{ "id": "epde2vtq20", "slug": "a-woman-of-paris", "title": "A Woman of Paris", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent", "label": "Early and silent cinema", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features", "label": "Silent feature films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features.yr-1914-1926", "label": "Released 1914 to 1926", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features.yr-1914-1926" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features", "label": "United States · 1800 to 1945: Silent feature films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800", "label": "United States · 1800 to 1945", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent", "label": "Early and silent cinema", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features", "label": "Silent feature films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features" } ] } ], "excerpt": "A Woman of Paris (1923) is Charlie Chaplin's first serious silent drama, made for United Artists, starring Edna Purviance, Adolphe Menjou, and Carl Miller, with Chaplin only in a porter cameo; withdrawn after release, reedited in 1976, restored in 4K in 2019.", "snippet": "A Woman of Paris (1923) is Charlie Chaplin's first serious silent drama, made for United Artists, starring Edna Purviance, Adolphe Menjou, and Carl Miller, with Chaplin only in a porter cameo; withdrawn after release, reedited in 1976, restored in 4K in 2019.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features.yr-1914-1926", "markdown": "# A Woman of Paris\n\n**A Woman of Paris** (full title *A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate*) is a 1923 American silent romantic drama written, directed, produced, and edited by Charles Chaplin, in which he does not appear except for a brief, disguised walk-on as a railway porter. It was his first serious drama and his first production for [United Artists](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-artists), the distribution company he had co-founded in 1919, and it starred his longtime screen partner [Edna Purviance](https://www.edgepedia.org/edna-purviance) alongside [Adolphe Menjou](https://www.edgepedia.org/adolphe-menjou) and Carl Miller.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/13437-A-WOMAN-OF-PARIS) • [2](https://www.criterion.com/films/27582-a-woman-of-paris) • [3](https://www.ebsco.com/articles/film/853a1c9a-0183-5155-9ef9-c90ff7645d88/a-woman-of-paris)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | World premiere 26 September 1923 at the Criterion Theatre, Los Angeles; New York opening 1 or 8 October 1923[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/13437-A-WOMAN-OF-PARIS) |\n| Format | Silent, black and white, 7 reels (7,200 to 7,600 feet); about 81 minutes[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/13437-A-WOMAN-OF-PARIS) • [2](https://www.criterion.com/films/27582-a-woman-of-paris) |\n| Principal cast | Edna Purviance (Marie St. Clair), Adolphe Menjou (Pierre Revel), Carl Miller (Jean Millet)[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/27582-a-woman-of-paris) |\n| Chaplin's role | Writer, director, producer, and editor; on screen only as a train-station porter, announced in a title card: \"I do not appear in this picture\"[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/13437-A-WOMAN-OF-PARIS) • [4](https://www.courts.go.jp/ip/eng/assets/ip/eng/chizai_en/chizai_en-pdf-44.pdf) |\n| Production | Principal photography December 1922 to June 1923; working titles Destiny, Public Opinion, and Immortal Women[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/13437-A-WOMAN-OF-PARIS) |\n| Afterlife | Withdrawn by Chaplin after its first release; reedited for a 1976 rerelease with his own score; restored in 4K in 2019[5](https://mk2films.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/07/a-woman-of-paris-berlinale-2023-press-notes-3.pdf) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nMarie St. Clair lives with her tyrannical father in a French village. She and her boyfriend Jean Millet, an art student whose parents object to her, decide to elope to Paris. Jean is prevented from keeping the rendezvous at the railway station by the sudden death of his father from a stroke; Marie supposes she has been abandoned and travels to Paris alone.[6](https://www.charliechaplin.com/en/films/4-The-Circus/articles/78-A-Woman-of-Paris-Synopsis)\n\nA year later Marie is the glittering but disenchanted mistress of the wealthy man-about-town Pierre Revel. By chance she meets Jean, who has come to Paris with his mother and is now a struggling artist. She commissions him to paint her portrait, they fall in love again, and Jean proposes marriage. Marie decides to leave Pierre, but then overhears the weak-willed Jean reassuring his possessive mother that his proposal was not serious. She returns to Pierre and refuses to see the remorseful Jean, who shoots himself. Jean's mother sets out with his gun to avenge herself on Marie, but the two women are reconciled when she finds Marie weeping over the body.[6](https://www.charliechaplin.com/en/films/4-The-Circus/articles/78-A-Woman-of-Paris-Synopsis)\n\nIn the ending, Marie and Jean's mother raise orphans together in a country home. In the final shot Marie rides cheerfully on a hay cart while a limousine carrying Pierre flashes past; his secretary asks, \"By the way, whatever became of Marie St. Clair?