Unless you are a silent film enthusiast (and if you’re reading this review you most likely are) then you’ve probably never heard of Olive Thomas. Her death in 1920 at the age of only 25 under mysterious circumstances has kept her name from being totally forgotten but this DVD is the first opportunity for us to see first hand what made her “everybody’s sweetheart”.
Judging from the film THE FLAPPER which makes up more than half this disc, Olive Thomas was a gifted performer who combined the madcap qualities of Mabel Normand with the affable sincerity of Mary Pickford. The film is an occasionally witty somewhat clever comedy about a naive young girl at boarding school who gets mixed up with thieves. It was written by Frances Marion (the top screen writer of the silent era), directed by Alan Crosland (THE JAZZ SINGER), and produced by Lewis Selznick (father 0f Myron and David O.). That’s a pretty good pedigree and shows how highly Olive was regarded by her contemporaries. It would be her penultimate film.
At this time Olive had been married to Jack Pickford (Mary’s brother) for a few years. It was on a second honeymoon trip to Paris that she suddenly died after taking bichloride of mercury. Was it suicide, murder, or just a horrible accident? We will never know although the Timeline Films documentary OLIVE THOMAS: EVERYBODY’S SWEETHEART that fills out the DVD does draw its own conclusion. It is informative and well produced although a little shallow. There are a wealth of clips and photos and it features narration from Rosanna Arquette.
But back to THE FLAPPER. The print from the George Eastman House is absolutely first rate with hardly a blemish and it’s even color tinted and has the original illustrated title cards. It’s one of the best silent film prints I have ever seen. The piano accompaniment from Robert Israel compliments the action quite nicely. It’s great to have this truly talented actress available once again. Hopefully some more of her films can be reissued (very few have survived) so that she can continue to cast her spell on a whole new generation of moviegoers.
The Capsule Critic 