It is hard for me to dislike flapper movies. Even when I do not care for the plots, or pay attention because I just came off a great work week, I always check off five-star NetFlix reviews. This became the case with "The Show Off" with Lois Wilson and Louise Brooks, and "The Plastic Age" with Clara Bow, Gilbert Roland, and, get this, Carole Lombard and Clark Gable in small roles.
In "The Show Off," Louise Brooks supposedly plays a supporting role, but that remains difficult to determine. Her look is iconic, and she exudes such presence, I found myself wishing her onscreen when she was not. The story of a deceitful in-law kept me engaged enough, but Louise proved competitive. And she won.
Not that Lois Wilson did not flapper it up :-)
"The Plastic Age," on the other hand, presents a fun college story about a freshman who unsuccessfully tries to balance his academic life, his football career, and his relationship with the popular girl, played by Clara. They break up, and drama, drama, drama. I like Clara in anything. End of story!
Last night I received the documentary, Why be Good? Sexuality and Censorship in Early Cinema from NetFlix. Just over an hour long, it covers conflicts between filmmakers and censors from the 1890s to the implementation of the Hays Code in the 1930s. Mary Pickford, Louise Brooks, Fatty Arbuckle, Gloria Swanson, Rudolph Valentino, Mae West, and Clara Bow are a few of the stars it follows under this focus.
This film did not tell me much I did not already know, but I loved the selection of film clips (Many were from the 1890s and 1910s!!), rare interviews with Mary Pickford, Louise Brooks, and Gloria Swanson, and the 1920s-inspired soundtrack. Not to mention, no matter the depth, this subject remains interesting to me. I think it's so typical to treat sex in such a taboo, hypocritical way. It's worth checking out if you like film history.
In other news, has anyone kept up with TCM's annual 31 Days of Oscar? I am excited to watch Father of the Bride tonight, and Viva Zapata! and Sunrise tomorrow.
While I do not think silent films are for everyone, I always feel a little bad for those who do not like them, especially when I watch a "really good" one like Pandora's Box. In my view, they missed out. Suspenseful, stylish, sexy, and poignant, the film represents what that era of film history created that others could not.
Directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst, and starring Louise Brooks, Pandora's Box follows Lulu, a dancer and escort whose sexuality leads to her downfall. Yes, clear message here, but honestly, it's nothing new to see women onscreen punished for promiscuity or any sexual display. Yet, it remains fascinating to watch. Brooks portrays Lulu as so naive in the first half. She controls the other characters closely, and in a moment she loses it all, runs away, and arrives at another fate. Like I said, viewers expect the downfall, but that does not impact its effectiveness. Brooks' facial expressions and playfulness make her loveable, but at the same time I both disliked and pitied Lulu because she brought so much on herself.
Also, the film suggests, but does not show, many of her actions. Still, this conveys quite a difference between European (the film is German) and Hollywood films at the time, at least from what I have seen. It seems this trend would continue. I always feel Hollywood (even today) so fears offending audiences that it rarely produces "real" films. Instead, it provides "escapism." While I consider that part of the movies' appeal as well, (even Pandora's Box provides that fantasy "Jazz Age" vibe with the costumes, shows, and parties the characters indulged in) I also consider too much escapism just fluff. When I watch an American film, eight or nine times out of ten I know it is "just a movie," but I often feel differently with foreign films. Movies, like any artform, can create more than escapism, and that makes them powerful. And yes, they had better make me uncomfortable, if they show me a truth I rarely see. It is only my opinion, but this pattern frustrates me.
Anyway, I went off on a tangent here, but Pandora's Box (a scene, by the way, explicitly connects title and plot) makes me think about many things, and is worth viewing. It is sad it opened only a few years before the production codes censored everything even more.
I also found this Brooks tribute, with a random first photo of Clara Bow. I have no idea what that is about, but I like looking at her too.
