foolish wives
) to shut down production on
foolish wives
- something the egomaniacal director refuses to do, despite indy' s efforts. ironically, one of the actual cast members of
foolish wives
was
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nice review! foolish wives is probably the most accessible erich von stroheim, but accessibility really wasn' t his bag. i love the grand folly that is his trademark, and foolish wives ranks among the favs !
mrs. hughes can be seen reading a book with the title
foolish wives
, written by erich von stroheim .
from foolish wives (erich von stroheim, 1922). this figure is not covered by the creative commons attribution 4. 0 international license .
the group dismantling foolish wives. relations between evs and universal had soured over cost overruns and the director’s unwillingness to endorse a less than two - part foolish wives. whole sections and subplots were junked. scenes stroheim planted in the first half to pay off in the second became meaningless distraction as much of his dramatic equation lost effect. by the time the train reached new york, over half of foolish wives was gone. universal’s reception
foolish wives is a great old film. stroheim had a keen eye for the bizarre and for details. this dvd has its flaws but all in all quite acceptable .
one of the great mad follies of the silent era, foolish wives (what a divine title !) is the american middle - class' s libido run amok .
foolish wives in 1080p - along with the extras - is an essential. this is important film history and we can now own the most complete version... on
my main interest in erich von stroheim' s 1922 silent film classic
foolish wives
is in the use of lavish background sets and the glittering costumes which represent ...
celebrity paradox / recursive canon: when she' s not flirting with count sergius or blowing off her boring husband, helen is reading a book by erich von stroheim called foolish wives .
god’s wisdom is foolish to the _ _ _ _ _ _ _, & the world’s wisdom is foolish to god – 1 cor. 1: 18 f, rom. 1: 18 f
from foolish wives (erich von stroheim, 1922). this figure is not covered by the creative commons attribution 4. 0 international license. reproduced with permission of the copyright holder, kino lorber, inc .
we have said that
foolish wives
is not for the prude. for instance, we can imagine with what chuckles of unalloyed satisfaction the new york state board of censors dived into it with eyes and shears agleam .
erich von stroheim liked to refer to the traduced and truncated version of foolish wives as “the skeleton of my dead child. ” looking at the film today, it’s plain to see there’s still plenty of meat on those bones .
seven hundred thousand, though inter - office memos indicate $ 1, 124, 498 was needed to complete foolish wives. whatever the expense, universal got as much in free press and patron anticipation they’d been whipping up over a two - year period. von stroheim had started out in the money directing continental exotics. the first two, blind husbands and the devil’s passkey, looked like beginnings of a profitable and ongoing thing. foolish wives would mark his
and one half hours. many felt it was too long, and some laughed at wrong places. stroheim said that wouldn’t have happened had they left alone the version he’d submitted. universal gremlins worked mischief in the central ’s projection booth by continuing to cut foolish wives throughout the theatre’s engagement. what started with fourteen reels was eventually whittled to twelve. patrons would actually see less at an evening show than counterparts did at the same day’s matinee. the foolish wives roadshow was a shrinking affair
marietta looks child - like and vulnerable. from foolish wives (erich von stroheim, 1922). this figure is not covered by the creative commons attribution 4. 0 international license. reproduced with permission of the copyright holder, kino lorber, inc .
whose wives are they anyway? was first produced at the delray beach playhouse, delray beach, florida, on october 1st, 1998 .
blind husbands and foolish wives revolve around an abject male presence. more embryonic in blind husbands, fully articulated in foolish wives, the male villain’s abjection is expressed in the films through three, overlapping channels. one is the villain’s appearance; another is the range of motives and actions associated with him; and the third is the conflictive and terrible appeal he has for his victims. to these visual, performative, and narrative elements, a final one must be added, which is the films’ unsatisfactory ending: von steuben and karamzin are dead, yet the american wives’ re - commitment to their marriages is far from convincing, troubled by the gap between their husbands’ infinite dullness and stroheim’s wicked attraction .
in an episode of the young indiana jones chronicles (1992), entitled
hollywood follies ,
a young indiana jones (played by sean patrick flanery) is sent to hollywood by carl laemmle to order erich von stroheim (played by dana gladstone) to shut down production on
foolish wives
- something the egomaniacal director refuses to do, despite indy' s efforts. ironically, one of the actual cast members of
foolish wives
was harrison ford, a noted silent movie actor (and no relation to the
indiana jones
series star) .
versions previous to this are lost). stroheim’s martyrdom was such as to secure a place for foolish wives on all - time best lists despite its sole survival as the truncated edition he saw and renounced at a museum of modern art showing during the forties. critics had to proceed on faith and plenty of imagination when lauding any stroheim beside silent favorites surviving intact. the foolish wives of lennig’s heroic effort runs to 143 minutes (he combined the leavings of us footage with materials from an italian archive). the end result was said to approximate what audiences saw in the
the foolish wife is played by miss dupont, and the envoy - husband mostly by rudolph christians, altho there are some shots with robert edeson doubling for mr. christians, who died during the making of
foolish wives .
