The Grand Duchess and the Waiter is a 1926 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Mal St. Clair and starring Florence Vidor and Adolphe Menjou.

A “sophisticated comedy,” this Paramount production is based on a stage play by Alfred Savoir entitled La Grande-duchesse et le garcon d'etage (1924).

[1] A Russian Grand Duchess, Xenia (Florence Vidor) has taken rooms in a lavish Paris hotel, an emigré fleeing the Bolshevik Revolution.

The wealthy Albert Belfort (Adolphe Menjou) is attracted to the duchess, but official protocol prohibits him from approaching a member of royalty without proper introductions of which none of his associates can provide.

[2][3] Exhibitors Herald in its December 19, 1925 edition termed the film “a fast, frisky, gorgeously dressed comedy” with attractive portrayals of the lead protagonists by Menjou and Vidor and based on “a charming and original comedy by Alfred Savoir.”[4] The style applied with The Grand Duchess and the Waiter is representative of those favored by Paramount in its “sophisticated romantic comedies.” According to film historian Ruth Anne Dwyer: The Duchess has the glossy, polished finish of later musicals, a patina in keeping with an urban and upscale sophisticated style.