The Garden of Eden (1928) User Reviews

Corinne Griffith Has Legs

[wes-connors · 6/10 · 16 April 2008]

Impoverished beauty Corinne Griffith (as Toni LeBrun) dreams of becoming a famous opera singer. After getting her diploma, Ms. Griffith is accepted for an audition in Budapest. She finds figures more interested in her beauty than her singing ability. Mannish Maude George (as Madame Bauer) demands Griffith, "Show me your legs", then hires her to sing at the "Palais de Paris". There, leering patrons, like Lowell Sherman (as Henri D'Avril), admire the female form. Griffith bonds with matronly worker Louise Dresser (as Rosa de Garcer), a down-on-her-luck Baroness. When Ms. Dresser's pension check comes in, she takes Griffith on a Cinderella-like adventure; and, she meets princely Charles Ray (as Richard Dupont).

Lewis Milestone (director), John Arnold (photographer), and William Cameron Menzies (designer) are responsible for some stunning, stylish work. Especially, savor Griffith's arrival at the squalid "Palais de Paris", early in the film. Later, watch for the scene with Griffith and Mr. Ray sitting at the grand piano, as the raised lid puts them in a beautiful, reflective "triangle".

Star Griffith receives a lavish, loving production. The cast is very entertaining, especially Dresser and Ms. George, who more often supported Erich von Stroheim. Ray seems a little uncomfortable at times; a decade earlier, he routinely offered superior performances. Although, the story is rather routine, it's nice to have "The Garden of Eden" around; thanks to "Flicker Alley".

****** The Garden of Eden (2/4/28) Lewis Milestone ~ Corinne Griffith, Charles Ray, Louise Dresser, Maude George

Showgirls, Silent Movie Style!

[Spuzzlightyear · 8/10 · 14 September 2004]

A pretty amazing artifact of the pre-code area, Garden of Eden features Corrinne Griffith as an opera singer wanting to make it big. She leaves a note to her Mom and Dad Bakers ("I don't want to make pretzels any more!" and heads of to Budapest (!!) to a theater who she got a telegram from. Little does she know that the telegram is from a speakeasy joint with dancing girls, headed by a lesbian manager! After being fooled by wearing a see through dress and pawed by one of the fans, her and a sympathetic dressmaker hightail it out of there. The first half, quite amazingly, is VERY similar to 'Showgirls', so much that I am sure that Paul Verhoeven watched this film for ideas. We almost take a 180 degree turn as the action switches to Monte Carlo, to this Parlor Room comedy. The woman, in a hardly believable turn of events, uses her war pension every year to stay at one of the swankiest joints in Monte Carlo, and spends the next 50 in squalor in Budapest. This, I think, is a woman in serious need of an accountant. Anyways, her and the girl sign in as Mother and Daughter (somehow, in the 2 weeks they stay there, she legally adopts her), and the girl is wooed by 2 suitors. The rest is pretty much of the "hiding behind doors when he's not supposed to" Three's Company company variety. But the end wedding scene is a whooping hi-light, when the lead actress rips off her wedding dress and hightails it out of there as the wedding march plays!

Pretty amusing, nicely directed and beautifully photographed. Check this one out if you can!

The original Eve was lucky – Adam had no relatives"

[ackstasis · 7/10 · 6 January 2009]

Lewis Milestone's nearly-forgotten 'The Garden of Eden (1928)' is an endlessly-pleasant romantic comedy, featuring Corinne Griffith, a major actress of the silent era who has since fallen largely into obscurity. By 1928, Milestone was already an established director, having won his first Oscar for 'Two Arabian Knights (1927),' a war-time comedy; his second award would come for the classic WWI drama 'All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).' Even just from the latter film, one can deduce that Milestone had an incredible flair for visual storytelling, and few will ever forget that poignant image of a soldier's hand reaching out for the quivering wings of a butterfly. 'The Garden of Eden,' despite a considerably less epic storyline, nonetheless boasts equally impressive photography, courtesy of cinematographer John Arnold. Furthermore, a completely unpretentious, if occasionally incredible, screenplay from Hanns Kräly, based on a play by Rudolph Bernauer and Rudolf Österreicher, ensures likable characters and amusing comedic situations. This isn't a forgotten masterpiece, but it is nonetheless a delightful little find.

