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Foolish Wives Overview:

Foolish Wives (1922) was a Drama - Black-and-white Film directed by Erich von Stroheim and produced by Irving Thalberg.

Foolish Wives was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2008.

Foolish Wives BlogHub Articles:

More than Max: Erich von Stroheim and Foolish Wives (1922)

By shadowsandsatin on Dec 16, 2023 From Shadows and Satin

If you’re like me, you know Erich von Stroheim best as Max Von Mayerling, the butler (and first husband) of aging silent movie star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) in the classic 1950 noir Sunset Blvd. But there was so much more to von Stroheim than Max. While writing about von Stroheim for the soo... Read full article

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Foolish Wives Facts
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' (v) 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.
In an episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, 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).
Erich von Stroheim's attention to detail was such that he ordered an engraver to print copies of French money as props for the movie (he was playing the role of a counterfeiter). Unfortunately, the money printed was realistic enough that, shortly before shooting began, von Stroheim was arrested and hauled into court on counterfeiting charges. He escaped punishment by arguing to the judge that "the money was for use in pictures only."
Erich von Stroheim's excesses on the film also included ordering lavish evening gowns from Paris, silk stockings, and monogrammed silk underwear for his actors to wear so they could "feel more like aristocrats." He decorated his sets with real porcelain, tapestries and crystal chandeliers. At banquet scenes he insisted on using real champagne and caviar. When asked by a studio executive why he couldn't substitute ginger ale and blackberry jam as props for the champagne and caviar, von Stroheim replied, "Because my actors will know the difference, I will know the difference, and the camera will know the difference."
The Ambassador, played by Rudolph Christians, has his back to the camera for most of the second half of the movie because Christians died in the middle of production and his part was completed by Robert Edeson.
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