the adventuresses are adroitly done by maude george and mae busch, and dale fuller, a former keystone comedienne, contributes a striking bit as the maid who so effectively brings out the monte carlo fire department .
but one should not forget the comic side of the film, its scathing irony, even its farcical moments. in many respects, foolish wives anticipates two subversive works that open and close the 1930s: buñuel' s l' age d' or and renoir' s la règle du jeu .
how to cite this article: girelli e (2017) “beauty in the lap of horror”: the gothic appeal of erich von stroheim in blind husbands (1919) and foolish wives (1922). palgrave communications. 3: 17082 doi: 10. 1057 / palcomms. 2017. 82 .
51. first list of plural wives, document 1, in andrew jenson papers, ms 17956, box 49, fd 16, church history library .
by comparison i would recommend dr. mabuse (also from 1922). though it is almost twice as long, there is a lot more going on and much more impressive use of camera work. foolish wives burdens the viewer with too many title cards whereas dr. mabuse visually tells the story .
54. see discussion in todd compton, in sacred loneliness: the plural wives of joseph smith (salt lake city: signature books, 1997), 153 .
this
foolish wives
video is a must for fans of erich von stroheim. erich was in his prime in this film, utilizing all his usual
props
that the book
stroheim
by arthur lennig chronicles. reading that book gave me a deeper appreciation of erich' s talent as an actor as well as director .
proverbs 14: 1, “the wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. ”
foolish wives ’ monte carlo is a luxurious tourist destination and a displaced persons camp, with squares and broad streets to get lost and be unknown in. the film’s action repeatedly flows from vast public spaces to tiny private ones. the decisive moments take place in a hovel; in the space between a household altar and a keyhole; in a maid’s bedroom .
eliza r. snow, who was “well acquainted” with fanny, also confirmed that a plural marriage occurred when she personally added fanny’s name to an 1886 list of joseph smith’s plural wives. 51
wisdom and folly are both personified and contrasted in the early chapters of proverbs. the first contrast between the wise woman and the foolish female is whether they listen to wisdom or folly .
one can imagine the scenes deleted from the film involving the details surrounding karamzin’s murder. after karamzin sneaks into ventucci’s house (ostensibly to rape the man’s daughter) and a duped maruschka kills herself, ventucci is seen pulling karamzin from a closet (a black cat darts across the frame) before dumping his body into a sewer. foolish wives is a seductive film, but it’s also supremely sad because von stroheim sees something morally and emotionally debilitating in the way his characters forcibly cling to facades, from dupont’s disillusioned would - be feminist to the “cousins” who don’t own up to their true identities until cops pull off their wigs. “take off that monocle, ” says helen’s husband to karamzin before punching him in the face. there is a place and breaking point for everyone here, and foolish wives is disillusionment von stroheim style .
foolish wives came out during hollywood’s silent era, budgeted at a little over $ 250, 000, and ended up costing somewhere between $ 1. 2 and 1. 4 million, depending on who you ask. to say it was a massive gamble is an understatement, and as noted by variety at the time: “ …. was 11 months and six days in filming; six months in assembling and editing; consumed 320, 000 feet of negative, and employed as many as 15, 000 extras for atmosphere. foolish wives shows the cost – in the sets, beautiful backgrounds and massive interiors that carry a complete suggestion of the atmosphere of monte carlo, the locale of the story. and the sets, together with a thoroughly capable cast, are about all the picture has for all the heavy dough expended. ”
erich von stroheim, dubbed
the man you love to hate ,
gave 1920s audiences even more reasons to hate him as a lecherous phony count in foolish wives, which he also wrote and directed in typically lavish style. a con man posing as a russian count named sergius karamzin (erich von stroheim) rents a villa in monte carlo along with his two
cousins ,
princess... read more
we have stepped away from the narrow path of criticism. to return to
foolish wives .
von stroheim himself gives an almost uncanny performance of karamzin - dissolute, dapper, monocled, a reckless player with passion, drinker of perfume, base student of feminine psychology, unscrupulous thief, scoundrel guilty of all the sins on the calendar; yet fascinating withal. we guarantee you won' t forget his count karamzin .
in short, the wise woman welcomes and pursues anything that will help her better know, love and serve the lord jesus christ. her goal in life is his glory and honor. the foolish female pursues the fulfillment of her own selfish desires. if she professes to be a christian, the glory and honor of the lord will be secondary to her own proud and foolish ideas about what she thinks is best .
what isn’t quite so easy to swallow these days is foolish wives’ inadequate storytelling methods. the silent era has never been a favorite of mine, and although i can appreciate the technological limitations and the talent of the stars to make their characters come to life for viewers who cannot hear them speak, the lack of dialogue really does hamper the story’s momentum and energy. for a film over two hours, to take so damn long in achieving anything, introducing characters of no or little value, and having the plot simply plod along instead of able or jog, foolish wives is excessively frustrating. the whole “seduction” plot the count undertakes is lengthy and overly drawn out, and much of the humor of the era is lost thanks to too simplistic a style. this isn’t a criticism as much as an observation of the limitations film - makers had at the time .
foolish wives, von stroheim' s third feature as a director, presents close analogies with his first two as the last part of a triptych on the
innocent abroad ,
a new triangle comedy with the blind husband (this time an american ambassador), his foolish wife, and the devil with his passkey (von stroheim himself playing a pseudo - russian count). far superior to blind husbands (1919), and probably to the devil' s passkey (a lost film, 1920), its action is again set in europe, monte carlo succeeding the austrian dolomites of the first film and the paris of the second .
additionally, of the thirty - three women listed by todd compton as being plural wives of joseph smith, twelve do not have an officiator, ceremony or witness to their marriage / sealing. fanny alger and mrs. lucinda
the book ‘foolish wives’ within the film claims that the european finds a moral code vital while the american, motivated by the urgency of money - making, forgets even to react to its absence, a claim approved by karamzin and then disproved by the rest of the film, including ‘von stroheim’ and stroheim’s square - up endings. amorality has been depicted in order to lend the morality of stroheim’s very moral fiction the urgency of lived experience .
von stroheim has apparently never been popular with the
100 per cent americans
of our photoplay. these folk went to
foolish wives
seeking something - and they professed to find it in the way von stroheim presents karamzin as shrewdly winning the foolish wife away from her american husband and also (here is the deadly count against the director), in the way he paints the envoy as a sort of good - natured boob. knowing the caliber of some of our american representatives abroad, we find nothing but realism in this. but the parlor patriots, who recently were weeping over the subtle propaganda of the pola negri photoplays, call it
studied insolence .
not long ago, the museum of modern art graciously permitted me to run its copy of “foolish wives, ” on condition that if i became overstimulated or mushy, i would not pick the veneer off the chairs or kiss the projectionist. such fears, it presently turned out, were baseless. the showing roused me to neither vandalism nor affection; in fact, it begot such apathy that i had to be given artificial respiration and sent home in a wheelbarrow .
defined by an oddly repulsive appearance and alien characterization, a devastating power over the opposite sex which blends eroticism with terror, and a personal, horrific connection to the forces of nature, von steuben dominates blind husbands, not least because of stroheim’s superb performance. in foolish wives, the stroheim character retains von steuben’s key traits, but these are developed to construct a truly diabolic figure; equally, the film’s disturbing elements greatly exceed the unsettling aspects of blind husbands .
another moment of humiliation occurs at the end of the play when katherina, having won petruchio’s wager for him by being the first wife to obey and having also fetched the more wayward wives, is asked by petruchio to throw a favoured hat on the ground and step on it. the outspoken widow, interestingly, does not approve of katherina’s behaviour, calling katherina’s blind obedience ‘a silly pass’. even the supposedly simpering (yet, when you look closely at her exchanges with men throughout the play, much more successfully assertive) bianca agrees, criticising and questioning her: ‘fie, what a foolish duty call you this? ’ the widow and bianca see this is an unacceptable way to treat your wife and that katherina is foolish to tolerate it .
my final category this morning is a wise mother verses a foolish mama. everything i have said so far also applies to those who are mothers, but there are additional responsibilities that you have that will reveal your level of either wisdom or foolishness .
the tragedy is that our society seems to have an increasing number of foolish fraus and a decreasing number of wise wives. if you want to be wise, then humble yourself to believe and trust the lord jesus christ. make it your goal to know him and submit to his will. then be sure to seek instruction in wisdom from those that are godly and wise that you may be wise, and be thankful for those who correct and even rebuke you (proverbs 9: 8 - 9) .
the long - evolving
million dollar movie
written and directed by erich von stroheim ,
foolish wives ,
has reached broadway at last. its reception was an interesting commentary upon our modes and manners. for von stroheim, of the junker physiognomy, was accused of everything from arch treason to studied insolence before all things american. that is, he was accused of all save one thing: demonstrating a superb directorial technique. we feel sure that von stroheim will forgive us for adding this accusation to the others .
