bkoganbing For someone who has seen Bing Crosby and Carole Lombard in We're Not Dressing you will get a nice musical and comedy treat as Bing sings some nice songs and comedy is nicely handled by Burns&Allen and Leon Errol. But while the broad comedy aspects of The Admirable Crichton are handled well there, the broad range of James M. Barrie's story is done in the Cecil B. DeMille silent film Male And Female. Starring of course DeMille's latest discovery Gloria Swanson.Elliott Dexter a DeMille silent regular was unavailable so Thomas Meighan takes the title role as the butler on Theodore Roberts estate. He has two daughters and a silly sot of a nephew in Raymond Hatton. The daughters are Gloria Swanson and Lila Lee.We have class distinctions in America, but they're not as rigid as they are in the United Kingdom. It's those aspects that are dealt with in Male And Female not the Americanized We're Not Dressing. Meighan has it bad for Swanson, but the rigid class structure makes that union impossible.But when they're shipwrecked on a tropical island while on a cruise the social order is reversed. Theodore Roberts by dint of his title tries to assert his authority. But Meighan as the man with the most knowledge on how to survive upsets that in a hurry. Unlike the Crosby/Lombard film, these folks are here for a few years and thinking even with the social order reversed, it's not like Robinson Crusoe with no one to converse with for years.Barrie both satirizes and deals with the subject class seriously. As for DeMille he gets to do one of his spectacle type sequences in a flashback when the cast imagines they're in ancient Babylon with Meighan as king. In that flashback is a young Bebe Daniels who was getting started and she would shortly being starring in DeMille silent films. DeMille in his autobiography pays compliments to a new member of his team Mitchell Leisen who did the costumes. He would be a DeMille regular until he went out on his own as a director.I liked the film and I'll let you others decide whether there is more Barrie or more DeMille in this film.

kidboots J.M. Barrie's "The Admirable Crichton" opened on London's West End in 1902 and ran for a staggering 828 performances, the next year it came to Broadway. The play differed from the film in that (in the play) Lord Loam considered class division artificial and during tea parties, servants were expected to mingle with the guests as equals - only Crichton, the butler disapproves, feeling everyone should know their place.The Loam family are introduced as upper class twits with more money than sense. The house is run by the servants - in particular, Crichton (Thomas Meighan), the Loam's dignified butler, who is always at the ready to show people the right way of doing things (especially adoring scullery maid Tweeny (Lila Lee) and boot boy, Buttons (Wesley Barry)). The family beauty - Lady Mary (gorgeous Gloria Swanson) is completely spoilt and has servants to cater to her every whim, from seeing her bathwater is just the right temperature to making sure her toast is not too soft. There is a wonderful bathroom scene, with all the most modern conveniences, including luxurious rose water spraying from a fountain.The Loams go on a South Sea cruise but disaster strikes as their boat hits a rock and they have to make their way to an uninhabited island. True characters come to the fore, the family are lazy and expect their servants to obey their every whim. Crichton soon shows himself a true leader and everyone in the party turns to him for guidance. Two years pass and everyone is living together as equals and pulling their weight, there is no master or servant - all except Crichton, who is now the supreme leader. Mary and Tweeny now fight for the opportunity to serve him supper. Being a DeMille production, there is a spectacular Biblical scene (maybe his first) with Meighan as a bored, callous King, Bebe Daniels as a saucy slave girl and Gloria Swanson as a beggar maid, who goes to the lion's den rather than put aside her Christian principles.They are eventually rescued and Crichton and Lord Loam are the first to remember their "places" in the world. Lady Mary can't forget her love, they were just about to be married when the rescue boat is seen. Back in civilization, Lord Brockelhurst resumes his courting of Mary - all through the film he has shown himself to be pretty flirtatious with Mary's maid - you know when Mary accepts his proposal - her life will not be a happy one. Crichton hides his true feelings about Mary and when she is visited by an old friend who has defied her family, married her chauffeur and lived to regret it - he impulsively asks Tweeny to marry him. They will leave service and sail for America, where everyone is equal (the last scene is particularly sweet as Crichton walks to a farmhouse after finishing ploughing for the day, to find Tweeny waiting for him.)I do agree, I think the titles are profuse and flowery and excessive - they would do credit to a William S. Hart western!!! I also think Thomas Meighan was born for this role - he was manly and masterful. He was also excellent in "Why Change Your Wife?" - Cecil B. DeMille obviously liked him a lot as he popped up in quite a few of his movies. Although Barrie had considered ending his play with Crichton and Mary continuing their affair, even after Lady Mary is married, he decided on a more conventional ending as he thought "the stalls wouldn't like it"!!!Highly, Highly Recommended.

