Foolish Wives

Count Wladislaw Sergius Karamzin (Erich von Stroheim) takes a villa and sets about charming the wife of a new American envoy. The title is a count, but the money behind it comes from two women, Princess Olga Petchnikoff (Maude George) and Princess Vera Petchnikoff (Mae Busch), who pass as his cousins. Erich von Stroheim builds the story on the plain idea that status can be performed, and that people will pay for the performance.