the give and take of fantasy and lucidity in these films is still challenging. stroheim had wanted to be a writer almost as soon as he had given up on being a soldier. do his films propose a determinist view of human nature because he was a determinist? if so, it’s a point - of - view his own attempts and attainments would seem to refute decisively. or is it because that’s the kind of view a great writer of the sort he wanted to be (zola, norris) would take? stroheim’s references to fictional books by himself in blind husbands and here (the significance of which has been discussed by jonathan rosenbaum 3) indicate the importance of the literary dream. stroheim’s star persona was a lie he used to tell the truth, but the truth escapes even what ‘stroheim the author’ claims to show. the book ‘ foolish wives ’ by ‘erich von stroheim’ is a story about the moral superiority of americans. yet foolish wives – the stroheim film – is, despite every interference, about the inescapable materiality of class .
the comedian, accustomed to the humming machinery of hollywood’s maturity (in which he had become a fairly intermittent toiler), saw “foolish wives” as an old movie that was the victim of changing styles; he looked upon it as he might have looked upon a former gibson girl, now shapeless and wizened, who happened to stroll into his office in her once - trendy garb. but here’s how, despite his failure to enjoy stroheim’s visual and dramatic achievement in revival, he sums up the filmmaker’s singular moral (or immoral) vision :
in foolish wives von stroheim also gives the final—and most brilliant—touch to his portrait of the cynical seducer, equally eager for money and sex. his physical appearance is as recognisable as chaplin' s, with his military cap, his whip, and his monocle. unlike don juan who seeks his own downfall or casanova who is constantly in love and taken in by his own illusions, von stroheim embodies here an energy and sensuality in their purest form and seeks to destroy the world around him until his final death, not unlike a de sade character .
similarly, joseph asked about a plurality of wives and received an answer that dealt, not only with polygamy, but with the entire new and everlasting covenant of marriage, which includes plural marriage but is not limited to it. plural marriage itself is not mentioned until verse 34 .
the ashley maureen cosmetics company has been sold and two of its vice presidents, david mcgrachen and john baker, have planned a weekend off before the new c. e. o. arrives on monday. with their wives safely off on a shopping spree in new york city, they check into the oakfield golf and country club intending to
golf their brains out .
they unexpectedly encounter their new boss, ms. hutchison, and she insists on meeting the wives, commenting blithely
no one who went golfing for a weekend without his wife would ever work for me .
so... david and john have to produce wives. john persuades tina, the hotel' s sexy receptionist, to play the role of his wife, but the only one who can pretend to be david' s wife is... john! inevitably everything goes wrong as john moves in and out of bedrooms, changing from male to female at a frantic pace. hilarious chaos ensues when the hotel phone system goes on the blink, tina has too much champagne and can' t keep her clothes on, and, yes, the real wives arrive !
description: as artistically brilliant as it is gleefully perverse, foolish wives is erich von stroheim' s epic - scale account of an american diplomat' s wife (miss dupont) who falls under the spell of a phony russian count (von stroheim). with his trademark eye for visual metaphor and gritty detail, von stroheim infuses the artistocratic splendor of monte carlo (rebuilt in all its majesty on the universal backlot) with an air of moral depravity. the result is a grimm' s fairy tale romance that is no less fascinating today than it was 80 years ago .
foolish wives
has moments - indeed, whole stretches - of greatness. it is not for the provincial or the prude. von stroheim has taken the one real theme of life - sex - and played upon it with continental discernment and, let us say, abandon. where the pollyanna american viewpoint dresses up sex in tinsel and spangles, von stroheim looks upon it with the worldly and half cynical, half humorous viennese viewpoint of a schnitzler. briefly, where we love to dress our sex illusions in santa claus whiskers, von stroheim sees only the stocking at the fireplace .
foolish wives is a 1922 film directed by, written by, and starring erich von stroheim. here von stroheim plays count wladislaw sergius karamzin, who may or may not be an actual russian count. he is in monte carlo in 1919 along with his two partners in crime, princess vera and princess olga, who are pretending to be his cousins but are definitely neither his cousins nor russian princesses. in any event, all three of them are definitely con artists, funding their stay in monte carlo by passing off counterfeit banknotes created by ventucci, another one of their partners in crime .
the opening text (on the disc - release format) of foolish wives recounts the problematic history the film has had throughout the nearly 100 years it’s been around. to steal from the text itself, foolish wives (erich von stroheim’s third directorial effort) ran at a massive twenty - one reels upon its completion – von stroheim intended the film to be cut in half and shown over consecutive evenings, according to the info i dug up online. the studio, universal pictures, refused this idea, and cut out over five reels of footage prior to release. a later version, cut in half yet again – to seven reels total – meant the film ran at about 117 minutes, a brief interlude for a movie intended to be some kind of monumental epic. the version i watched, a restoration version clocking in at an almighty 2 hours and 20 minutes (remember, this was a silent film, made in 1922, so length came at considerable cost), remains now the most complete version of the original cut von stroheim completed, although it must be said that even at 2 hours and change, there’s little redeeming value in a film this long, featuring this little story .
