Foolish Wives (1922)
Directed by: Erich von Stroheim
Cast: Rudolph Christians, Miss DuPont and Maude George
IMDb page about Foolish Wives
Studio(s): Universal Studios Hollywood
This view of the Universal back lot from 1922 shows the lavish Monte Carlo sets used for Stroheim's Foolish Wives (1922). From Movie Nostalgia, 1984.
With spiralling budgets and massive sets constructed on the Universal City backlot, the only option for Universal to try to recoup it's costs was to embark on a major publicity campaign based on the fact that this, in 1922, was "THE FIRST MILLION DOLLAR PICTURE"
Erich Von Stroheim's epic story of a womanising "Count" in Monte Carlo following WWI was the first of Universal's productions to warrant the category "Super Jewel". (The branding system used until this movie consisted of three tiers; Red Feather (low budget), Bluebird (mainstream releases) and Jewel (prestige movies produced and marketed to gain higher ticket revenues from roadshow style venues).