Never Mind Pop Film

In January 2012 Frederica Sagor-Maas died.  You might not remember or even know her name, yet she was a screenwriter, playwright and author who surpassed all of her contemporaries to live to the ripe old age of 112. 

Sagor-Maas was the daughter of Russian immigrants to America.  She rose to prominence during the early 1920s when she left her position at Universal Pictures to go to Hollywood where she took on the challenge of adapting a novel called “The Plastic Age” by Percy Marks.  This adaptation was turned into a hugely successful film starring the darling of the cinema at the time - Clara Bow. 
The Plastic Age 
“The Plastic Age” was a notable film for many reasons.  First, it was adapted by a woman.  Second, the main thrust of the film was celebrating the age of flapperdom.  A decade of free living, drinking, dancing, new fashions, hairstyles and so on.  The 1920s were the first real decade of freedom for women in all walks of life, and thus the cinema had to reflect this notion.

Actr…

As a classic movie and silent film enthusiast, I felt it was my duty to go on and watch this similarly styled film.  Knowing from interviews of Director Michel Hazanavicius that The Artist was filled with nods to classics like Singin' in the Rain and Citizen Kane, I was hoping to be touched by this film as I had been touched by its predecessors.  
George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is at the height of his popularity in 1927 Hollywood.  Applauded both on the screen in his action films, and in front of the audience thanks to his dancing skills and pet dog's tricks, Valentin barely misses a beat when an adoring fan slips between the policeman barrier and bumps into him outside of a premiere.  Why not enjoy a few laughs and poses with this pretty young lady?
Valentin's wife (Penelope Ann Miller) doesn't seem to agree with that sentiment the next morning, however.  Sour-faced and jealous, she paints a portrait of Valentin's life at home that sharply contrasts his carefree…

It's pretty entertaining, and an interesting view on what has and hasn't changed in society in the past 80ish years. Society is still pretty sexist and classist; the film makes some criticisms of these tendencies, but given the time it was made (1927), they aren't too sharp.

The film stars Clara Bow as the original and titular "It Girl."

The "It" that the film revolves around is the quality of being desirable without being self-conscious of the fact. The heroine exploits her it quality to wrap her rich boss all the way around her little finger, all while bending to his every whim. There's a bit of dissonance between who's actually pulling the strings in the relationship, but it's made clear that she wants to marry a rich man and live a life of leisure. So the film is not exactly civil rights movement material.

In fact, the whole production is reminiscent of the theory of the male gaze.

So there's enough going on in the film to get this s…