The Flapper

In "Orange Springs" (a small town in Florida), "Girls who hobnobbed at the soda fountain were talked about." Perhaps this is why beautiful young Olive Thomas (as Genevieve "Ginger" King) sips soda with boastful boyfriend Theodore Westman Jr. (as William "Bill" E. Forbes) on her estate. They must part company as Ms. Thomas is sent to a boarding school in a snowy town near New York. Coincidently, Mr. Westman has enrolled in a military academy next to the girls' boarding school. If you've seen movies like this, you already know all-girl schools and orphanages are often built next to all-male institutions.

Thomas makes friends easily, including moth-like Katherine Johnson (as Hortense) and social butterfly Norma Shearer (as an extra with a lot of screen time). The young women like to watch men. Their favorite is mysterious and romantic Wm. P. Carlton Jr. (as Richard Channing), an older guy who rides by on a horse regularly. Thomas and her friends fantasize the horseman is a professional gambler, actor or wife-beater. Thomas thinks she's falling in love with Mr. Carlton. She puts on fun clothes to become a "flapper" and is mistaken for a bad woman. The 1920s would be known for "flappers" like Colleen Moore and Clara Bow.

"The Flapper" was written by Frances Marion, who was then writing scenarios for Mary Pickford. This film may have, in some level of development, been considered a Pickford vehicle; and, it's easy to imagine her in the lead. For whatever reasons, Thomas got the assignment. It was kept in the family, as Olive Thomas was then Mrs. Pickford (married to Jack Pickford, Mary's brother). The film is fairly routine for the time, but has been elevated due to appearing with the title "The Flapper". Thomas could be considered more a proto-type than a real flapper. Later, Cyndi Lauper (see "Girls Just Want to Have Fun") was more of a flapper.

One of the best things about watching Alan Crosland adeptly direct this film is that the picture is so well preserved. Apparently the beginning and ending title/credits are damaged or missing, but the bulk of the film looks very pleasing. It's also worth noting that Thomas, who is charming throughout, died in September 1920, the same week as Robert Harron; the young stars' shocking and mysterious deaths shook what were arguably the two biggest film families in Hollywood at the time (actress Mary Pickford and director D.W. Griffith). Young co-stars Theodore Westman Jr. and Bobby Connelly also died tragically young.

****** The Flapper (5/10/20) Alan Crosland ~ Olive Thomas, Theodore Westman Jr., William P. Carleton, Norma Shearer

Olive Thomas was a terrific actress. Too bad she died so young (see her IMDb biography for more on this). This is one of her last films as she died later in 1920--at only age 25. And, it's the most accessible as it can be downloaded for free from the link on IMDb or you can get it from Netflix (which also includes a documentary about her).

The film is a parody of the 'flapper' attitude of the post-WWI years. Many women were becoming more liberated--socially and even sexually. In the film, Olive plays a 16 year-old who desperately wants to become one of these worldly flappers. She throws herself at an older man and pretends to be a lot older and MUCH more experienced girl to impress him--all the while ignoring a nice young man who is interested in her. Towards the end, she accidentally drifts into a robbery--and is implicated although she is innocent. But, as the worldly and wicked woman she's been pretending to be, the authorities are more than willing to believe she is involved.

This film would make a terrific double-feature along with Clara Bow's "It". Both show a similar sort of character but from different perspectives. Plus, both are quite enjoyable and well written. Worth seeing and a must-see if you are a fan of silents (like me).

By the way, the bad guy in the film is played by Arthur Housman. Housman was a VERY prolific guy in silents and talking pictures and mostly played silly and affable drunks. Here he plays a very, very different sort of man.

Dame Ginger is a youngster who lives in a boring provincial town, Orange Springs; due to her behavior and yearnings for a thrilling life, her father decides to send her to a boarding school, the kind of place where the upper class girls of the 20's learn to do important things like skiing or flirting, the last habit always with the supervision of a chaperon. In such an idle but strict place, and thanks to some adventures ( she falls in love with a mysterious adult man and will be involved in a robbery ) Ginger will have finally the chance to make her most inward dream come true, to be a genuine flapper.

Herr Alan Crosland 's direction of this film is remarkable ( even though Crossland later will betray the rules of the silent cinema, by directing the first talkie in film history ) because in this early 20's film the technique, continuity and rhythm are developed in an especially suitable way for a romantic comedy. The star is Dame Olive Thomas, an actress who died early and who shows in this film her versatility by playing a character with different shades, an innocent girl transformed into a flapper. In this excellent film restoration there are is also a collection of witty, funny and politically incorrect intertitles that were enjoyed by this stiff German aristocrat thanks to their irony and longhaired impudence.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count has an appointment with a vamp, a more dangerous woman than a flapper.

Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/

The first film to feature an actress as a flapper and the first film to portray the flapper lifestyle, "The Flapper" is a modest romantic comedy on the craze that would soon take over a nation and the world. Olive Thomas is a young girl from palmy and breezy Florida whose irreverent, "flapper" attitude sends her into quite the whirl of travel, romance, intrigue and redemption. With her round drooping peepers, porcelain skin and mop of red hair Thomas' looks transcend her time with her fine acting and natural charm enhancing her appeal. The excellent restoration work gives the film a clarity highlighting its age while making it viewable. The marvel of seeing a film over a century old with the clothing, cars, acting and people of the time is a plus. Nice scenes of New York too. Viewing the film has a calm and soothing effect. Lightweight and common "The Flapper" is nonetheless a charming and watchable flick from the dawn of the Jazz Age.

I believe that all 3 of the comments for The Flapper were written by men, who didn't rate it very high. This movie was obviously made to appeal to the women, or more appropriately girls, of the day. I'm a girl and I rate it very high. The Flapper is an adorable movie about a teenage schoolgirl, Ginger King (Olive Thomas), who dreams of lovers and jazz cabarets, wanting to escape her mundane life at boarding school and ride off into the sunset with the handsome older man all the schoolgirls are in love with, Richard Channing (William P. Carleton). She fools Channing into thinking she's 20, and he takes her to a country club, but her "romantic night" is ruined when the bad girl (though she looks to be 40!) at school, Hortense, gets in her way. Throughout the rest of the film, Ginger pursues her dreams and visits 1920's nightclubs, wears glamorous clothes, but finds that being a flapper is not easy when she gets involved in a mysterious jewel heist and more! The Flapper is all fluff, but so cute! Olive Thomas shows a definite comedic flair in this movie, and it's so sad that she didn't get to go on with her career. The Flapper is a treasure, not just because of it's one of Olive Thomas' few surviving movies, but because it's a good, solid silent comedy that any silent film fan should see (whether you like chick flicks or not).