L'admirable Crichton

The silent films of Cecil B DeMille, scripted by his long-time collaborator (and mistress) Jeanie MacPherson were often bizarre, overwrought and sometimes just plain silly. Once in a while however they hit the nail right on the head. Male and Female, heavily adapted from JM Barrie's play The Admirable Crichton, is a powerful drama with some strong performances, DeMille's direction at its most lyrical, and MacPherson's storyline only occasionally veering off the rails.

The majority of DeMille films from this part of his career begin with a lengthy title card with some kind of moral or motto. However, Male and Female opens with images – the crashing sea, a sunset – before getting onto the intertitles. The typical DeMille silent would then follow this up by introducing us to each of the main characters with a title followed by a shot of them. Male and Female is no exception, but it works these introductions into the film's world and draws the audience in by making them point-of-view shots of a young servant peeping through the keyholes into his masters' and mistresses' bedrooms.

The acting style that DeMille had encouraged and developed in his silent pictures since the mid-1910s was largely naturalistic, but with the occasional broad theatrical gesture to highlight a dramatic moment. It was a style that reduced the need for intertitles, without resorting to ridiculous pantomiming. The two leads, Gloria Swanson and Thomas Meighan are both perfectly suited to this style. Meighan was probably the finest male actor DeMille had worked with since Sessue Hayakawa (in 1915's The Cheat), and his performance here is mesmerising. Swanson is also great as usual, although I have to say that although it was her run of pictures with DeMille that made her name, she didn't do her best work with him. Her talent was put to far better use in later features such as Queen Kelly and Sadie Thompson.

Aside from the performances, it's the dramatic story and its presentation that makes Male and Female so memorable. Only the basic plot of Barrie's play remains, and this is a typical DeMille/MacPherson story of the reversal of fortune and forbidden love – probably the strongest of this kind that they did before the slant in DeMille's films became increasingly moralist (and, of course, religious). Although DeMille loved these tales of class and inequality (he was at that point a socialist as well as a Christian), it is the impossible love between the two leads that is at the heart of this story. The real tragedy of Male and Female has nothing to do with the selfish pomposity of the aristocrats – it is the fact that the love between the rich woman and the poor man can only exist in this fantasy world of the remote island. This is set up from the beginning with the subplot of Swanson's friend who marries her chauffeur and becomes a social outcast. The final scenes in which the various love triangles are resolved are incredibly moving.

The only significant wrong note in Male and Female is a brief and rather pointless flashback to ancient Babylon. These historical inserts had been en vogue since Griffith's Intolerance (a more influential film than some would have us believe), but this one is rather lacklustre and it's hard to see exactly how it fits the main story. It appears more of an excuse for DeMille to work in some epic grandeur (from 1918 to 1922 he only made contemporary dramas and comedies) and MacPherson to explore her interest in reincarnation. The story does need a dramatic highpoint at the stage where the flashback comes in, but they could have done better than the Babylon sequence. Overall however Male and Female is free of much of the preachiness, questionable morality and plot holes that mar many of Jeanie MacPherson's screenplays.

Male and Female was Paramount's highest grossing film of 1919, which is no surprise. DeMille's steady flow of captivating images and his emphasis on acting performances are at their best here. In certain aspects it may appear dated, but as with many of DeMille's films we have to suspend our dependence on realism and plausibility. Of course, the island where the action takes place, with its convenient abundance of edible wildlife, sailing distance from England yet remote enough to be shipwrecked for two years, could never really exist – but it's an unreal place created to serve the story. Taken as the silent melodrama that it is, this is a stunning motion picture.

In 1952 humorist S. J. Perelman contributed a piece to The New Yorker magazine devoted to Cecil B. DeMille's silent drama Male and Female. He was a teenager when the movie was first released in 1919, and found it so enthralling he sat through it twice. More than thirty years later Perelman, by then a middle-aged playwright and essayist, saw the film again at the Museum of Modern Art and recorded his impressions. It goes without saying for anyone familiar with the man's work that his piece is hilarious, but what's surprising is how little he exaggerated. I read his essay long before I saw the movie itself, and assumed that when he quoted title cards or described the action he was employing artistic license to get laughs, but no; he described the film with journalistic accuracy and yet his article is laugh-out-loud funny. Time has not been kind to Male and Female, that is, if DeMille honestly intended to say something profound about class and gender relations, but viewed in the proper spirit the movie is still quite entertaining. Certainly it offers sumptuous production values and top-notch cinematography (and happily, survives in beautiful condition), while most of the performances are surprisingly nuanced. It's the storytelling technique that lacks subtlety, for DeMille was a moralist who could never make his points delicately when there was a sledgehammer handy.

