Innocents of Paris

Innocents of Paris is a 1929 black and white American musical film. Directed by Richard Wallace and is based on the play Flea Market, the film was the first musical production by Paramount Pictures. Although the screenplay was regarded as mediocre, the critics were impressed with the newly-arrived Chevalier, for whom they predicted much success.[1] At the preview in Los Angeles, established French film-actor Adolphe Menjou congratulated Chevalier in person.[2]

The film utilized the somewhat new technology of sound. Dubbing was not a common practice, but the film makers attempted it here over stock footage of Paris. An orchestra played "Louise" under one microphone while several actors spoke street observations under another, like "What pretty flowers!", and a group of three men whistled bird calls into a third microphone. Several takes were required to get the mixing right, but what resulted was an early example of sound dubbing.[3]