''The Flapper'' is a 1920 American silent

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

starring

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 ...

. Directed by

Alan Crosland Alan Crosland (August 10, 1894 – July 16, 1936) was an American stage actor and film director. He is noted for having directed the first feature film using spoken dialogue, ''The Jazz Singer'' (1927). Early life and career Born in New York Ci ...

, the film was the first in the United States to portray 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 ...

" lifestyle, which became a cultural craze or fad in the 1920s.

Plot

Sixteen-year-old Genevieve 'Ginger' King (Thomas) is living in a very wealthy family in the boring town of Orange Springs, Florida with her younger siblings, where her unchaperoned decision to drink a soda with a young male is considered scandalous. Because of her questionable behavior and yearning for a more excitable life, Ginger's father decides to send her to a boarding school in Lake Placid, New York. Mrs. Paddles' School for Young Ladies is administered by the strict disciplinarian, Mrs. Paddles (

Marcia Harris Marcia Harris (born Lena Hill, February 14, 1868 – June 18, 1947) was an American actress. She appeared in 48 films between 1915 and 1932. She was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and as an amateur acted primarily in male lead roles wi ...

Despite the strictness there, the girls have fun getting into flapper-lifestyle trouble including flirting. Richard Channing (William P. Carleton), an older man, rides past the seminary every day, prompting romantic fantasies among the schoolgirls. When Ginger connives a sleigh ride with Channing, she lies to him about her age, saying she is "about twenty". Ginger is quickly charmed and becomes enamored with him. Ginger soon gets into trouble with the headmistress by sneaking out to the local country club where Channing is having a party. One of her schoolmates, Hortense (Katherine Johnston), who is described as “a moth among the butterflies”, informs on her. Hortense’s actual motive for doing this is to get the headmistress out of the way so she can rob the school's safe and flee with her crooked boyfriend Thomas Morran (

Arthur Housman Arthur Housman (October 10, 1889 – April 8, 1942) was an American actor in films during both the silent film era and the Golden Age of Hollywood. Career Arthur Housman was one of the first screen comedians known to the public by name, and on ...

).Quotation is transcription from one of the

intertitle In films, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e., ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred to as "dialo ...

s in ''The Flapper''
“Bill Sprague Collection -THE FLAPPER-Olive Thomas-PUBLIC DOMAIN”

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

, San Francisco, California. Retrieved August 27, 2018. Acting on a vaguely worded note she receives, Ginger—while traveling home from school—goes to a hotel in New York City where Hortense and Thomas are staying. They force her to take some suitcases for safekeeping, cases that contain stolen valuables, including fancy clothes and jewelry. Knowing that Channing has gone to Orange Springs on a yachting trip, Ginger decides to use the clothes and jewels to present herself as a more-mature, well-dressed “woman of experience” when she returns home. Her plan backfires, and her father believes she is lying when she says it is all a joke. Detectives then show up wanting to know why she has stolen loot; and both her young admirer Bill and Channing think she has really become a wicked woman. Hortense and her crooked boyfriend now turn up in Orange Springs to reclaim their ill-gotten loot. Their subsequent capture by the police clears Ginger's name and restores her reputation. The events in the lives of Ginger King and another character are presented as incidents in a (non-fiction)

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, informa ...

at the end of the movie.

Cast

as Ginger King *

Warren Cook Warren Cook (May 23, 1878 – May 2, 1939) was an American film actor of the silent era. Cook was born in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1901, he appeared in '' The Shaughraun'' at the Castle Square Theatre in Boston. He was part of the stock ...

as Senator King * Theodore Westman, Jr. as Bill Forbes * Katherine Johnston as Hortense *

as Tom Morran * Louise Lindroth as Elmina Buttons * Charles Craig as Reverend Cushil * William P. Carleton as Richard Channing *

as Mrs. Paddles *

Bobby Connelly Robert Joseph Connelly (April 4, 1909 – July 5, 1922) was an American child actor of silent films. He is one of the first male child stars of American motion pictures beginning his career in 1913 at the age of four. Career Connelly's parents w ...

as King, Jr. *

Athole Shearer Athole Dane Shearer Hawks (November 20, 1900 – March 17, 1985) was a Canadian-American actress and socialite, who was the sister of motion picture star Norma Shearer and MGM film sound engineer Douglas Shearer. Early life Athole Dane Sheare ...

as Extra (uncredited) *

Norma Shearer Edith Norma Shearer (August 11, 1902June 12, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress who was active on film from 1919 through 1942. Shearer often played spunky, sexually liberated ingénues. She appeared in adaptations of Noël Coward, Eugene O'N ...

as Schoolgirl (uncredited) The Flapper (1920) - 3

Production notes

Frances Marion Frances Marion (born Marion Benson Owens, November 18, 1888 – May 12, 1973) was an American screenwriter, director, journalist and author often cited as one of the most renowned female screenwriters of the 20th century alongside June Mathis a ...

wrote the screenplay, which is credited with popularizing the slang term “flapper” throughout the United States in the 1920s. * Olive Thomas appeared in only two films after ''The Flapper''. She died in Paris in September 1920.

Reception

The Film Daily ''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informatio ...

'' gave it an overall positive review on May 23, 1920, praising the acting of Olive Thomas. Its main criticism was regarding the editing and the conclusion of the film, writing that the story was "cleverly written with many amusing situations, but latter reels should be compressed".

Public domain and home-media release

*''The Flapper'', originally a “six-reeler”, is no longer under copyright. Now in the public domain, the film is free for general, unrestricted use. *In 2005, ''The Flapper'' was released on Region 1 DVD by the Milestone Collection as part of ''The Olive Thomas Collection''.

References and notes

External links

* * * *
''Variety'' 1920 Review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flapper, The 1920 comedy films 1920 films 1920s American films American black-and-white films Silent American comedy films American silent feature films Articles containing video clips Films directed by Alan Crosland Films set in Florida Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Films with screenplays by Frances Marion Selznick Pictures films Surviving American silent films Flappers