wes-connors Thomas Meighan (as the admirable Crichton) is head butler for an aristocratic British family; he is obviously quite taken with luscious Gloria Swanson (as Lady Mary Lasenby), but unable to cross class barriers. The household's scullery maid Lila Lee (as Tweeny) is in love with Crichton. The threesome, and some others, go out yachting; when cross currents hit, the ensemble is shipwrecked! Turns out, the servant class has far more advanced survival skills. Who knew? Ms. Swanson is the film's main attraction; her bathing and showering scenes, near the beginning of the film, helped clean-up at the box office. Note that whenever there is nakedness afoot, DeMille has an object cover-up Swanson's figure, however. Though not as famed, Swanson's later wet spot, when she is nearly drowned in the bowel of the sideswiped yacht, is far superior. Swanson and Ms. Lee perform well, actually, with the material given. Loved the "upper crust" lady complaining about limp toast! Mr. Meighan delivers the movie's finest performance; the other players have moments, but Meighan is outstanding in the pivotal role of Butler Crichton. From the moment he checks the mansion for dust, he is delightful; the actor makes the movie even more interesting when the suppressed desire for Swanson begins registering on his face. A couple of smaller roles are noteworthy: Wesley Barry is great as the peeping Buttons, indicating what Cecil B. DeMille's "Male and Female" is really all about (more or less). You should also keep an eye on Bebe Daniels during the "King of Babylon" imaginary sequence; she is terrific as Meighan's right-hand lady. Silent film veterans Guy Oliver and Clarence Burton inexplicably disappear, after the shipwreck. Theodore Roberts and Raymond Hatton are around much longer, thankfully.The film is recommended, and DeMille obviously expert - but it's one of the more ludicrously-themed silent era classics preserved for modern scrutiny. Apparently, in adapting "The Admirable Crichton" for DeMilledom, the director substituted sex for satire. AND, he gets his titillating re-title "Male and Female" from no less than God Himself! quoting, "So God created Man in His own image, in the image of God created He him: Male and Female created He them." There is also a oddly placed bow to the good ol' U.S.A. With all its oddities, it's still a fun film. ******** Male and Female (11/23/19) Cecil B. DeMille ~ Thomas Meighan, Gloria Swanson, Lila Lee

Romano A fairly ridiculous upstairs downstairs silent film romance/cast-away adventure.There are two parts to this film – the first two hours and the last 20 seconds. Those final 20 second color all which come before it in a most surprising manner.But first, the initial two hours. We begin in Victorian England. Virtuous, intelligent, hard working servants must wait on inept, frivolous and decadent aristocracy. Lady Mary Lasenby, Gloria Swanson's character is the most conceited of them all – haughtily lounging, extravagantly bathing in rose scented water and obnoxiously ridiculing Crichton, the intelligent and industrious butler, about her morning toast.After establishing this social dynamic, De Mille turns everything on its head by having the group's ship wreck on a deserted island while out on a pleasure cruise (a la Gilligan). Castaway on the island the 'law of nature' prevails over Victorian hierarchy and Crichton is soon established as the group's leader because of his bravery, industriousness and intelligence. Crichton is the leopard-skin wearing king, building a little village on the island equipped with numerous contraptions even The Professor would marvel at. Further, previously vain and bratty Lady Lasenby falls in love with Crichton. They are to marry, but mid "I do" a ship arrives to save them. Instantly, before the first English sailor has disembarked to rescue them, the Victorian hierarchy demands all of them return to their previous roles. After years as the leopard-skin king Crichton is instantly the butler again. Victorian social rules supercede Crichton's natural skills and he must return a servant; Victorian social rule supercede Lady Lasenby's love, and she knows they can never marry. To drive home the point of how disastrous their marriage would be despite their love, Lady Lasenby's friend, who stooped to marry her chauffeur, arrives to see Lady Lasenby penny less and shunned, the proof of society's condemnation of those who break the rules.And here is where the first movie ends – a tragic love story about the constraints of Victorian society - not unlike Age of Innocence or many other comedies of manners.But then you have the final scene in the last 20 seconds. Previously we learned Crichton is leaving for America and says marring Tweeny, the maid, to escape the unbearable condition he has returned to in England. Cut to the final scene. There is a startling change of scenery – a little wood house out on the American prairie. Crichton is just coming home from plowing the fields of their farm and Tweeny is out to meet him. They embrace and kiss, the film ends, and the poignancy of De Mille's final statement reworks everything in the previous two hours. De Mille's statement is about the promise of America, and its effect is more powerful than just about any political speech I can recall. Crichton is happy and will be happy because here in America we reward based on natural ability and hard work. We have seen what Crichton is capable of, and De Mille wants us to imagine his accomplishments in a land that will allow him to flourishes. It is American democratic propaganda second only to It's a Wonderful Life in effectiveness. An astounding political accomplishment considering America is not even a thought in this film until the final scene. The single stationary shot of Crichton walking from his field to his wife is a stirring, persuasive tribute to the American dream.Regardless of whether you buy the propaganda or not, it is worth a viewing to see how effectively De Mille presents it.This film is also noteworthy because it is the first time De Mille directed Swanson, a collaboration made famous by Sunset Blvd.Should you see it? If only to compare it with It's a Wonderful Life as an endorsement of the American dream.