The still photographs of this costume picture, showing Rudolph Valentino wearing foppish 18th century finery, are actually misleading when it comes to Monsieur Beaucaire's actual content. For much of the film, Valentino actually views his wardrobe -- and his matinee idol persona -- with sly humor. This film may have been based on a popular story by Booth Tarkington, but it belongs to Valentino all the way through, and his star quality dominates an impressive cast, which includes the likes of Bebe Daniels, Doris Kenyon, and Lois Wilson, none of them slouches in the star department. Valentino is the Duke of Chartres who can no longer stand the snipes thrown his way by Princess Henriette (Daniels). When King Louis IV (Lowell Sherman) commands that he marry her, the duke runs away. He accompanies the French Ambassador to England, disguised as his barber under the name Monsieur Beaucaire. In Bath, he becomes entranced by Lady Mary (Kenyon). He forces the Duke of Winterset (Ian MacLaren) to introduce him to her as a nobleman, but Winterset exposes him as a barber and Lady Mary snubs him. The French Ambassador arrives and reveals that Beaucaire really is a nobleman, but by then, he is no longer interested in Lady Mary. Instead, he returns to France and to Princess Henriette. Valentino's wife, Natacha Rambova, was responsible for both the art direction and set design of this picture. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
Paulette Duval - Mme. Pompadour; John Davidson - Cardinal Richelieu; Flora Finch - Duchesse de Montmorency; Louis Waller - Francois; Ian MacLaren - Duke of Winterset; Frank Shannon - Badger; Templar Powell - Molyneux; H. Cooper Cliffe - Beau Nash; Downing Clarke - Lord Chesterfield; Harry Lee - Voltaire; Florence O'Denishawn - Colombine; George Barbier; Yvonne Hughes - Duchesse de Flauhault
The Duke of Chartres is in love with Princess Henriette, but she seemingly wants nothing to do with him. Eventually he grows tired of her insults and flees to England when Louis XV insists that the two marry. He goes undercover as Monsieur Beaucaire, the barber of the French Ambassador, and finds that he enjoys the freedom of a commoner’s life. After catching the Duke of Winterset cheating at cards, he forces him to introduce him as a nobleman to Lady Mary, with whom he has become infatuated. When Lady Mary is led to believe that the Duke of Chartres is merely a barber she loses interest in him. She eventually learns that he is a nobleman after all and tries to win him back, but the Duke of Chartres opts to return to France and Princess Henriette who now returns his affection.
Monsieur Beaucaire was part of a series of box office and critical disappointments that plagued Valentino mid-career. Although the film did fairly well in big cities, it flopped in smaller locales, and could not exceed the expensive budget Olcott put into the film's production.[1] Many viewers and critics, perhaps expecting the more virile Valentino of his earlier films, felt that his onscreen persona with its heavy makeup, frilled attire and arch mannerisms (particularly in the first half) was overly feminized in Monsieur Beaucaire: a somewhat unfair accusation considering that much of the film satirizes the excesses of the court of Louis XV. Much of the blame for the film's alleged shortcomings was assigned to Valentino's wife Natacha Rambova who was felt by many of Valentino's colleagues to have had an undue influence on the costumes, set and direction of the film. The Stan Laurel parody Monsieur Don't Care (1924) reflected the general public attitude towards Monsieur Beaucaire.