The story is based on J. M. Barrie's 1902 stage play "The Admirable Crichton," a satire on the English class system that has been staged repeatedly and adapted into all sorts of movies over the years, and no wonder: it presents a deeply satisfying fantasy of virtue recognized and bogus class distinctions overturned-temporarily, anyway. Crichton, dignified butler in a household full of pampered, lazy snobs, proves to be the most useful person present when the whole gang is shipwrecked on a remote island in the South Seas. In the version made in the '30s, We're Not Dressing with Bing Crosby and Carole Lombard, this premise was turned into a musical comedy, while a 1957 English adaptation followed the satirical elements of the play more closely, but DeMille had his own distinctive approach to the material. As the title suggests, Male and Female plays up the romantic/erotic aspects of the role reversal, giving audiences of 1919 some of the steamiest situations then permissible.

The naughty tone is set early on, when an impish serving boy who works in the stately household of Lord Loam peeks through bedroom keyholes, giving us our first look at each major character via "keyhole shot." The most dramatic intro is reserved for the beautiful, haughty Lady Mary (Gloria Swanson), who rises from her luxurious bed and is promptly accompanied by serving girls into her marbled bathroom for a descent into a sunken tub-and celluloid immortality! This bathing sequence was an instant sensation, and lives on in the textbooks as the most famous such scene in silent cinema. Today it's a little difficult to imagine what all the fuss was about, but I'll bet your eyes won't wander from the screen. Miss Swanson was at the peak of her youthful beauty at this time, with a special charisma all her own.

Once the plot gets under way the opening sequences set up the thesis question: can lovers who cross class boundaries find happiness, or is "kind-to-kind" the only formula that works? The question is put to the test on a South Sea voyage when the Loam family's rented yacht hits the rocks, splinters apart, and strands them on an uncharted island, along with loyal Crichton and scullery maid Tweeny (the adorable Lila Lee), who is slavishly devoted to him, but well aware of the charged relationship between he and Lady Mary. Crichton soon establishes himself as the only person present who knows how to live on an island: he can build a fire, hunt, and cook a good meal, so his authority is grudgingly recognized. Two years pass, and here's where the inescapably silly elements of the story kick in. Crichton is now the unquestioned but benevolent ruler of an idyllic jungle paradise. Like the Swiss Family Robinson -or Gilligan and his friends- our castaways live in elaborate "primitive" huts that look like rustic vacation cabins where everyone wears designer pelts. Clothes horse Gloria even has a Peter Pan-style hat with a feather! We note the altered relationship between the one-time butler and his former employers: Lady Mary, who commanded Crichton with such hauteur in the opening scenes, now literally fights with Tweeny over the privilege of serving him his dinner. And it's finally explained why Mary and Crichton repeatedly yet unwittingly quote a passage of Victorian poetry concerning antiquity. It seems that, in a past life, Crichton was a Babylonian King and Lady Mary was a Christian slave, a defiant captive the King was unable to subdue, thus compelling him to feed her to "the sacred lions of Ishtar." (This is all enacted in a jaw-dropping flashback played absolutely straight.) The slave's dying curse is that the King will suffer for his deed throughout the ages, and so now, naturally, she is his superior and he waits on her-although on the island, of course, their roles have reverted to what they once were, back in ancient Babylon.

After that bizarre episode there is little left to do but arrange for the timely rescue of the castaways and then conclude with Barrie's ironic finale, in which the class system reasserts itself and all our characters revert to type. Crichton earns himself a happy ending, however, and so does the long-suffering Tweeny. This movie was a smash hit in its day, and it remains a kitschy treat for silent film buffs who enjoy exquisitely produced hokum. If you can find a copy of Perelman's essay it may help to have it handy as a sort of Viewer's Guide while you watch Male and Female: he captures its grandeur as well as its absurdity with admirable precision.

The scene was one the most dangerous the 20-year-old actress had ever filmed. In Cecil B. DeMille's third movie with Gloria Swanson, November 1919's "Male and Female," the sequence called for a lion to be hovering next to her while she lay prone on the ground. In fact, the director had decided to cancel the act after thinking about how dangerous it potentially could be for the studio's prized actress.

She insisted DeMille film the scene. "Are you menstruating?" the director asked, knowing blood sends lions into a feeding frenzy. "No," she replied. With two trainers and her father just off frame and DeMille ready with his revolver, Swanson spends some time with the lion, who is seen licking his chops. The actress, besides a faster than normal beating heart, ended unscathed and completing one of the more iconic scenes in silent movies. Little did anyone know two weeks later that same lion ended up killing a person before being put down himself.

