The Garden of Eden (1928 film)

The Garden of Eden is a 1928 American silent comedy drama film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Corinne Griffith, Louise Dresser, and Lowell Sherman.

Toni LeBrun (Corinne Griffith), a Viennese ingénue, is determined not to be content in her current life, staying with her aunt and uncle and working in their pretzel bakery.

She decides to leave her small-town life, traveling to Budapest to answer an ad from the Palais de Paris.

When she arrives, Toni is confused when the manager, the lecherous (and quite possibly lesbian) Madame Bauer (Maude George), asks her to show her bare legs in lieu of exhibiting her singing voice.

Before the show, the manager greets aristocrat Henri D'Avril (Lowell Sherman), giving him a menu (of sorts) of the showgirls from which to choose.

Through their reaction, Toni realizes what has happened and runs off the stage where she is comforted by the wardrobe woman Rosa (Louise Dresser), the only friend she's made since arriving in the city.

After the dinner, Richard takes Toni for a walk through the hotel's grounds and garden (the title of the film) and they fall in love, losing track of the time.

Prints are also held by the George Eastman Museum Motion Picture Collection, UCLA Film and Television Archive, and Filmoteca de Catalunya in Barcelona.

Full film