as artistically brilliant as it is gleefully perverse, foolish wives is erich von stroheim' s epic - scale account of an american diplomat' s wife (miss dupont) who falls under the spell of a phony russian count (von stroheim). with his trademark eye for visual metaphor and gritty detail, von stroheim infuses the artistocratic splendor of monte carlo (rebuilt in all its majesty on the universal backlot) with an air of moral depravity. the result is a grimm' s fairy tale romance that is no less fascinating today than it was 80 years ago. first time ever on blu - ray !
while we have no firsthand accounts of the prophet’s counsel on marriages to women in their teens, a pattern which began in nauvoo and was carried over into utah is instructive. this protocol taught that polygamous husbands should allow young wives to physically mature before beginning a family with them. eugene e. campbell described brigham’s latter instructions :
consistent with his overall prejudices, palmer discusses joseph smith’s first plural marriage as if it was an adulterous relationship (pp. 10–11). however, in a 1904 letter mary elizabeth rollins reported: “joseph the seer … said god gave him a commandment in 1834, to take other wives besides emma. ” 49 joseph soon complied .
sister pratt, the lord has given you to me as one of my spiritual wives [ somewhat like a concubine, or a wife for the night ]. i have the blessings of jacob granted me, as god granted holy men of old, and as i have long looked upon you with favor, and an earnest desire of
the firemen stretch a net and the count - master egotist first and last - adjusts his monocle and leaps to safety. a second later the foolish wife half falls, half jumps to the rescuing net. here von stroheim might have ended his theme, but he went onward to show the ultimate fate of the dissolute russian .
i was left to all kinds of temptations, and mingling with all kinds of society, i frequently fell into many foolish errors and displayed the weakness of youth and the corruption of human nature, which i am sorry to say led me into divers temptations, to the gratification of many appetites offensive in the sight of god. 6
erich stroheim' s third feature, foolish wives, was twenty - one reels in length when it was completed in 1921. the studio eliminated one third of the film before the initial release, and this abridged version was completely re - titled and reduced by half its length to seven reels for a subsequent re - issue. for more than 40 years the film was seen only in its shortest form. the present copy assembled for the american film institute by authro lenning, represents an attempt to reconstruct the film to a more authentic version, the original titles have been restored and much of the footage eliminate over the years has been replaced. although still fragmentary, this is the most complete form in which f oolish wives is know to exist today. materials for the reconstruction were obtained from the museum of modern art, the british film institute, the library of congress, universal pictures, the eastin - phelan corporation, and herman g. weinberg. the project was made possible by the morris and gwendolyn cafritz foundation .
intended to run anywhere between six and 10 hours, most of von stroheim’s films, from greed to the pre - talkie swanson vehicle queen kelly (the inspiration for billy wilder’s sunset boulevard, which stars von stroheim as the fading star’s butler), were severely bastardized by studio heads upon their release. 1922’s foolish wives begins with the perfect iris shot. this is no ordinary “fade into” effect, but an entrancing reinforcement of the sinister, insular and constrictive nature of the milieu von stroheim is about to introduce us to. because the man spent much of his life hiding his jewish background, it probably comes as no surprise that there’s so much lingering beneath the surface of his films .
in the clip above, i discuss erich von stroheim’s “foolish wives, ” shot—for almost a year—in 1920 and 1921, and released in 1922. no one would mistake s. j. perelman, one of america’s greatest comic writers and screenwriters, for a film critic, but his 1952 appreciation, in the pages of the new yorker (available to subscribers), of stroheim’s silent classic is both a laugh riot and a fascinatingly skewed but perceptive take on stroheim’s art. he writes of it as the film that “canonized” the director - actor for him, and describes the powerful impression that stroheim’s starring performance, as the predatory, penniless, domineering count sergius karamzin, had made on him :
“guess who’s coming to dinner” meets “the stepford wives” in “get out, ” in which a white girl brings her black boyfriend home to meet her parents, whose superficially warm welcome masks an unthinkably dark secret. blending race - savvy satire with horror to especially potent effect, this bombshell social critique from first - time director jordan peele proves positively [ … ]
as the film' s production costs skyrocketed, universal pictures attempted to use the situation to garner some publicity for it. the studio erected an electronic sign on a rooftop overlooking broadway, across the street from its new york offices. the sign read
universal pictures and erich von stroheim will spend $ xxx, xxx to entertain you with' foolish wives' .
each week the numbers of the production costs were updated on the electronic sign, telling how much more the picture had cost. in the end the total cost of the film, as reported by universal, was $ 1, 103, 736. 38. von stroheim later claimed that the real cost was only around $ 700, 000 .
the offering of money, “five dollars, ” is also singular. none of joseph’s plural wives reported any promises of material benefits or financial favors to them. plural wife lucy walker recalled joseph telling her as he discussed a plural sealing with her: “i have no flattering words to offer. ” 85 there is simply too much here that does not add up .
foolish wives
marks the point at which the studios - in this case universal - had had enough of erich von stroheim' s excesses. after von stroheim refused to trim the film down from more than 6 hours, the studio took matters into their own hands; the currently available print runs around two and a half hours. most of the other footage was lost so it is hard to gauge how the' complete' film would play, although given he apparently shot several reels of himself eating breakfast, perhaps the studio had a point. what remains is still a fairly scintillating exploration of sin, corruption and lust. von stroheim plays the self - styled count karamzin, a con artist who descends on monte carlo…
the foolish frau brings shame on herself and her household because she is ungodly at heart. she is selfish and proud, so much so that she “is wiser in her own eyes than seven men who can give a discreet answer” (proverbs 26: 16). those who try to correct her will received dishonor and insults from her (proverbs 9: 7) .
five different proverbs state that a wise son will make you glad, but your child will not be wise unless he is taught by those who are wise, and that requires you to be wise. children are naturally foolish to begin with because they come to us as sinners. you must follow god’s instructions if you are to remove the foolishness and replace it with wisdom. if you follow the advice of fools or yield your children to be trained by fools, do not be surprised that they remain foolish and cause you great grief. it is that grief and shame that has caused so many parents to regret having children and is a major factor in young couples being hesitant to have children as they hear and see the horror stories .
“now if any of you will deny the plurality of wives and continue to do so, i promise that you will be damned; and i will go still further, and say that this revelation, or any other revelation that the lord had given, and deny it in your feelings, and i promise that you will be damned. ” brigham young, deseret news, november 14, 1855
in post - war europe, a bogus russian count, sergius karamzin (von stroheim), and his two “cousins” - cum - mistresses (maude george and mae busch) confer with their pathetic counterfeiter before descending upon the wife of an american envoy sent to monte carlo to meet with the prince of monaco. karamzin’s business is destroying lives, and over the course of the film’s existing 141 minutes, he takes advantage of no less than three women: the american helen hughes (miss dupont), his maid maruschka (dale fuller), and the counterfeiter’s half - witted daughter, marietta (malvine polo). at the time of its release, foolish wives was the most expensive film ever produced, and though von stroheim was widely considered a lavish spendthrift, his films remain triumphs of period detail .
mrs. [ lucinda pendleton morgan ] harris was a married lady, a very good friend of mine. when joseph had made his dastardly attempt on me, i went to mrs. harris to unbosom my grief to her. to my utter astonishment she said, laughing heartily: “how foolish you are! i don’t see anything so horrible in it. why i am his mistress since four years! ” 66
she gave birth to nine of kimball’s children between 1846 and 1864. malissa lott, who was sealed to joseph smith in september 1843, married ira jones willes on 13 may 1849. their first child was born 22 april 1850, with conception occurring approximately 30 july 1849 (or eleven weeks after the wedding ceremony). seven willes children were born between 1850 and 1863. emily partridge bore brigham young seven offspring between 1845 and 1862. her sister eliza married amasa lyman, and together they had five children between 1844 and 1860. several other plural wives, including louisa beaman, martha mcbride, and nancy winchester, also remarried and became pregnant. in light of the obvious fertility of many of joseph smith’s plural wives (and joseph himself with emma), it seems that they either bore him children who are unknown today or that sexual relations in the marriages did not occur often .
the idea for this sermon has been on my mind for several months, but the subject has been on my mind for many years for i have met many wise women who have built their household, but i have also met many foolish females who have torn their families apart. the greatest tragedy in this is that most of the time those who were foolish believed they were wise even as their home collapsed around them. in addition, we live in a society which has increasingly given praise to the foolish female as being liberated to be herself while attacking the wise woman as being victimized by her gender. while what i have to say is directed at you ladies so that you may pursue wisdom and flee foolishness, it is also for you men too, for not only do the general principles of wisdom also apply to you, but you need to know how to encourage the women in your life toward wisdom and protect them from foolishness. this is especially true toward your own wife and daughters. if you are not married, the contrast will direct you ladies to the characteristics you need to develop in order to be a good wife and mother if god should bless you in that manner, and it will give you single men a better idea of what to look for in a potential wife .