Such was the Swanson legend born in "Male and Female." In an earlier scene in the movie, the actress, who plays a British aristocrat, enters a luxurious Turkish bath in her mansion with the help of two maids. The exotic image lingered in the minds of the public upon first viewing, and imprinted the icon of Swanson's aura of sophistication surrounded by total opulence for the remainder of her acting career.

Her role in the movie, based on a 1902 J. M. Barrie (yes, the Peter Pan creator) play called 'The Admirable Crichton,' presented a perfect personification of hers to illustrate the class separation of the English and each member's desire to stay within the framework of their class despite others' character, likability, intelligence and ability.

Swanson's selected household, relatives and boyfriend are stranded on a deserted island after their boat runs aground. The distinct societal differences so profound back in civilization evaporate into a Darwinistic survival of the fitness on the island. The butler, Crichton, becomes the leader of the group through his wilderness skills of hunting and construction. A strong love relationship develops between Swanson and Thomas Meighan, playing the butler--so much so they contemplate marriage. Once discovered and rescued, could the two revert back to class differences and be separated, or do they shrug off the artificialness of wealth that previously would constrict their love for each other?

For actress Bebe Daniels, the female sidekick for Harold Floyd since 1916, she had reached out to DeMille for an opportunity to expand her acting chops. He agreed, and she's seen in the Babylonian sequence as the King's Favorite. The movie served as a launching pad for her to star in a variety of roles in fature films well into the late 1950's.

"Male and Female" was a huge hit for Paramount Pictures, earning as much money as DeMille's previous five films together. The movie was nominated for the American Film Institute's 100 Most Passionate Films Ever Made.

Male and Female is a delightful tale of class relationships mixed with a little Gilligan's Island. The story is an old one that shows the relationship between birthed aristocracy and the peasants or in this case the servants.

The story starts off showing how shallow and frivolous the family that owns the manor are. The head off the family is a bumbling father type Lord Loam (Theodore Roberts) and his two daughters Marry (Gloria Swanson) and Agatha (Mildred Reardon) both pampered and spoiled and the many servants the two main ones being William Chrichton (Thomas Meighan) and Tweeny (Lila Lee).

^The film shows the relationships of the masters and servants with Marry getting ready for her bath and the having breakfast and complaining that nothing is done correctly while Chrichton just stands there and takes it, Tweeny has a real eye for Chrichton but he looks at Marry a relationship that could never be in proper London.

Well the family takes a sea voyage on their private yacht and the become shipwrecked. This island is more like Gilligan's Island then a real south seas island. On the Island Chrichton shows himself able to survive and find food, The manor family meanwhile refuses to work until hunger drives them to Chrichton and they are humbled and he assumes a role as leader. In the meanwhile Marry falls in love with Chrichton and this id OK with the more egalitarian social structure of the island. Well the group is rescues and things revert back to the way the were.

Cecil B. DeMille did a fine job directing this film. The film has high production value and is well acted and photographed. The story while simplistic is delightful to watch the acting is will done and the characters say a great deal through emoting. This movie gets a grade of B

Male And Female (1919) : Brief Review -

Thy created humans, all equal, humans created class, all differ. DeMille's early days' Classic is all about a powerful message rather than his trademark grandeur. I have known Cecile B DeMille for his grand films like "Cleopatra" (1933), the undeserving Oscar winner "The Greatest Show On Earth" (1952), and Biblicals like "Samson and Delilah" (1949) and "The Ten Commandments (1956, my all time favorite). But I never knew that this man had made so many silent films towards the end of the 1910s and throughout the 1920s. For me, the major boss of the silent cinema of the 20s was and always will be DW Griffith, despite the other 50+ classics I have seen from the same decade. Somehow, Male and Female came into the watchlist because of Gloria Swanson, and I'm happy about that. This film has surprised me. It has surpassed my expectations, but more importantly, it has taught me a lot. Imagine me watching the film after 103 years and still saying this. Then imagine what impact it would have left on the audience who watched it at the time of its release. Cecile DeMille's directorial doesn't have her trademark grandeur, but it has all the content you'd expect from a heartfelt and educational film. Lady Mary Lasenby is a spoiled maiden who always gets her way until shipwrecked with her butler, then learns which qualities are really admirable in a person. That tragic ending adds a cherry on top, and let me remind you again that it was 1919. Such endings were called classics in the 40s too (Casablanca), and even today, so you can imagine how it must have felt in the 1910s decade. The chemistry between Thomas Meighan and Gloria Swanson will have you hooked and leave you with some thoughts. From social injustice to class differences, human nature, Babylon references, influential cliches (love story being the most common) to equality, this film is a learning experience for many reasons. Strongly recommended!

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest.