Le fruit défendu

Apart from admiring DeMille's attention to detail in this film, I felt absolutely nothing. He can't tell a story because he doesn't engage with his actors. He just hands them a script, expects them to know what they're doing, and then collaborates with the cinematographer. He is a painter rather than a director.

Cecil B. DeMille is in good form in this drama centering on a poor seamstress (Agnes Ayres) who gets caught up in a web of deceit and murder when she accepts an invitation by a social climber (Kathlyn Williams) to fill out her dinner table by posing as Natalie Webb. The scheme is to fill the table with pretty young women to stall a potential business partner (Forrest Stanley) from leaving town before he can invest in the husband's (Theodore Roberts) oil venture.

But Ayres is married to a shiftless lout (Clarence Burton) and is therefore "forbidden fruit," as she tells Stanley when he becomes infatuated with her. In a subplot, the butler (Theodore Kosloff) has hidden is jail record and is planning to rob the family jewels.

After a domestic squabble, Ayres decides to accept an invitation for the weekend to see Stanley. Meanwhile, Kosloff and Burton team up to rob the jewels, but they get caught in the act and Ayres is exposed as a fraud.

Good story and all the actors are good. But the sets and costumes almost overwhelm the actors, especially with the beautiful gold tint. DeMille was famous for his attention to interior design and fashion, and here is an eye-popping example. Not only do we see the little seamstress transformed into a gowned and bejeweled beauty, but we also see her in a few "Cinderella" fantasies that are even more over the top in fashion design.

Ayres is quite good as the seamstress but she lacks the hauteur Gloria Swanson brought to these DeMille heroines. All the other actors are solid. Co-stars include Julia Faye and Lillian Leighton as house maids and Margaret Loomis and Conrad Nagel as the actors in the play called "Forbidden Fruit."

The 40 year old Cecil B. DeMille was obviously gearing this film towards a middle class female audience. He pays careful attention to the clothes that the leading lady wears and the shopping that she buys. She is presented as the trendy woman of the 1920's, and sort of isolates the male community.

"Forbidden Fruit" is a silent movie from Cecil B. DeMille which has a huge handicap at the onset...the IMDB summary pretty much reveals the entire plot! Hopefully, you'll see the movie without reading the summary! And, if you want to see it, check it out on YouTube.

When the story began, I noticed how gorgeous the opeing credits were. They were hand-painted and in lovely color...as are the intertitle cards throughout the film. The print also is in extremely good shape, as are quite a few of DeMille's silents which are on YouTube.

The Mallory family has a problem. Mr. Mallory is trying to wrap up a big business deal but the man with which he wants to do business with is planning on taking a trip out west. So, to convince him to stay, they promise him a lavish dinner party...complete with the perfect date for the evening. But they have a devil of a time finding anyone to fit this bill. Eventually, in desperation they get Mary Maddock, a married woman and seamstress, to be the date and pretend to be single and in society. But when Mary and the man fall for each other, this creates a problem. Mary has a husband at home...a very bad and lazy one at that who will never allow her to leave.

The story, while engaging, is very difficult to believe and the intertitles a big moralizing. But these sorts of things were not that unusual for 1921. On the psotive side, the production values are amazing for the time...well acted, directed and looking very nice. Overall, while it's not a film to change your life, it is pleasant and well worth seeing...especially if you love silents.

With the exception of artsier fare like THE CHEAT and THE WHISPERING CHORUS, DeMille's silent output tends to be overlooked. A real shame, since his so-called high society films are a delight. FORBIDDEN FRUIT is my favorite to date: it's briskly paced and graced with jaw-dropping art deco aesthetics. The story is a simple Cinderella retelling, but a very effective one, inserting a bit of crime drama into the mix. For once, I was actually enamored with Agnes Ayres, an actress often dismissed by silent movie geeks as underwhelming and matronly. Here, she's the perfect fairy tale heroine.

May not have Gloria Swanson, but still not a movie to be missed.