Stage Struck (Dwan, 1925)
My Fall Movies # 22
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«Working as a waitress in a pancake house, she is seen flipping a pancake onto her own head, juggling trays, getting kicked in the seat of the pants, and, amazingly, donning a mask and boxer’s outfit to enter the fight ring as ‘Kid Sockem’ so she can knock the block off Gertrude Astor in a boxing match. It’s pure slapstick comedy. (Those who think Gloria Swanson is nothing but Norma Desmond have to see this movie.) The shrewdness about her image is again on display. The movie opens with magnificent color sequences (color by Technicolor) in which she is seen in a series of fabulous costumes, supposedly portraying a famous actress who is re-creating the great roles of theatre and history, such as Salome. This turns out to be a dream sequence, and the little pancake waitress is then introduced in plain clothes, hilariously practicing her acting lessons in front of a distorting mirror. Everything Swanson does is very precise, very small, very on the mark — she’s a controlled pantomimist and a good mimic. She’s a natural clown, a kind of female Charlie Chaplin due to her small stature (which is why she could imitate Chaplin so well in Sunset Boulevard).»
Jeanine Basinger, Silent Stars, Wesleyan University Press, 2000, p. 226
(Image via Dr. Macro)
