Flaming Youth (film)
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''Flaming Youth'' is a 1923 American silent
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by John Francis Dillon and starring
Colleen Moore Colleen Moore (born Kathleen Morrison; August 19, 1899 – January 25, 1988) was an American film actress who began her career during the silent film era. Moore became one of the most fashionable (and highly-paid) stars of the era and helped po ...
and
Milton Sills Milton George Gustavus Sills (January 12, 1882 – September 15, 1930) was an American stage and film actor of the early twentieth century. Biography Sills was born in Chicago, Illinois, into a wealthy family. He was the son of William Henr ...
, based on the novel of the same name by
Samuel Hopkins Adams Samuel Hopkins Adams (January 26, 1871 – November 16, 1958) was an American writer who was an investigative journalist and muckraker. Background Adams was born in Dunkirk, New York. Adams was a muckraker, known for exposing public-health inju ...
. The film was produced and distributed by Associated First National. In his retrospective essay "Echoes of the Jazz Age", writer
F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...
cited ''Flaming Youth'' as the only film that captured the sexual revolution of the Jazz Age. The film is now considered partially
lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
. One reel survives and is housed at the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
.


Plot

When Mona Frentiss dies, she has her confidante "Doctor Bobs" watch over her family, especially her youngest daughter Patricia. The family has been raised in a most unconventional manner, with Mona having a much younger lover and the father Ralph keeping his own lover on the side. As Patricia grows older, she attracts the attention of her mother's former lover, the much older (than Patricia, who in the book is in her early to mid teens) Cary Scott. Patricia tempts fate with her wild ways, nearly loses her virtue to a musician aboard an ocean-going boat, and is saved in time by Cary. Realizing that he is the man for her, she settles down into an experimental marriage.


Cast


Background

There had been several films prior to ''Flaming Youth'' which used the
flapper Flappers were a subculture of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee height was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptab ...
as subject matter, such as ''
The Flapper ''The Flapper'' is a 1920 American silent comedy film starring Olive Thomas. Directed by Alan Crosland, the film was the first in the United States to portray the "flapper" lifestyle, which became a cultural craze or fad in the 1920s. Plot Sixt ...
'' with
Olive Thomas Olive Thomas (born Oliva R. Duffy; October 20, 1894 – September 10, 1920) was an American silent-film actress, art model, and photo model. Thomas began her career as an illustrator's model in 1914, and moved on to the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' the ...
, but the financial success of ''Flaming Youth'' made it the movie credited with launching a cycle of movies about flappers and helping Colleen Moore be seen as the originator of the screen flapper. The film's marketing played up the racier aspects of the story, and a "
skinny-dipping Nude swimming is the practice of swimming without clothing, whether in natural bodies of water or in swimming pools. A colloquial term for nude swimming is '' skinny-dipping''. In both British and American English, to swim means "to move throu ...
" sequence shot in silhouette (which still largely survives in the Library of Congress) was used in the films advertising extensively. The ads also boasted "neckers, petters, white kisses, red kisses, pleasure mad daughters, ndsensation craving mothers."Savage, Jon. ''Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture''. New York: Viking, 2007. p. 205. The book contained adult subjects which were largely glossed over in the film. To counter potential negative backlash, a good deal of humor was injected into the film, so that many audiences thought the film was actually a burlesque of the whole flapper movement when, in fact, it was intended to be a dramatic film.


Reception


Public success

The public reaction to the film was enthusiastic, and it firmly fixed in the public's imagination a new kind of female behavior. In his retrospective essay "Echoes of the Jazz Age," author F. Scott Fitzgerald cited ''Flaming Youth'' as the only motion picture that captured the sexual revolution of the Jazz Age. He lamented that its runaway success prompted "Hollywood hacks" to create a number of similar but less daring films and to run "the theme into its cinematographic grave." He also emphasized the fact that ''Flaming Youth'' persuaded certain moralistic Americans that their young girls could be "seduced without being ruined." Fitzgerald also praised Colleen Moore's performance in the film, remarking that: "I was the spark that lit up ''Flaming Youth'', Colleen Moore was the torch."


Critical reviews

While ''Flaming Youth'' was successful enough to be held over in most American cities, reactions from film critics were mixed. The January 12, 1924 issue of ''The Exhibitor's Trade Review'' cites a review from the ''Chicago News'' which called the film "one of the best-told screen novels that has come along", and another review from the ''
Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, alt ...
'' in which the critic pointed out that the film was not completely faithful to the book. He added that "throughout the production, scarcely a single admirable character appears, and the audience is regaled with the antics of a lot of childish adults and adulterated children. Consequently, the members of the cast, though many of them are talented, work against unfair handicaps." A reviewer for the ''Indiana Star'' wrote, "In spite of an awkward story, Miss Moore contributes much merriment to the occasion and Elliott Dexter and Milton Sills lend the frontier element of the film a certain degree of stability." A critic for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote, "Colleen Moore gives a vivid performance of the jazz-devoted novice once she gets her hold of the theme. There are moments in the beginning when her rendition is a little artificial. But after her awkward trip downstairs in exotic pajamas—which are not really graceful—she lives the part of a pert young thing, whose hair is cut with a bang on the forehead, whose eyes are full of mischief and whose arms are long and slender." The ''New York Times'' critic also described Milton Sills as "sympathetic" and Myrtle Stedman as "charming."


Censorship

When ''Flaming Youth'' debuted in
Québec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...
cinemas in January 1924, Judge
Philippe-Auguste Choquette Philippe-Auguste Choquette (January 6, 1854 – December 20, 1948) was a Canadians, Canadian House of Commons of Canada, Member of Parliament and Senate of Canada, Senator. Biography He was born on January 6, 1854, in Beloeil, Quebec, Belo ...
was petitioned by a delegation of
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
women to ban the motion picture. They asserted the foreign American film was "obscene" and morally corrosive to young Canadian girls. In response, Judge Choquette ordered all film prints to be seized and all
lobby card A film poster is a poster used to promote and advertise a film primarily to persuade paying customers into a theater to see it. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. The ...
s to be confiscated. Additionally, theater owners and projectionists who exhibited the film were arrested. Due to these highly-publicized actions, a legal court case ensued over the film. The case regarding the film was transferred to Judge
Arthur Lachance Arthur Lachance (June 22, 1868 – March 1, 1945) was a Canadian politician and member of the Liberal Party who served as an MP for the riding of Quebec-Centre from 1905 to 1917. Born in Quebec City, Quebec, Lachance was educated at the Ch ...
of the Court of Sessions. Lachance privately viewed the film and deemed its contents to be "immoral." Shortly thereafter, the Canadian board of censors rescinded their previous approval of the film and, thenceforward, ''Flaming Youth'' could not be shown at any cinema in Canada "without violating the Canadian criminal code."


See also

*
List of incomplete or partially lost films A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flaming Youth 1923 films 1923 drama films 1923 lost films American black-and-white films Silent American drama films American silent feature films Films based on American novels Films directed by John Francis Dillon First National Pictures films Lost American films Lost drama films 1920s American films