Toni LeBrun (Corinne Griffith) is an aspiring opera singer who, having tired of making pretzels for her aunt and uncle, strikes out for Budapest for a new life. However, the Palais de Paris nightclub isn't quite as prestigious as she had expected, and the vampiric owner (Maude George) exploits Toni's naiveté to spice up her seedy burlesque house. It is through this job that she meets Rosa (Louise Dresser), an old baroness who improbably works fifty miserable weeks a year to enable an extravagant two-week splurge of her yearly pension. The usual romantic hijinks follow as Toni falls for the dashing Richard Dupont (Charles Ray), despite the competing interests of his aged uncle, and that tiny complication whereby she neglected to mention that she wasn't really the baroness' daughter. There's plenty of hiding-behind-doors gags, the sort that you'd probably find in a Marx Brothers comedy. My favourite scene involves a playful game of "flick your light switch" between the two flirting would-be lovers that turns the entire building into a Christmas tree of flashing lights.

Griffith is gorgeous in the main role, and her character sympathetic, despite being, at times, somewhat befuddling. Just when you think she's been totally charmed by her male suitor, Toni rather rudely snubs him, and you can't tell whether she's playing hard-or-get, or is simply in denial. She even twice replies "no!" to the minister's proposed marriage vows, before inexplicably changing her mind at the last moment. Also memorable is the prelude to the wedding ceremony, which sees the bride strutting down the stairs, half-dressed, all to the tune of the wedding march. Despite being a silent film, 'The Garden of Eden' places considerable emphasis on music, and Milestone uses imaginative visual techniques to simulate the musical notes. Additionally, for the 2002 Flicker Alley DVD release, composer Robert Israel has written an excellent music score that, unlike the bulk of silent film accompaniments, actually takes note of what is happening in the story. A two-strip Technicolor dream sequence, featuring Toni as the opera singer she imagines herself becoming, is considered lost.

Masterpiece of silent cinema

[morrisonhimself · 10/10 · 16 January 2005]

This would have been one of my recommendations if it had nothing else but Corinne Griffith starring in it.

She is, as usual, marvelous. And beautiful. And charming. As usual.

But in addition, it is magnificently directed by Lewis Mileston. He has created a visual masterpiece of the silent cinema.

I remember some of my film school classmates (too many years ago) being so impressed by "The Scarlet Letter," and exclaiming how modern it looked.

Too many people think movies went from "The Great Train Robbery" to Chaplin shorts to "The Jazz Singer." They just don't know how films evolved.

Later silent films often used a very mobile camera that made them more "movies" than many early talkies.

"The Garden of Eden" is a prize example of how to enhance a story with visuals. Milestone used pictures to make this motion picture tell the tale, although there were lots of intertitles. (Another example is "Lady Windermere's Fan," based on a story by the very verbal Oscar Wilde but still made enjoyable to watch by director Ernst Lubitsch's photographic technique.) "The Garden of Eden" is fun, well acted, beautifully directed, and more than worth the hour-and-a-half it takes to watch.

In the best romantic style

[rsoonsa · 9/10 · 12 September 2001]

This is a delightful film based upon a play by Avery Hopwood, an adaption of a work by Rudolph Bernauer and Rudolf Oesterreicher, featuring a radiant and vivacious Corinne Griffith as Toni LeBrun, a would-be diva who is adopted as ward by a baroness (Louise Dresser) who takes her to Monte Carlo where romantic adventures then take place. The work is directed by Lewis Milestone, one of the few Americans who may be described as a cinematic auteur, predicated upon his clear stylistic methods, in evidence here in this leisurely paced effort, in particular with clever establishing, long and detail shots used in the seamless decoupage typical of silent filmmaking at its best, and certainly present in this influential picture. The keen expressivity of art director William Cameron Menzies and the technically flawless cinematography of John Arnold are absorbed by Milestone as this trio combine in presenting a stream of interesting imagery, some of which has been copied but not bettered in the sound era. A highly polished supporting cast backs Griffith, notably Charles Ray as her romantic favorite, Lowell Sherman as a knavish would-be nobleman, Maude George, who portrays an androgynous stage manager and Dresser in a typically well-defined performance as Toni's adoptive mother. Rosa Rio, at the Wurlitzer, plays the original score with a great deal of wit and neatly interpretive passage-work; a perfect aural mating with a sublimely visual feast.

A quiet and charming little comedy, with some highly interesting visuals...

[Ziggy5446 · 9/10 · 27 January 2008]

The Garden of Eden is a charming but obscure silent comedy from 1928 and was an important film for both its talented director Lewis Milestone, a two-time Academy Award Best Director winner, and its beguiling star Corinne Griffith, a once-popular and now nearly-forgotten star of silent cinema.

