Colleen Moore was one of the biggest stars of the 1920s - her range
was diverse but her forte was sparkling, light comedy, the naughty
but nice, perfect flapper. She went from strength to strength and her
voice recorded well but after the talkies her career was almost finished.
She made a comeback in 1933 "The Power and the Glory" just to show
everyone what a poignant actress she was but it failed to re-establish
her. Colleen said herself that in 1930, facing a divorce, she had "had it"
but after a decade of "scintillating sin" the flapper was now passe and
her first talkie "Smiling Irish Eyes" had not only been rejected as a
script a few years before but critics thought it was just too cute.
If this was a typical Colleen Moore movie, wow - I would have been a huge fan!! Yes it was a bit preachy but for it's day there was a strong feminist message. Winthrop Peabody Jr (a dreamy Neil Hamilton) is having a big whoopee in his 50th floor apartment!! - to celebrate his last night of freedom before going to work in his father's store. And what a party - flappers, lots of dancing and petting, all to the latest in 1929 jazz. In fact the soundtrack is a glory in itself with a non stop assortment of the best tunes from the best bands - "Flapperette", "Changes" etc. Meanwhile over at the Boiler Room (and to the strains of "Sweet Georgia Brown") Pert Kelly (Moore) has just won a Charleston contest with some pretty fancy footwork - according to her, she's a "three alarm fire"!! She and Winthrop meet after her romeo falls asleep but while they make fireworks she is a good girl who tells her mother she has an almost impossible time trying to hide it from her fast friends!! Wouldn't you know it - she is a salesgirl from Peabody's Department Store and while she is reprimanded for being late, because of a new "get tough" policy she finds herself out of a job!!
The story is the old morality one (as so many of these fizzy flapper movies were) - Pert has a fast and furious reputation to live up to. Winthrop believes she is a good girl but the seeds of doubt are planted by his father whose speech about not judging people according to their class -he so does!! Winthrop takes her to a roadhouse - the Stumble Inn, as Pert, in an effort to appear worldly, says she knows this place like the back of her hand!! Moore gives a very impassioned speech with feminist overtones about the reason women act so free and easy is because men expect it - it's the old double standard. Film ends with a Charleston lesson taught in pajamas. Terrific!!
If this was a typical Colleen Moore movie, wow - I would have been a huge fan!! Yes it was a bit preachy but for it's day there was a strong feminist message. Winthrop Peabody Jr (a dreamy Neil Hamilton) is having a big whoopee in his 50th floor apartment!! - to celebrate his last night of freedom before going to work in his father's store. And what a party - flappers, lots of dancing and petting, all to the latest in 1929 jazz. In fact the soundtrack is a glory in itself with a non stop assortment of the best tunes from the best bands - "Flapperette", "Changes" etc. Meanwhile over at the Boiler Room (and to the strains of "Sweet Georgia Brown") Pert Kelly (Moore) has just won a Charleston contest with some pretty fancy footwork - according to her, she's a "three alarm fire"!! She and Winthrop meet after her romeo falls asleep but while they make fireworks she is a good girl who tells her mother she has an almost impossible time trying to hide it from her fast friends!! Wouldn't you know it - she is a salesgirl from Peabody's Department Store and while she is reprimanded for being late, because of a new "get tough" policy she finds herself out of a job!!
The story is the old morality one (as so many of these fizzy flapper movies were) - Pert has a fast and furious reputation to live up to. Winthrop believes she is a good girl but the seeds of doubt are planted by his father whose speech about not judging people according to their class -he so does!! Winthrop takes her to a roadhouse - the Stumble Inn, as Pert, in an effort to appear worldly, says she knows this place like the back of her hand!! Moore gives a very impassioned speech with feminist overtones about the reason women act so free and easy is because men expect it - it's the old double standard. Film ends with a Charleston lesson taught in pajamas. Terrific!!