The Flapper

The radiantly beautiful Olive Thomas is just about believable as sixteen- year-old Genevieve King, although she was actually 24 or 25 at the time. It seems certain that the common, early movie practice of chest-strapping was used here. In the movie, in spite of the title, Olive plays what was known as a 'Baby Vamp'.

Genevieve is a bored upper-crust girl, who lives in a classic plantation mansion, well provided with colored servants. Unfortunately, the flighty, potentially vampish, teenager, was prone to disappearing with a male friend, and, after being double-crossed by a governess, father packs her off to a girl's boarding school. Here she falls in with some unsavory schoolgirls, and is easily led into being a naughty girl….one who is keen to attach herself to a particular adult man whom she informs that she is 'about twenty' and not sixteen as she's meant to be in the film.

After many adventures and a ridiculous suicide attempt, Genevieve decides to transform herself into a flapper, although, in her new garb, she is not girly enough to be a flapper of the 1920s. It seems 1920 was a transitional year during which the line between vamp, flapper and even diva was blurred. Flapper, however, was the 'in' term.

Snow scenes always work well in black and white film, and the scene with the horse drawn sleigh and girls sledging is no exception. The scene where the girls turn over their sledges at speed on a downhill run is not as comical as it seems. These extras were in fact badly injured in the shoot, and they filled the local hospital with their broken bodies.

Ginger-haired, violet-eyed Olive Thomas (nee Duffy) was of Irish descent, and became the wife of Jack Pickford (brother of Mary). She had been in the Zeigfield Folies before entering the movies, but it was while on a European tour with Jack that she somehow ingested a solution of bichloride of mercury. It may have been accidental or, perhaps, suicide. She died five days later, leaving Jack devastated, although sister Mary seemed unconcerned for the 'World's Sweetheart' (Mary was only 'America's sweetheart'). One person who was concerned was Mabel Normand, a good friend of Jack. It seems Mabel never met Olive, but had a signed photo of the Baby Vamp in her dressing room and an album of her photos at home. After Olive died, Mabel spent many hours sitting with her grieving mother, and always remained very angry about the circumstances of Ollie's death. Jack Pickford built a mausoleum in New York and had Ollie interred within it. This had the Pickford name inscribed over its doorway, but no other Pickford was ever buried there. We can assume that the sweet Mary, who didn't bother to attend the funeral, saw to that.

Olive seems very modern-looking in her films, and very unlike, say, Mabel Normand who was an entrenched Edwardian. Ollie could easily be cast in a picture today, whereas Mabel is clearly the face of the 1890s (producers have never found any modern actress Mablescent enough to portray her accurately). The World's Sweetheart would undoubtedly have gone on to play more mature, womanly roles had she lived, while Miss Normand and Miss Pickford were hamstrung by their child-like appearance (off-screen as well as on-screen).

One of several meanings of the term 'flapper' is a teenage girl. Less flattering definitions include young prostitutes and female dancers. Most likely, a combination of the varying interpretations of 'flapper' resulted in the look and lifestyle of a segment of the female population during the 1920's which symbolized the departure from the traditional matronly ethos of generations past.

The development of 'flappers' emerged after the trauma of World War One. Their iconic image received a huge boast in Selznick Pictures' May 1920 "The Flapper." Young actress Olive Thomas plays cinema's first epitome of the Jazz Age's independent women, beginning with her scene midway in the movie. As a schoolgirl traveling on break, she's invited by an another schoolmate and her boyfried to a nightclub. She tries on the 'flapper' outfit contained in the luggage the couple demands she transport back to her father's home in Florida, where they secretly plan to pick up the stolen goods. Seeing an older man she admired back in school at the club, Thomas, wanting to impress him, exhibits all the mannerisms of future flappers by smoking a cigarette in public and acting cool.

The Frances Marion script was capitalizing on an emerging trend just in its early stages. But seeing the rebellious and confident Thomas as a young woman adopting a flapper image solidified the movement going forward.

"The Flapper" was Thomas' last viewable surviving movie she made (She acted in a later lost film, 'Darling Mine,' and a posthumously-released film, 'Everybody's Sweetheart," which is currently unavailable for public viewing.). At 25, Thomas and her husband Jack Pickford, Mary's brother, took what they called their second honeymoon in France. Their marriage, a tempestuous one at best, was filled with fights and tender make-ups ever since they had been married in October 1916. During their stay in Paris, the two returned to the hotel room on the night of September 5, 1920, after an evening of heavy drinking. According to Pickford, who was prescribed a topical medication for syphilis sores, Thomas mistook the French label on the container for water or as a sleeping liquid, despite its gooey substance, and swallowed some. The poisonous mercury bichloride solution was fatal, killing her five days later in a Paris hospital.

The media had a field day on the cause of her death. Sensational headlines screamed accusations from suicide to her being murdered by Pickford in order to claim her life insurance. The French police investigated all the circumstances behind the incident and, with the autopsy report, confirmed her death was accidental. "Olive and I were the greatest pals on Earth," lamented Pickford. "Her death is a ghastly mistake."

On the way back to the States with her body, Pickford had been rumored to have attempted suicide, so distraught was he. In an emotionally crowded funeral service in New York City, women fainted and several onlookers were crushed rushing to view her casket. Thomas is buried in a crypt at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx.

I viewed the Eastman House print of this film, which unfortunately is missing the original opening credits and inter-titles from the first reel. From the second reel onwards, there are some clever visual gimmicks in the titles -- at one point, part of a caption is replaced by footage of a boy riding a hobby-horse while the rest of the caption remains in place; at another point, a title flips over on its vertical axis when the villains enter the room, turn round, and go out again -- so I wonder what pleasures I might have missed in those first-reel inter-titles.

The title of 'The Flapper' is ironic, as this movie's heroine is an innocent ingenue who merely pretends to be a jazz-baby flapper. The beautiful Olive Thomas (age 25) plays 16-year-old Genevieve King, and in nearly every sequence she is believable as a teenager. Genevieve (nicknamed 'Ginger' for her high spirits) is sent off to the girls' seminary run by strict disciplinarian Mrs Paddles (hmm...), where the students wear Peter Thompson sailor uniforms. Two of Ginger's schoolmates are played by Norma Shearer and her sister Athole, but they have no dialogue or specific business.

Distinguished older man Richard Channing rides past the seminary every day, prompting romantic fantasies among the schoolgirls. When 16-year-old Ginger connives a sleigh ride with Channing, she tells him she's 'almost twenty'. To Channing's credit, he dumps her toot-sweet when he learns the truth.

This is one of those ladies' seminaries that has a safe full of jewellery. A student named Hortense (who definitely looks to be in her mid-20s) heists the swag and runs off with her henchman Thomas Morran, played by Arthur Housman. This actor had a long career playing funny drunks, so I was pleased to see him in a dramatic role that let him stay sober. Director Alan Crosland stages one scene cleverly, with Housman on-camera aiming a revolver at Olive Thomas, who is seen only as a reflection in the mirror. Our little Ginger has got herself involved in the jewel heist. She behaves very implausibly.

Among this film's pleasures are some beautiful wintry exteriors (filmed near Ithaca, NY) and some shots of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. There are a few continuity errors. Among others: Olive Thomas boards an omnibus as it travels south in Fifth Avenue's west carriageway below 42nd Street. A moment later, as she steps off the 'bus, it's now travelling north in Fifth Avenue's east carriageway above 42nd Street.

African-Americans are seen quite prominently in this film, but only as musicians and waiters with no dialogue. I was very impressed by a dramatic device at nearly the very end of this movie, when events in the lives of Ginger King and another character are presented as incidents in a (non-fiction) newsreel. This same device was later used in 'Citizen Kane', but I doubt that Orson Welles ever saw 'The Flapper': he was only five years old when this movie was released.

Despite some implausible motivations, 'The Flapper' is mostly a realistic comedy, so I was annoyed by an 'impossible' gag in which a stuffed elk's head winks its eye at Olive Thomas. Even more distressing were two sequences with Ginger King in drama-queen mode: in the first, she attempts suicide; in the second, she vows to become 'a dope fiend'. The beautiful and talented actress Olive Thomas died shortly after this film was released, from what appears to have been an intentional drugs overdose. (It was ruled an accident ... but the facts indicate that it was a suicide, hushed up to avoid scandal.) Because these sequences foreshadow Olive Thomas's tragic death, they manage to cast a sombre tone over the entire film. I'll rate 'The Flapper' 6 out of 10.

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

this is the best film Olive Thomas ever did IMHO. Easily!, Im won over now on her persona. It's directed by one of the best directors of the silent era Alan Crosland. This is a wonderfully preserved homage to both Thomas as an actress & Crosland as director. The original & wonderfully drawn Selznick intertitles are intact in this wonderful story by Frances Marion. The film is so well preserved and crystal clear with almost no nitrate deterioration whatsoever. Early scenes are shot in Florida & we se Olive in an expressive traveling shot proceeding up a canal in a motor launch. Olive Thomas is a cross between both Mary Pickford & Marguerite Clark in girlishness. What a pity that Thomas died not long after wrapping this movie. Without giving any plot away, Thomas is sent to a girls school in snow country in the mountains. A boys school is nearby. Shenanigans continue with the beautiful mountain scenery as a back drop. Alan Crosland was as much a pictorilist as Rex Ingram or Ernst Lubitsch. A previous film of Crosland's thats on home video is "The Unbeliever" from 1918 made at the Edison Studios. Both films exhibit his visual style soon to be famous in films like "Don Juan", "The Beloved Rogue" & "The Jazz Singer". Norma Shearer, later a famous MGM star, is visible in this film and is only 17 years old. This movie has nothing to do with Flappers as personified later in the 20s. No bathtub gin or any of that. Frances Marion who wrote this story seems to have chosen a random word for the title of the story.