They become a sensation in the Wintergarten and all is well until Artinelli seduces the young girl and then his aging partner seeks revenge. The plot of Variet is a rather trite and conventional melodrama of heated passion and seething jealousy. It was a tremendous hit in New York City where it did a sensational business for over six weeks. The subsequent viewers in the other parts of the United States saw the censored version that were missing the opening scenes where the owner of the carnival meets the new dancer and he eventually deserts his family and moves to Berlin with his new girlfriend. The American sanitized version has him and his girl friend as man and wife.
Variety is a corking picture, made anywhere as it has been much in Germany.
It has variety, so much, so many an American director may be only to eager to watch it the second time. The screen adaptation of the novel was done by Dupont who once had been the manager of a vaudeville theatre and was acquainted with carnival atmosphere. The film was also notable for its unconventional impressionistic use of swirling light and movement and spectacular camera effects. It was a tremendous success, stylistically influential, and brought Dupont to the attention of Hollywood, where, rather sadly, he ended up making mostly B-movies. She began as a dancer in Vaudeville and eventually became a ballet dancer in Berlin.