Male and Female

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.

Thomas Meighan (as the admirable Crichton) is head butler for an aristocratic British family; he is obviously quite taken with luscious Gloria Swanson (as Lady Mary Lasenby), but unable to cross class barriers. The household's scullery maid Lila Lee (as Tweeny) is in love with Crichton. The threesome, and some others, go out yachting; when cross currents hit, the ensemble is shipwrecked! Turns out, the servant class has far more advanced survival skills. Who knew?

Ms. Swanson is the film's main attraction; her bathing and showering scenes, near the beginning of the film, helped clean-up at the box office. Note that whenever there is nakedness afoot, DeMille has an object cover-up Swanson's figure, however. Though not as famed, Swanson's later wet spot, when she is nearly drowned in the bowel of the sideswiped yacht, is far superior. Swanson and Ms. Lee perform well, actually, with the material given. Loved the "upper crust" lady complaining about limp toast!

Mr. Meighan delivers the movie's finest performance; the other players have moments, but Meighan is outstanding in the pivotal role of Butler Crichton. From the moment he checks the mansion for dust, he is delightful; the actor makes the movie even more interesting when the suppressed desire for Swanson begins registering on his face. A couple of smaller roles are noteworthy: Wesley Barry is great as the peeping Buttons, indicating what Cecil B. DeMille's "Male and Female" is really all about (more or less). You should also keep an eye on Bebe Daniels during the "King of Babylon" imaginary sequence; she is terrific as Meighan's right-hand lady. Silent film veterans Guy Oliver and Clarence Burton inexplicably disappear, after the shipwreck. Theodore Roberts and Raymond Hatton are around much longer, thankfully.

The film is recommended, and DeMille obviously expert - but it's one of the more ludicrously-themed silent era classics preserved for modern scrutiny. Apparently, in adapting "The Admirable Crichton" for DeMilledom, the director substituted sex for satire. AND, he gets his titillating re-title "Male and Female" from no less than God Himself! quoting, "So God created Man in His own image, in the image of God created He him: Male and Female created He them." There is also a oddly placed bow to the good ol' U.S.A. With all its oddities, it's still a fun film.

******** Male and Female (11/23/19) Cecil B. DeMille ~ Thomas Meighan, Gloria Swanson, Lila Lee

Sir J. M. Barrie was still very much alive and kicking when this well crafted adaptation of his "Admirable Crichton" (1902) story was made and I wonder if he ever saw it... It is the story of the "Earl of Loam" (Theodore Roberts) who decides to take his entirely spoiled, aristocratic family on his yacht for a cruise on the South Seas. It's up to the butler "Crichton" (Thomas Meighan) to organise it all before the mollycoddled bunch all set sail... It's all, well, plain sailing until their boat runs aground on a desert island and their whole, nicely ordered, lives are thrown asunder... In order to survive, let alone thrive, in this outwardly hostile place, they must forget the protocols and deferences that bound their hitherto formal relationships and it isn't soon before roles are reversed and the butler is in charge... The original story offers a whimsical swipe at the landed gentry - amiably exemplified here by Roberts, Robert Cain ("Lord Brocklehurst") and the feisty "Lady Mary" (Gloria Swanson) - but it is also a bit of a love story that demonstrates how their lives might progress without the social restrictions placed on them - indeed, until the timely arrival of a rescue ship - their new meritocracy might just have prevailed!. The characters are exactly that, they add a richness to the story that is well developed here by the likes of the delightful scullery maid Lila Lee and "Lady Agatha" - who has about as much common sense as a teabag (Mildred Reardon) as well as Mayme Kelso ensuring due propriety at the end... This is a thoroughly enjoyable film that looks great, flows well and makes us all think, just a little about the things we all take for granted.

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.

In the beginning we are introduced to a genuine old British aristocratic family: the spoiled, lazy Lady Mary, her quirky father and her younger sister. And, of course, Lady Mary is engaged to another aristocratic parasite, Lord Brockelhurst. And, on the 'other side of the fence', are the servants: butler Crichton, who is secretly in love with Lady Mary (although this is of course 'impossible': you can't break out of your 'caste'...), and maid Tweeny who in turn is in love with Crichton. A typical picture of old aristocratic England...

... Until one day, when the blue-blooded clan starts out on a South Sea cruise - and are stranded there on a lonely island; without luxury, without lodgings, even without food. And NOW it shows WHO is able to survive when being put to the test: Crichton with his energy and inventive spirit soon becomes the leader of the 'Swiss Family Robinson', while Lady Mary, completely helpless on her own, must admit that now HE's the strong man, HE's the 'King' (he even dreams of being the King of Babylon and she his Christian slave...) - and falls in love with him, while Tweeny jealously has to stand by and watch... BUT if they'll ever be rescued and return to England, will everything be as it was before??

This early work of Cecil B. De Mille already shows pretty clearly his vivid fantasy and love for ancient settings and costumes, as well as his belief in old-fashioned morales and institutions. The best part is, of course, when Crichton becomes the 'King', wild and strong, far away at last from his stiff butler image (Thomas Meighan, with his cocksure and almost a little menacing expression, somehow seems to look here like a kind of Rudolph Valentino 10 years older...), and Lady Mary alias Gloria Swanson, in the new surroundings of the wilderness, at last becomes a REAL woman. But - will it last??