Ruined financially by a series of misguided business ventures, popular leading man
Charles Ray was forced to relinquish his own production company and sign on as a "hired hand" at MGM. The third of Ray's four MGM vehicles was Paris, in which the former "All-American boy" tried to shed his image in the role of Jerry, a wealthy, worldly American tourist. Falling in love with a Parisian apache dancer (
Joan Crawford) he follows her to a seedy dive, where he is stabbed by her jealous lover (Douglas Gilmore). Hoping to save her lover from execution, the girl takes the seriously wounded Jerry to her apartment and nurses him back to health. Jerry falls in love with the girl, but ultimately she ditches him in favor of her Gallic sweetheart. While Paris did nothing for
Charles Ray's fading career, it worked wonders on the ascending stardom of
Joan Crawford. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide