Dressmaker from Paris on AllMovie

While on leave of absence in Paris, American Air Force officer Billy Brent (Allan Forrest) meets Fifi (Leatrice Joy), a midinette, or dressmaker's apprentice. Although they are attracted to each other, Brent is suddenly called to the front and they lose touch. Years later, Brent is back home in Clarion, IL, and is the junior partner in the store owned by Angus McGregor (Ernest Torrence). He is engaged to McGregor's daughter, Joan (Mildred Harris), not realizing that she prefers Allan Stone (Larry Gray). While McGregor is out of town, Brent decides to stage a huge sale and a fashion show. When Fifi's company, now based in Chicago, receives the offer she accepts only because she sees Brent's picture on the letterhead. Brent is surprised to find the girl he knew in Paris in his small town. Trouble brews when some of the models wind up at a roadhouse and are the cause of a brawl. In the end, Brent discovers that his fiancée loves someone else, leaving him free to be with Fifi. The flimsy plot to this romance seems to exist purely for the opportunity to have a fashion show in mid-picture. This is too bad, considering some of the names attached to the production: Howard Hawks was one of the writers, Paul Bern directed, and the whole production was overseen by Cecil B. De Mille.