proverbs 14: 1 states, “the wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands. ” the foolishness here does not have to descend all the way down to the level of being a nabal (naw - bawl’) for this to happen. all it really takes is being “thick brained” – proud and stubborn. if that is augmented by being naive and lacking understanding, the destruction will occur faster .
all of which we dismiss as absurd stuff to frighten naughty children. we know some of the limitations under which von stroheim worked and we congratulate him upon proving - in an unqualified way - that he is one of the rare cinema elect. at the same time, let us declare ourselves as against the waste of money on huge exra reel spectacles. also, that we fully realize that von stroheim lost his story, and in a large measure, failed with
foolish wives .
which is but another proof that one cannot do all things well. von stroheim should let someone else write his stories. imagine, for instance, what he could do with the
the affairs of anatol .
the cecil demille drivel would fade into nothingness. but von stroheim needs a strong leash. right here we predict that this man will do more things of fine worth. if he does not, then the photoplay is the loser .
the wife of an american envoy falls within his wiles, and the russian almost sweeps her from her feet when fate circumvents in the hands of the aforementioned maddened servant maid. the women sets fire to the castle, with the count and the
foolish wife
locked in a lonely tower - room. here von stroheim works to a thrilling climax as the flames lick their way up the winding tower steps and force the prisoners to a tiny balcony high above the ground .
in proverbs 9: 13 - 18, folly also gives an invitation to the naive to come to her home. she does not have to invite the fools and scoffers for they are already dinning there on a regular basis. the specific target of folly’s are the naive who “are making their paths straight” (9: 15). these are people who are trying to walk a straight path in doing what is right, but because they determine what is right by their own standards, they will end up walking a crooked path and not even recognize it. folly’s enticements are attractive to man’s sinful and selfish nature, but those who go to her home are in grave danger for “the dead are there, [ that ] her guests are in the depths of sheol” (9: 18). whether you become a wise woman or remain a foolish female will depend on whose voice you listen to and heed. here are some contrasts between the wise woman and the foolish female .
1. the asphalt jungle (1950) 2. deliverance (1972) 3. disneyland dream (1956) 4. a face in the crowd (1957) 5. flower drum song (1961) 6. foolish wives (1922) 7. free radicals (1979) 8. hallelujah (1929) 9. in cold blood (1967) 10. the invisible man (1933) 11. johnny guitar (1954) 12. the killers (1946) 13. the march (1964) 14. no lies (1973) 15. on the bowery (1957) 16. one week (1920) 17. the pawnbroker (1965) 18. the perils of pauline (1914) 19. sergeant york (1941) 20. the 7th voyage of sinbad (1958) 21. so’s your old man (1926) 22. george stevens ww2 footage (1943 - 46) 23. the terminator (1984) 24. water and power (1989) 25. white fawn’s devotion (1910 )
in 1892, depositions seeking to discover if joseph smith practiced sexual polygamy were sought for litigation between the rlds church and the church of christ (temple lot). helen mar kimball was not called to testify, even though she lived nearby and had written two books defending plural marriage. instead, three wives who lived further away were summoned, and all affirmed sexual relations with the prophet in their plural marriages. the most likely reason for helen’s absence was her inability to offer the required testimony of a sealing with a sexual dimension .
a review of the child - bearing chronology of joseph smith’s wives after his death and their remarriages demonstrates impressive fertility in several of the women. most of them married within two years after the martyrdom and prior to the saints leaving for the west. three of the women became pregnant within weeks after remarrying. sarah ann whitney, who was sealed to joseph smith for twenty - three months, married heber c. kimball on 17 march 1845, and, based on the birth date of their first child, became pregnant approximately june 15 .
the husband of a foolish frau cannot do this because he has trouble at home and she brings shame on him (prov. 12: 4). she is idle and wastes her time on frivolous things making it easy to fall into being a gossip and busybody (1 tim. 5: 13). she is fearful and rumors obstruct her from action (prov. 22: 13). she opens her mouth and it spouts folly (prov. 15: 2). woe to those who listen to her !
even in its present shape, however, the film is one of the most stunning of the silent era. it also exercised a major influence on future directors, including renoir, buñuel, and vigo. von stroheim shows a world that lies to itself, where swindlers and rich people mix, and where the heroine reads a book called foolish wives. the writer - director deals with false appearances: the titles of count wladislas sergius karamzin and his two princess cousins are fake (von stroheim himself was not an austrian aristocrat as he would have us believe during his lifetime, but the son of a jewish hat - maker), the money is counterfeit, and the sentiments are fraudulent; karamzin playing at love to seduce his maid, the ambassador' s wife, and an idiotic 14 - year - old girl. this hypocrisy of the social game is set in the context of world war i, which had just ended: an armless veteran, a nurse pushing a soldier in a wheelchair, a little girl on crutches, a boy playing with a military helmet .
