The Limbs of Satan

A Century of Flappers on Film

ALICIA FLETCHER

“Young things with a talent for living” was how F. Scott Fitzgerald famously defined the flapper, apropos of Joan Crawford’s star-making performance in MGM’s Our Dancing Daughters, which was released to much fanfare in 1928. The late silent era saw flapper culture reach its apex in Hollywood, with dozens of high-profile films spotlighting this media darling of the age. In addition to the Crawford vehicle, there was the first, non-musical version of Chicago (1927), produced (and reportedly ghost-directed) by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Phyllis Haver as Roxie Hart; Josef von Sternberg’s Underworld (1927), with Evelyn Brent as the immortal “Feathers” McCoy; It (1927), partially directed by an uncredited Sternberg, which earned the vivacious Clara Bow the iconic nickname that was later transferred to any number of up-and-coming starlets; and…

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Cinema Scope (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 85 - Winter 2021

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