The Red Kimono

Dorothy Davenport Reid (1895-1977) was one of the most important women producer/directors during the 1920s. She came from a distinguished theatrical family. Her father Harry Davenport is best remembered as Dr. Meade in GONE WITH THE WIND. She was married to early matinee idol Wallace Reid hence her being known as Mrs Wallace Reid. When he died in 1923 of complications from drug addiction, she became an advocate for social causes. Her hard hitting film about drug addiction HUMAN WRECKAGE (1923) with Bessie Love and her next film BROKEN LAWS no longer survive but THE RED KIMON0, a film about prostitution made in 1925, does.

While the real life story of New Orleans prostitute Gabrielle Darley who murders her pimp/lover is melodramatized for the screen, it remains surprisingly effective thanks to the lead performance of Priscilla Bonner (IT, THE STRONG MAN). There are also small parts for silent film regulars Tyrone Power Sr, Virginia Pearson, and George Siegmann. The direction is credited solely to Walter Lang who would become an in-house workhorse at 20th Century Fox for many years but the film was co-directed by Reid. Why she chose to leave her name off is curious. Perhaps as producer and with her appearance as herself, she felt it would be a case of overkill. Who can say. By the early 1930s with the advent of sound and the studio system firmly in place her career was over although she lived another 40+ years.

Today like so many of the women film pioneers she is forgotten but hopefully the release of this film on DVD along with the two others in the FIRST LADIES: EARLY WOMEN FILMMAKERS series from Kino will help to correct that. While not a great film, THE RED KIMONO is an important one and still plays well today. The social criticism of judgmental attitudes and misplaced philanthropy is still relevant to our time. The print from the Library Of Congress looks great and the hand tinted red sequences for certain scenes have been beautifully restored. Robert Israel's piano score is also a plus. The title comes from the article of clothing worn by Gabrielle as a prostitute...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

This film was the subject of a landmark California lawsuit. Gabrielle Darley was a former prostitute who had been involved in a prominent murder trial in which she was acquitted. After the trial, she reformed and led an exemplary life. The film makers used her true name in advertising the film and said it was about her life. They also used events from her life prior to the trial. She sued for invasion of privacy, a suit that had been recognized in other states but not in California. Although the California Court of Appeal was not ready to recognize the right of privacy, it held that use of her name and events from her life was a violation of Darley's right to the pursuit of happiness as guaranteed by the California Constitution. The precedent evolved into eventual recognition of the right to privacy in California. (See, Melvin v Reid, 112 Cal. App. 285)

"The Red Kimona", a film directed by Herr Walter Lang, is a curious film production who deals with subjects (prostitution, crime and social discrimination) that were not very commonly in 1926 when this film production was made.

The film it is based in a true story from 1917, that depicts the miserable life of Dame Grabielle (Priscilla Bonner), a town girl, young and innocent, who is fooled by her lover into prostitution in New Orleans. Gabrielle will spend many sorrowful years until one day when, knowing that her lover is going to marry another, shoots him. She will be absolved by her crime, but it won't be easy to start a new life. Society will place many restrictions on her (she would like to wipe out the past by another kind of service for men, nursing this time…). She will try to find a job but it is very difficult if you have not references (not a problem for the German aristocracy, the references if not the idea of actually working… ). The manager always knows that you have been in jail. She is adopted by a wealthy society matron who is only interested in Gabrielle for her publicity… but fortunately and finally loves will conquer all.

The story is about broken innocence and shattered dreams skilfully directed by Herr Lang. Different parts and aspects can be outlined in this movie: the first part of the film depicts in flashback the origins of Grabrielle's fall (in love and prostitution). From then on, the film denounces the social hypocrisy towards Gabrielle, the great difficulties that she will find in order to live a normal life which almost will end up with her again in New Orleans…not a terrible fact at all that city itself but the bordello. Dame Priscilla Bonner is perfect in her restrained performance, painting an excellent portrait of abandoned but fighting woman.

The film includes a thrilling finale with misunderstandings and crossed fates that give the story motion and emotion. Probably the only thing lacking in this excellent oeuvre are Biblical references (Gabrielle as a modern Magdalen) It is intended to serve as a warning, maybe a comprehensible fact this when we know that the film was produced by Dame Mrs. Wallace Reid… And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count has an appointment with a Teutonic Dame, not dame… Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/

Walter Lang directs this gripping if somewhat contrived saga adapted by Dorothy Arzner from a story by Adela Rogers St. Johns about fallen woman Gabrielle Darley (Priscilla Bonner). The first moments are bizarre, as we see Mrs. Wallace Reid (nee Dorothy Davenport), the film's producer, turning the pages of a bound collection of archival newspapers from 1917; she pauses at a story about Darley. She then turns to the camera and "talks" to the audience. This being a silent film, of course, we hear nothing but see her spoken words as text. I have never seen this device in a silent film before.

We then enter the Darley saga at mid-point in the red light district of New Orleans as the heroine learns from a fellow prostitute that the man who lured her into sin (Carl Miller) has deserted her to go to Los Angeles to get married. After some embarrassingly awkward histrionics by Bonner, whose emoting improves remarkably as the story progresses, we see her in the streets of L.A. and bingo, she just happens to run into Miller at a jeweler's shop as he is about to buy a wedding ring for the other woman! (Perhaps continuity scenes were filmed but cut here.) She confronts him, he shrugs her off as if her sudden appearance from hundreds of miles away is minor and unsurprising annoyance, she shoots him on the spot, sinks to her knees in penitent prayer and is promptly arrested and sent to jail.

Her case becomes a cause celebre, attracting hordes of curious sensation seekers, among whom is a then-common social-uplift type (Virginia Pearson) which was also satirized in Griffith's "Intolerance," who takes Darley in as a sort of trophy to show her trendy friends. And we are gradually drawn into the plight of this character by good acting, excellent photography (despite a few lapses into proscenium arch-ism), vivid characters as we root for Darley whose efforts to redeem herself seem to be crushed at every turn due to societal disapproval of her sordid past. Overall, the fashions and hairdos are very 1925 despite the fact that the whole story wraps up by 1917. In the beautifully preserved print I saw there is an appropriate and unobtrusive score by the prolific Robert Israel. The title derives from a hand- tinted garment owned by Darley which plays no important role in the story and seems to be a crude attempt at symbolism.

A melodramatic story based on a real woman, whose (oops) identity wasn't changed nor her approval sought, resulting in a lawsuit afterwards. Nonetheless it's pretty cool that this was written, directed, and produced by women (Dorothy Davenport for the latter two), and I liked the visual effect with the red overlays on clothing and streetlights, and orange in a brief scene showing WWI.

The film supports "fallen" women in the sense that it says they're a victim of circumstance, are sympathetic characters, and can be redeemed, which I believe are the reasons the film was banned in some places (kind of surprising when you watch it now). At the same time, it also implies they're tainted, need a white knight figure to make them honest, and need to work hard to be worthy of happiness, all of which seems dated now. Overall though, there is empathy, and out of several Biblical allusions, it picks a good one in "he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

The pace of the film is on the slow side as it plays itself out, told partially in a flashback, so I don't think it's one I could truly love. On the other hand, it has a pretty good performance from Priscilla Bonner, and various street scenes and carnival rides, and while those seem to appear rather often in films from this era, they always work for me. It's decent enough to take a look.