IMDb RATING
6.5/10
1.4K
YOUR RATING
Cheri-Bibi is an escape artist wrongly imprisoned for murdering the wealthy father of his admirer Cecile. The real murderer is Cecile's fiancé, so how will Bibi escape his death sentence and... Read allCheri-Bibi is an escape artist wrongly imprisoned for murdering the wealthy father of his admirer Cecile. The real murderer is Cecile's fiancé, so how will Bibi escape his death sentence and win back Cecile?Cheri-Bibi is an escape artist wrongly imprisoned for murdering the wealthy father of his admirer Cecile. The real murderer is Cecile's fiancé, so how will Bibi escape his death sentence and win back Cecile?
Sidney Bracey
- Volunteer from Audience
- (uncredited)
Tyrell Davis
- Party Guest - Cigarette Case Trick
- (uncredited)
Claire Du Brey
- Governess
- (uncredited)
Ann Dvorak
- Maid
- (uncredited)
John George
- Prisoner
- (uncredited)
Lloyd Ingraham
- Prison Warden
- (uncredited)
Claude King
- Attorney
- (uncredited)
Louise Mackintosh
- Madame Frontenac
- (uncredited)
Philo McCullough
- 1st Volunteer
- (uncredited)
Fletcher Norton
- Raoul
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOriginally announced in 1927 as a film starring Lon Chaney under the title 'Seven Seas'.
- GoofsWhen Cheri-Bibi is about to leave Bourrelier's study, the Cigarette Case Trick Party Guest (Tyrell Davis) starts to open the door, even though Cheri-Bibi is on the other side with his hand on the door handle.
- ConnectionsAlternate-language version of Cheri-Bibi (1931)
Featured review
Nice Drama with Strong Performances
Phantom of Paris, The (1931)
*** (out of 4)
Well-made, if far-fetched, drama from MGM has John Gilbert playing Cheri-Bibi, a famous escape artist who plans on marrying a rich woman (Leila Hyams) even though her father (C. Aubrey Smith) is against it. The father is killed after an argument with Cheri, which causes a detective (Lewis Stone) to arrest him. Facing death in the matter of hours Cheri escapes from prison to prove his innocence. It's rumored that this film was originally meant for Lon Chaney, which if true would be interesting since it's also rumored that Chaney turned down THE SHOW, which then went to Gilbert. Whatever the truth is, this remains a pretty solid "B" movie that has some great acting and a pretty good story. I'm sure many might go into a title like this expecting some type of horror picture but it's pretty much a straight drama with some pretty tense scenes. I think the film takes a turn for the worse in the final fifteen-minutes when Gilbert takes the identity of the man he believes did the real killer. The two didn't look like one another but even if they did manage to fake people their different voices would have certainly given them away. Gilbert turns in another winning performance and what's so nice here is how incredibly charming he is. The early scenes with him doing the magic tricks had him "acting" to large crowds and I thought the charm came through just like you'd expect a real magician to do. Being Gilbert we also get a love story, which has the actor delivering soft lines and doing a nice job with it. Hyams is much better here than she was in her previous film (WAY OF A SAILOR) with Gilbert. The two come across like a real couple and have some pretty good scenes together. Lewis Stone turns in a fine supporting performance as does Jean Hersholt, Natalie Moorhead and Ian Keith. Smith only appears at the start of the film but he too adds nice support. This film was adapted from a novel by Gaston Leroux and for the most part it's pretty successful. I'm sure the original story had more magic but I guess you can only expect so much from a film like this. The 72-minute running time flies by without too many slow spots and in the end it's yet another film to prove that Gilbert did have a voice and he knew how to use it.
*** (out of 4)
Well-made, if far-fetched, drama from MGM has John Gilbert playing Cheri-Bibi, a famous escape artist who plans on marrying a rich woman (Leila Hyams) even though her father (C. Aubrey Smith) is against it. The father is killed after an argument with Cheri, which causes a detective (Lewis Stone) to arrest him. Facing death in the matter of hours Cheri escapes from prison to prove his innocence. It's rumored that this film was originally meant for Lon Chaney, which if true would be interesting since it's also rumored that Chaney turned down THE SHOW, which then went to Gilbert. Whatever the truth is, this remains a pretty solid "B" movie that has some great acting and a pretty good story. I'm sure many might go into a title like this expecting some type of horror picture but it's pretty much a straight drama with some pretty tense scenes. I think the film takes a turn for the worse in the final fifteen-minutes when Gilbert takes the identity of the man he believes did the real killer. The two didn't look like one another but even if they did manage to fake people their different voices would have certainly given them away. Gilbert turns in another winning performance and what's so nice here is how incredibly charming he is. The early scenes with him doing the magic tricks had him "acting" to large crowds and I thought the charm came through just like you'd expect a real magician to do. Being Gilbert we also get a love story, which has the actor delivering soft lines and doing a nice job with it. Hyams is much better here than she was in her previous film (WAY OF A SAILOR) with Gilbert. The two come across like a real couple and have some pretty good scenes together. Lewis Stone turns in a fine supporting performance as does Jean Hersholt, Natalie Moorhead and Ian Keith. Smith only appears at the start of the film but he too adds nice support. This film was adapted from a novel by Gaston Leroux and for the most part it's pretty successful. I'm sure the original story had more magic but I guess you can only expect so much from a film like this. The 72-minute running time flies by without too many slow spots and in the end it's yet another film to prove that Gilbert did have a voice and he knew how to use it.
helpful•62
- Michael_Elliott
- Aug 30, 2010
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Cheri-Bibi
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 14 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.20 : 1
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