A Woman Of Paris (1923)

A young woman (Edna Purviance) and her artist boyfriend (Carl Miller) plan to leave their small village and move to Paris where they will be married. But when he doesn't meet her at the train station, she leaves on her own and one year later, she is the mistress of a wealthy man (Adolphe Menjou) and living a life of luxury. Written and directed by Charles Chaplin, who does not appear in the movie. This romantic melodrama is an atypical film for Chaplin as it is with minimal humor. Although  well received by critics, the public wasn't interested in a "serious" Chaplin and they stayed away. The film is fine (except for the sentimental twaddle we're fed in the last 5 minutes) but it doesn't represent Chaplin at his best. Chaplin could do drama and comedy in the same film (as in CITY LIGHTS) so the emphasis on the dramatic situation here feels a bit heavy handed. Though to be fair, there are dollops of humor sprinkled through out the film as when Purviance's two friends (Betty Morrisey, Malvina Polo) cattily dance around the fact that Polo dated Purviance's sugar daddy the night before. With Lydia Knott and Charles K. French.