12/18/2019
We had a wonderful special presentation of The Hypocrites in November. It was a great movie, produced by one of the most prolific female film producers of her day, Lois Weber. A large percentage of the audience stayed after the film for the talk back lead by Assistant Professor of English and Film Studies Tami Williams at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Our next offering is the delightful comedy, “Good References”, featuring Constance Talmadge. There will be two showings. One at 2 PM, the other at 7 PM on January 11, 2020 at the Overture Center for the Arts. Known for portraying funny women from the upper crust, this film has her portraying a lower class, poor woman, without a job and about to lose her apartment. This film was considered lost but was found in Prague and restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. We owe UCLA and the Archive a debt of gratitude for providing this print to be part of our special series on Women in Silent Film this season.
Plot: Mary Wayne (Constance Talmadge) was trained as a stenographer but had no references. Without them, she finds it impossible to find employment. Through the help of a friend and some subterfuge, she is hired as a social secretary in a very wealthy house. Mary’s quick whit gets members of the household out of a number of scr**es and finds herself emotionally connected to one of its members. While going through this she is trying to keep her true identity a secret.
We will end this year’s season with Norma Talmadge’s (Constance’s sister) “The Social Secretary” from 1916. This film shows the very difficult situations a woman in the workplace was placed in long before the Me Too movement. This movie treats the come-ons comedically while showing the heroine keeping it together and turns down the many men who pursue her with whit.
