice George
Majel Coleman as Unknown role
Anastasia Georgina Kissel as Unknown role (credited as Thais Valdemar)
Julie Bishop as Child (credited as Jacqueline Wells)

Preservation

As no prints of Bluebeard's 8th Wife have been located in any film archives,^[5] it is a lost film.

References

^ White Munden, Kenneth, ed. (1997). The American Film Institute Catalog Of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1921–1930, Part 1. University of California Press. p. 72. ISBN 0-520-20969-9.
^ Parish, James Robert (1972). The Paramount Pretties. Arlington House. p. 25. ISBN 0-87000-180-9.
^ ATAS/UCLA Television Archives. Study Collection (1981). ATAS-UCLA Television Archives Catalog: Holdings in the Study Collection of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences University of California, Los Angeles, Television Archives. Taylor & Francis US. p. 9. ISBN 0-913178-69-1.
^ "Tried and Proven Pictures: Bluebeard's 8th Wife". Exhibitors Trade Review. New York: Exhibitors Review Publishing Corporation: 40. April 12, 1924. Retrieved November 7, 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ Wood, Sam; Swanson, Gloria (1923). "Bluebeard's 8th Wife". Performing Arts Databases. Library of Congress. Retrieved February 13, 2023.

External images

Bluebeard's 8th Wife Lobby poster
Bluebeard's 8th Wife: Scenes and Lobby cards at gettyimages.com
Bluebeard's 8th Wife Lobby card and still at gswanson.weebly.com
Bluebeard's 8th Wife Lobby card at emovieposter.com
PARAMOUNT 1923-24 campaign book 1923 Bluebeard's 8th Wife, Covered Wagon, Hollywood at emovieposter.com
Catalogue of Copyright Entries: Pamphlets, leaflets, contributions to newspapers or periodicals, etc.; lectures, sermons, addresses for oral delivery; dramatic compositions; maps; motion pictures. U.S. Government Printing Office. July 1923. p. 25916. 'Bluebeard's 8th Wife' press sheet A.710633
Bluebeard's 8th Wife press sheet A.710633 at tile.loc.gov