Acquired by the Cinémathèque de Toulouse collection in the late 1950s, this print of Real Adventure is part of a group of King Vidor films (along with Three Wise Fools and Conquering the Woman) distributed in France through the Offices du cinéma éducateur, academic film archives that were very active during the silent film era and in the 1930s. A common practice at the time, the print owned by the Offices was a tinted safety print, which was shorter than the American version.
Even though the feminist angle of Real Adventure seems today rather mild, at the time the press and the main actress and co-producer, Florence Vidor, consistently repeated that by running away her character was trying to “challenge” her husband in order to convince him not to treat her like a “toy” but as his equal. In an interview with “Mon ciné” Vidor added: “You have no idea how much I enjoyed this role. I think it has had an enormous influence on the development of my talent,” almost echoing her character Rose Stanton, whose emancipation takes place in the world of entertainment and comedy.

Christophe Gauthier