Bluebeard's 8th Wife

Bluebeard's 8th Wife was a 1921 French play by Alfred Savoir named "La huitième femme de Barbe-Bleue"; this play was translated into English by Charlton Andrews which was then made into a silent film in 1923 and later made into a sound film in 1938.

The 1923 Version

In this version the main female character is named Mona deBriac and is played by Gloria Swanson while the main male character is named John Brandon and is played by Huntley Gordon. The film premiered on August 23rd, 1923 and was directed by Sam Wood. The film was silent but had text cards for the dialogue, it was remade in sound in 1938 and the silent version was consequently lost.

An interesting thing about this film however lies not in it's actual plot or subject matter but rather in it's marketing. The film's cinematography presents a modern vision of Bluebeard wherein a man named "John Brandon" has married and divorced many women when he gets bored of them. All the known on-set photographs that invole the plot show the characters dressed in modern 1920's clothing.

Meanwhile the promotional images dress the actors in more traditional oriential style clothing typical of Bluebeard fariytales. These images facinate me and interest me immensely.

The 1938 Version

In this version the main female character is named Nicole de Loiselle and is played by Claudette Colbert while the main male character is named Michael Brandon is played by Gary Cooper.