It's adapted to the screen by Avery Hopwood and Hans Kraly from the play by Rudolph Bernauer and Rudolf Österreicher. It features marvelous art-direction courtesy of William Cameron Menzies, who later became a director of films. It also stars Charles Ray as the sophisticate who falls in love with Griffith who he thinks has a title. Ray's specialty was playing country bumpkins, and this Cinderella tale offered him a chance to go against type and perhaps revive his sagging career. However, comeback attempts were hampered by the advent of the sound picture.

Griffith as always shines and gives a capable and graceful performance. Her beauty has not been missed by Mr. Milestone in his direction of the scenes. Louise Dresser and Lowell Sherman do well by their parts and Edward Martindel is sympathetic as a love-sick uncle. Ray escapes his normal hick role even if the naive innocent aura still hangs over him.

Structurally the film is divided into three sub-movies which could almost be played independently. The first portion is Toni LeBrun's experience at the "Palais de Paris," a cabaret that she naively thinks is an opera hall. The next movie segment concerns the wooing of Toni by rival uncle and nephew. The last section of the film is also set in the Hotel Eden, however, the plot of this section deals with Toni's wedding.

On occasion, there are some visually dazzling shots, such as Toni and Richard seated at a grand piano, perfectly reflected in the raised lid, while the room slowly rotates around them. But overall The Garden of Eden is fun and moves briskly enough. The pacing is aided by a slight under cranking that provides a slightly sped-up feeling that boosts the comic effect. However, it's not overdone to the point of ridiculousness. Sadly a Technicolor dream sequence of Toni as a great opera star, prefiguring her later assumed wealth, remains unfortunately lost.

Nimble Little Chick Flick Comedy

[zardoz-13 · 10/10 · 8 June 2010]

Lewis Milestone enjoyed a long, prestigious career in Hollywood. He directed over 40 films, from the Oscar-winning Best Picture of 1930 "All Quiet on the Western Front," where he won the Best Director's Oscar, to the maritime Marlon Brando epic "Mutiny on the Bounty" in 1962. Milestone made his share of good World War II movies, principally "Edge of Darkness" and "A Walk in the Sun." Milestone's eleventh outing, the silent, black & white, romantic comedy "The Garden of Eden," is a tale of initiation based on a German play. Clocking in at a minimal 78 minutes, this lightweight but flirtatious "Cinderella" saga about a single girl who discovers Mr. Right generates a lot of laughs. Watching it is like watching a 1980s chick flick as the impressionable heroine finds true love and happiness after enduring some hardship. What most people will find entertaining about this silent movie is its modern sensibility. Is Madame Bauer a bisexual? Milestone proves above everything else that he had a nimble touch when it came to comedies. Of course, bona fide film geeks will appreciate the fact that William Cameron Menzies served as art director on this amusing piece of fluff. Menzies won an Oscar for "Gone with the Wind." The Academy recognized him for his "outstanding achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood in the production of Gone with the Wind." Interestingly, the year before "The Garden of Eden" came out, Menzies received his first Oscar for Best Art Direction for "The Dove" (1927) and the same year that "The Garden of Eden" went into release, he received his second Oscar for "Tempest."

A headstrong but naïve young woman, Toni LeBrun (Corinne Griffith), decides to pursue a career as an opera singer. Before she can realize her dream, she has to abandon the pretzel making business at the Viennese bakery where she works with her aunt and uncle and leave town. Clearly, Toni cannot discuss this career decision with her relatives because she has to sneak out of their house and catch a late train for Budapest. "The Garden of Eden" depicts what happens when this optimistic, misguided girl from the country arrives alone in the big city, and goes to a metropolitan night club, the Palais de Paris, to audition for a role. Instead, Toni finds herself having to hoist her dress so that the business savvy manager, Madame Bauer (a masculine-looking Maude George of "The Marriage Bubble"), can gaze at them. "Good! I'm sure you'll be a great success as an opera singer," Bauer observes with more than a little irony. Bauer slips the cabaret seamstress, Rosa (Louise Dresser of "Salomy Jane"), a hand written message to put Toni in the 'Seemore' outfit. When the curtains rise at the Palais de Paris, Toni is stomping around backstage having a temper tantrum because of the modest costume that she has to wear. She refuses to wear it and Madame Bauer arrives in time to hear Toni's complaints. Bauer steps forward and reprimands Rosa for giving Toni such a revealing dress. Rosa reminds Bauer that she told her specifically to prepare the Seemore dress for Toni. Bauer approves a new dress, the Puritan costume, and Toni has no qualms about wearing this conservative apparel. Although it hasn't sunk into her head yet, Toni doesn't seem to realize that the Palais is a gentleman's club, and Madame Bauer is nothing less than a female pimp. One of Bauer's wealthy customers, Henri D'Avril (Lowell Sherman of "Satan in Sables"), wants to have a drink with Toni, and Bauer provides a private room for them. Rosa watches as a cabaret waiter locks Toni and Henri in the room. Eventually, after she drinks a couple of glasses of liquor, Toni freaks out and the lights go out. Rosa is frantic about this arrangement and pulls out her key to unlock the door. When the lights come on again in the private room, Henri finds himself kissing Rosa instead of Toni. Madame Bauer fires both Toni and Rosa on the spot. Rosa's response is to embark on her annual vacation where she lives like royalty at the Hotel Eden in Monte Carlo, and she drags Toni along with her. At the hotel, she signs register as Baron her in as her daughter Antoinette.

