The Cardboard Lover (1928)

Those of you who saw Jeanne Eagels in the stage play by this name, when it ran for a year on Broadway, are, no doubt, eagerly awaiting Marion Davies' screen interpretation. And what a treat you have in store! The story is laid in Monte Carlo, one of the beauty spots of the world. It all begins with the efforts of an American school girl to secure a tennis champion's autograph. The champ loves a French vamp, but our girl is not abashed by that. Chasing him to the gambling table, she loses ten thousand francs to him at baccarat. She can't pay and, to cancel the debt, his fiancee, to keep the siren away, the stage play.

Of course, Marion Davies is the American girl, and her: priceless comedy builds one laughable situation right upon the other. Jetta Goudal plays the exotic siren and wears clothes that would make Paquin and Worth turn green with envy. One of the funniest scenes in the picture is where Marion throws a bedspread over her shoulders, stuffs part of the mattress in her hair, and emerges as the vamp. Nils Asther, the leading man, plays his first comedy role and wins new friends. De Segurola has an obnoxious part, but proves he can act as well as sing.

This ultra-modern farce comedy furnishes everything you can desire in the way of screen entertainment; the last word in sets, the last word in clothes and one of the best comedies of the season.

Photoplay October 1928