\" and Pierre shrugs with indifference.[6](https://www.charliechaplin.com/en/films/4-The-Circus/articles/78-A-Woman-of-Paris-Synopsis) The American release used this symbolic ending in which the two pass on the road without recognizing each other; an alternative ending made for European audiences had Marie return to Pierre.[7](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/13437-A-WOMAN-OF-PARIS?cxt=filmography)\n\n## Production\n\n[Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began in late November or early December 1922 under the working title *Destiny*; by February 1923 the title had changed to *Public Opinion*, and in July 1923 to *Immortal Women*, before the film was announced for release as *A Woman of Paris*.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/13437-A-WOMAN-OF-PARIS) Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast and Jean de Limur were credited with advising Chaplin on French manners and customs for a story set entirely in France.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/13437-A-WOMAN-OF-PARIS)\n\n**A deliberate departure.** Contemporary trade journals followed the production closely because it marked Chaplin's first \"serious\" film, one in which he insisted he would not act. The film opens with his notification \"TO THE PUBLIC\" that, to avoid misunderstanding, he does not appear in the picture.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/13437-A-WOMAN-OF-PARIS) • [4](https://www.courts.go.jp/ip/eng/assets/ip/eng/chizai_en/chizai_en-pdf-44.pdf) Chaplin emphasized restraint over the showy gesticulations of silent cinema, reminding his actors to \"think the scene\" rather than convey feelings through gesture.[8](https://www.tcm.com/articles/70852/a-woman-of-paris) His memoir characterized the movie as an attempt to counter the then-common belief that on-screen emotion was possible only through overt action.[9](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/8752-a-woman-of-paris-whatever-became-of-marie-st-clair)\n\nThe story was suggested by the real-life experiences of the original \"gold-digger,\" the [Ziegfeld Follies](https://www.edgepedia.org/ziegfeld-follies) dancer Peggy Hopkins Joyce and the rich Parisian editor Henri Letellier, over whom a young man in love with her took his own life.[5](https://mk2films.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/07/a-woman-of-paris-berlinale-2023-press-notes-3.pdf) • [10](https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/files/CR2023_catalogo.pdf) Chaplin created the role specifically for Edna Purviance, his ex-girlfriend and lifelong friend, hoping to launch her as a dramatic actress.[5](https://mk2films.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/07/a-woman-of-paris-berlinale-2023-press-notes-3.pdf) • [11](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/a-woman-of-paris-1923-charlie-chaplin-s-only-21183730.php)\n\nOne party scene, in which a young woman wrapped in a long strip of cloth is \"unwound\" leaving her nude, was remarked on as \"daring\" by the 7 October 1923 *Film Daily* review, which acknowledged that the nudity was merely suggested through direction and the reactions of other characters. Ohio censors nevertheless banned the finished film from their state, giving no reason.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/13437-A-WOMAN-OF-PARIS)\n\n## Reception and influence\n\nCritical reception at release was uniformly positive; reviews in the 13 October 1923 *Motion Picture News* and *Exhibitors Trade Review* described the film as \"a masterpiece of simplicity and naturalness,\" \"told in a new and distinctive screen form.\" The same *Film Daily* review predicted, however, that audiences expecting a \"Chaplin comedy\" would be disappointed.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/13437-A-WOMAN-OF-PARIS) Audiences were not prepared to accept a Chaplin film without Charlie, even one that was critically acclaimed.[12](https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_2136_300062892.pdf)\n\nThe film's influence on other filmmakers was immediate and durable. [Ernst Lubitsch](https://www.edgepedia.org/ernst-lubitsch) saw an early rough cut with the scenarist [Paul Bern](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-bern) in the summer of 1923, invited by Chaplin himself, and regarded the experience as transformative, telling his biographer that he \"would have returned to Germany\" were it not for that film; its echoes appear in his *The Marriage Circle* (1924).[13](https://resolve.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/4CFB5E6A8D75C33914C979C980CD1E7F/9789048558063c14_p267-284_CBO.pdf/chaplin_lubitsch_chaplin_influence_and_counterinfluence_in_a_woman_of_paris_the_marriage_circle_and_a_countess_from_hong_kong.pdf) The charliechaplin.com site notes acclaim from filmmakers \"from Lubitsch to Scorsese.\"[14](https://www.charliechaplin.com/en/films/3-A-Woman-of-Paris) A 2025 study of 1920s Chinese film criticism found that Chinese reception of the film centered on its aesthetic qualities, underscoring its directing style, mise-en-scène, and psychological depth.[15](https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART003248393)\n\n## Withdrawal and restoration\n\nThe film was not a commercial success, and Chaplin pulled it from circulation, whereupon it became a legend whose reputation inflated over the decades.[11](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/a-woman-of-paris-1923-charlie-chaplin-s-only-21183730.php) For more than half a century it was his least known film, since after its first release Chaplin never permitted it to be shown.[5](https://mk2films.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/07/a-woman-of-paris-berlinale-2023-press-notes-3.pdf) In 1976, a year before his death, Chaplin reedited the film for a rerelease with a score of his own composition.[5](https://mk2films.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/07/a-woman-of-paris-berlinale-2023-press-notes-3.pdf) • [16](https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-production/janus_promo_packages/1008-/A%20Woman%20Of%20Paris_press_notes_web_original.pdf)\n\nA 4K restoration was carried out in 2019 by Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna at the L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in association with Roy Export S.A.S. as part of the Chaplin Project, using a second-generation full-frame dupe negative as the best available element.[5](https://mk2films.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/07/a-woman-of-paris-berlinale-2023-press-notes-3.pdf) [The Criterion Collection](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-criterion-collection) issued this restoration on Blu-ray and DVD with an alternate 2005 score by conductor Timothy Brock based on Chaplin's unused composition sketches, deleted shots from the original 1923 film, and documentary extras.[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/27582-a-woman-of-paris)\n\n## References\n\n1. [A Woman of Paris (1923), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/13437-A-WOMAN-OF-PARIS)\n2. [A Woman of Paris, The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/films/27582-a-woman-of-paris)\n3. [A Woman of Paris, Cineaste via EBSCO Research](https://www.ebsco.com/articles/film/853a1c9a-0183-5155-9ef9-c90ff7645d88/a-woman-of-paris)\n4. [Court decision excerpt on A Woman of Paris copyright, Intellectual Property High Court of Japan](https://www.courts.go.jp/ip/eng/assets/ip/eng/chizai_en/chizai_en-pdf-44.pdf)\n5. [A Woman of Paris press notes (restoration and production history), mk2 Films / Berlinale 2023](https://mk2films.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/07/a-woman-of-paris-berlinale-2023-press-notes-3.pdf)\n6. [A Woman of Paris Synopsis, CharlieChaplin.com](https://www.charliechaplin.com/en/films/4-The-Circus/articles/78-A-Woman-of-Paris-Synopsis)\n7. [A Woman of Paris (1923), AFI Catalog (synopsis page)](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/13437-A-WOMAN-OF-PARIS?cxt=filmography)\n8. [A Woman of Paris (1923), Turner Classic Movies article](https://www.tcm.com/articles/70852/a-woman-of-paris)\n9. [A Woman of Paris: \"Whatever Became of Marie St. Clair?\" by Pamela Hutchinson, Criterion Collection Current](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/8752-a-woman-of-paris-whatever-became-of-marie-st-clair)\n10. [A Woman of Paris catalog entry, Il Cinema Ritrovato 2023](https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/files/CR2023_catalogo.pdf)\n11. ['A Woman of Paris' (1923), Charlie Chaplin's only drama, by Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/a-woman-of-paris-1923-charlie-chaplin-s-only-21183730.php)\n12. [Charles Chaplin, an appreciation, MoMA](https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_2136_300062892.pdf)\n13. [Donna Kornhaber, \"Chaplin / Lubitsch / Chaplin,\" in New Approaches to Ernst Lubitsch, Cambridge University Press](https://resolve.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/4CFB5E6A8D75C33914C979C980CD1E7F/9789048558063c14_p267-284_CBO.pdf/chaplin_lubitsch_chaplin_influence_and_counterinfluence_in_a_woman_of_paris_the_marriage_circle_and_a_countess_from_hong_kong.pdf)\n14. [A Woman of Paris film page, CharlieChaplin.com](https://www.charliechaplin.com/en/films/3-A-Woman-of-Paris)\n15. [Chinese film criticism and the reception of A Woman of Paris, KCI scholarly article](https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART003248393)\n16. [A Woman of Paris press notes, Janus Films / Criterion](https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-production/janus_promo_packages/1008-/A%20Woman%20Of%20Paris_press_notes_web_original.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Early and silent cinema › Silent feature films › Released 1914 to 1926*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/a-woman-of-paris", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/a-woman-of-paris.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"A Woman of Paris\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/a-woman-of-paris. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[A Woman of Paris](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-woman-of-paris)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/a-woman-of-paris](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-woman-of-paris). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"A Woman of Paris\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/a-woman-of-paris. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "A Woman of Paris is Charlie Chaplin's first serious silent drama, made for United Artists, starring Edna Purviance, Adolphe Menjou, and Carl Miller, with Chaplin only in a porter cameo; withdrawn after release, reedited in 1976, restored in 4K in 2019." }