As they settle into their luxurious hotel room, Toni limbers her fingers up on a piano. She plays music that attracts the attention of a young man, Richard Dupont (Charles Ray of "Alias Julius Caesar") and he manages to get her attention. The remainder of this introduction scene and the bedroom scene later are two of the best scenes in "The Garden of Eden." The first one involves a system of signaling each other that they discover quite by accident. In other words, they flick the lights on and off in rapid succession. Before long everybody else in the hotel mimics them, much to Rosa's chagrin. Richard calls Toni on the phone, but winds up talking with Rosa. He wants to visit Toni in person and Rosa plans to surprise him, not unlike she did Henri at the Palais de Paris. Richard opens the wrong door and sees Toni at another door facing the room where Rosa is playing the piano. This entire scene is a masterpiece of blocking. Richard winds up stuck behind a door when Rosa undresses and then he cannot leave because uncle shows up to romance the ladies. At the last moment, he appears and ends up going to eat with them. The repetitive way that Richard has to dodge back and forth behind the door is hilarious. A scene almost as funny occurs not long afterward when Toni and Richard take a sleeping powder and struggle to stay awake. Eventually, Richard persuades Toni to marry him, but problems occur when Henri D'Avril shows up for Richard's wedding and exposes Toni for who she really is.

"The Garden of Eden" is fantastic!

Cute little romance from 1928 that packs a big punch

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 8 July 2006]

This is a sweet little comedy from 1928 starring Corrine Griffith. She plays Toni, a young girl that leaves home in search of a career as an opera singer. However, when she arrives at the theater that promised her a job, she finds that it's really a sleazy cabaret and she is manhandled by one of the patrons after she performs. She fights back and both she and her older friend, Rosa, are fired. Instead of going looking for a job, Rosa insists that Toni come with her on vacation as her guest. However, Rosa is a seamstress and Toni has no idea HOW they can afford to stay in the swanky hotel she takes them to. Rosa signs in as a baroness and Toni as her daughter. It turns out Rosa didn't lie too badly, as she really is a poor baroness and she adopts Toni.

A short time later, Toni meets a nice rich guy and, after initially disliking each other, they fall in love. Shortly afterwards, he asks her to marry him. The only problem is, Toni hasn't told her about herself--he thinks she's a rich lady.

How this is all worked out is pretty cute and pretty sweet. All-in-all, this is a wonderful little romance highly reminiscent of some of the Hollywood romances of the 30s and 40s. Nice acting, direction and writing make this one of the brighter films of the silent era.

A SPECIAL NOTE: This DVD was released by Flicker Alley--a company I have never heard of in my life. Despite this, it is about the best packaged silent film I have seen in ages. The print is absolutely top-notch, plus the film comes with two short subject films--both of great historical value and with accompanying notes. This is a tremendous value and I strongly recommend it. I hope all future films I see from Flicker Alley are of such stellar quality.

Good Silent

[Michael_Elliott · 28 February 2008]

Garden of Eden, The (1928)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Lewis Milestone directed this film shortly after winning his Best Director Oscar (the first in history). A country girl (Corinne Griffith) goes to Budapest to become an Opera star but she soon ends up working in a sleazy nightclub where the women are exploited. This is a pretty good, if routine, early drama that features a very good performance by Griffith but the thing has one familiar act after another, which is the reason it's not a total success. The film is pretty heavy on the sexual side of things as there are a couple scenes where Griffith has to strip down. We don't see any actual nudity but the film was pretty controversial back in the day for what it does show including a strip down at the end of the film as well as her wearing a see through gown towards the start of the film. The supporting players also offer fine performances but the film tends to drag towards the end.

A Loving Trip to Monte Carlo

[akoaytao1234 · 8/10 · 7 October 2023]

When a relatively poor Countess came across a trafficked Opera singer, she rescues her and led her to a trip of a lifetime. They met and dine and discover the many riches of Monte Carlo.

Oh such a simple and heartwarming romance. Pretty much most of the story is simple, a waif finds love in an expected place and until her secret is lodged against it but it worked. A Done to the death concept but the film just have enough fluff and enough darkness for it to just work.

Griffith's was wonderful as the duped Opera Singer turned lovelorn Monte Carlo socialite. She hard carries the film's twist and turns well. Milestone's pitch perfect direction made the film an easy watch, especially for its age - the pace of the film is just sublime enough to feel modern. Importantly, I would also like to give kudos to Hanns Kräly, for this wonderfully adapted script. This film has a lot of twist and turns that can be a bit too much for a untested hands but it turned out quite well.

Overall, a wonderful find and example of great Silent Romances.

Lewis Milestone directed romance drama silent starring Corinne Griffith

[jacobs-greenwood · 19 December 2016]

A young Viennese girl Toni LeBrun (Corinne Griffith), determined not to stay in her current situation, living with her aunt and uncle working in their pretzel bakery, earns a correspondence course degree as an opera singer. She decides to leave her small town life, traveling to Budapest to answer an ad from the Palais de Paris. However, the ad was a sham - a way to get girls for cheap stage shows and more, for its wealthier clientele.

When she arrives, Toni is confused when the manager, Madame Bauer (Maude George), asks her to show her legs in lieu of exhibiting her singing voice; she is hired nonetheless. Still ignorant of the set- up, she refuses to wear the skimpy costume assigned and is given a white "puritan" costume instead. Before the show, the manager greets aristocrat Henri D'Avril (Lowell Sherman), giving him a "menu" of the showgirls from which to choose. When he asks if there is anyone new, he is directed to Toni's name on the program. When Toni begins her performance in earnest, the audience starts to slumber, given her conservative dress. But the manager directs a lighting change, which causes her translucent clothing become highly revealing. Through their reaction, Toni realizes what has happened and runs off the stage where she is comforted by the wardrobe woman, Rosa (Louise Dresser), the only friend she's made since arriving in the city.

However, Madame Bauer is not through with Toni yet; she has arranged a rendezvous for her with D'Avril in a room off the stage. Once locked inside with Toni, he quickly tries to take advantage. She struggles against his advances which are heard by Rosa, who is able to come to her rescue. When Madame Bauer discovers that her client didn't get what he wanted, she fires Toni and Rosa on the spot. Conveniently, Rosa was about to leave on a vacation anyway and persuades the forlorn Toni to go with her. They go to Monte Carlo, but Toni is now suspicious of other people's motives. So when Rosa signs the Eden Hotel register as "Baroness & her daughter", Toni accuses her of being no better than Madame Bauer. However, Rosa has documentation which proves that she is in fact a Baroness, and tells Toni that she signed the registration that way because she wishes it were so. Hugs, kisses, etc..

Later, when Toni is playing the piano in her room, she is spotted through the window from across the courtyard by Richard (Charles Ray). In one of the many amusing scenes in the film, he tries to get her attention by signaling her, turning on & off the lights in his room. As a gag, she responds with same, causing everyone else on his entire side of the hotel to do it too. When Rosa sees it, she stops the "lightning bug" nonsense. However, Richard then decides to call Toni's room, but Rosa answers and decides to invite him over to put a stop to "it". She plays the piano while she waits for Richard to arrive. But he arrives at Rosa's door, where Toni is. Tired of unwanted suitors, she appears uninterested in his flirting, yet doesn't reveal him when Rosa returns & he hides behind a door. Colonel Dupont (Edward Martindel) arrives to call on Rosa, but is instantly entranced by Toni. In the doorway, he asks the two ladies to dinner which is witnessed by Richard, who just moments earlier had escaped from their room via another door. Upon hearing their acceptance, Richard joins them, revealing that the Colonel is his uncle. After the dinner, Richard takes Toni for a walk through the hotel's grounds and garden (the title of the film) and they fall in love, losing track of the time.

The rest of the film has Toni being wooed by both Richard and his uncle with a song one of them wrote on the piano. However, there is a surprise involving D'Avril which threatens a happy ending for Toni.

This silent was directed by Lewis Milestone, All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).