wisdom begins with the fear of the lord, but foolishness rejects the eternal perspective demanded by that and instead either fears man or is so caught up in immediate circumstances that they do not give adequate consideration to their end. the wise woman will turn from her sin and put her faith in the person and work of the lord jesus christ, god in human flesh who lived a sinless life then willingly died as the substitute payment for sin and rose again physically proving his claims about himself and promises of redemption, forgiveness and a future eternity with him in heaven are true. the foolish female either rejects or ignores jesus, or gives a feigned profession of faith in him, and may even pursue cultural aspects of christianity, but will remain biblically ignorant of him and his commands. the wise woman will actively pursue an increasing knowledge of jesus christ desiring to understand his will and willingly submit to obey it to the best of her abilities. if a foolish female does study the bible she will not interpret according to its context by a historical, grammatical hermeneutic, but will instead find those that will tickle her ears with what she wants to hear. she will twist the meaning of the scriptures to fit with what she desires for herself. her lack of actual love for the lord jesus will be demonstrated by her unwillingness to obey his commands. the wise woman strives to live in holiness in the present with an eye on eternity because her hope is in christ jesus. the foolish female lives in the present as she desires with her hope in her own abilities to manipulate circumstances to her favor. the wise woman will be a godly influence upon those around her and be grieved by the ungodliness around her. she welcomes correction that enables her to move away from sin and become more like her lord. the foolish female will be affected by and moved toward the ungodly influences around her. she rejects correction and will dishonor and hate those that attempt to reprove her. she begins by walking in the counsel of the ungodly, and will soon be standing with the sinners and will in the end be seated with the scoffers .
questions to consider in discussing the sermon with others. what is wisdom? how does godly wisdom differ from worldly wisdom? what are the three levels of foolishness (hebrew word definitions)? how available is wisdom according to proverbs 1: 20 - 33; 8: 1 - 36 and 9: 1 - 12? how is the invitation of folly (proverbs 9: 13 - 18) similar to and yet different from the invitation of wisdom? what is the fear of the lord and what are its benefits? what is the response of a wise woman to jesus christ? what are the possible responses of a foolish female to him? what is the primary responsibility of a godly wife? what are her primary roles according to the scriptures? contrast the character traits of a wise wife as expressed in proverbs 31: 10 - 31 with those of a foolish frau. what is the primary responsibility of a godly mother? what will be required of her in order to raise godly children? what will be the result if she fails? why should she avoid yielding her responsibility to others ?
i think we both felt deep down that we got back together for financial considerations as well as for the sake of the kids. i was kicking myself for getting back together because no matter what i did or how good a husband i would try to be, i was never going to satisfy her. she just wasn' t capable of being satisfied! i felt so foolish. it got to the point where we were both ready to walk away and admit with much embarrassment that we made a terrible mistake - twice! our second marriage would not even make it to the first anniversary.
foolish wives is a 1922 american silent drama film produced and distributed by universal pictures under their super-jewel banner and written and directed by erich von stroheim . the drama features von stroheim , rudolph christians , miss dupont , maude george , and others . when released in 1922 , the film was the most expensive film made at that time , and billed by universal studios as the " first million-dollar movie " to come out of hollywood . originally , von stroheim intended the film to run anywhere between 6 and 10 hours , and be shown over two evenings , but universal executives opposed this idea . the studio bosses cut the film drastically before the release date . in 2008 , foolish wives was selected for preservation in the united states national film registry by the library of congress as being " culturally , historically , or aesthetically significant " . 
foolish wives is a 1922 american silent drama film produced and distributed by universal pictures under their super-jewel banner and written and directed by erich von stroheim. the drama features von stroheim, rudolph christians, miss dupont, maude george, and others. when released in 1922, the film was the most expensive film made at that time, and billed by universal studios as the " first million-dollar movie " to come out of hollywood. originally, von stroheim intended the film to run anywhere between 6 and 10 hours, and be shown over two evenings, but universal executives opposed this idea. the studio bosses cut the film drastically before the release date. in 2008, foolish wives was selected for preservation in the united states national film registry by the library of congress as being " culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant ".
foolish wives is a 1922 american silent drama film produced and distributed by universal pictures under their super-jewel banner and written and directed by erich von stroheim. the drama features von stroheim, rudolph christians, miss dupont, maude george, and others. when released in 1922, the film was the most expensive film made at that time, and billed by universal studios as the " first million-dollar movie " to come out of hollywood. originally, von stroheim intended the film to run anywhere between 6 and 10 hours, and be shown over two evenings, but universal executives opposed this idea. the studio bosses cut the film drastically before the release date. in 2008, foolish wives was selected for preservation in the united states national film registry by the library of congress as being " culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant ".