Things are quite perfect in dry Orange Springs (FL?), too perfect for Genevieve King who is bored stiff and in search of romance when she sneaks off with a cadet to a soda fountain. Such rebellion gets her sent off to Miss Paddles ladies boarding school where she and the girls moon and speculate over dashing adult Channing Carleton and his exciting life (wealthy, gambler, wife beater?). Hortense, a faux student con artist scams the school out of all its jewelry and bolts with Tommy Morann aka The Eel. Naively King now known as Ginger follows them to the big city and finds herself deeper than she wants to be but not before capitalizing on some of the tricks of the trade as a ruse to the squares back home.
The Flapper's title immediately sends the wrong message that may have well been intentional to get people in the theatre given the public's curiosity over the relatively new social phenomena similar to zoot suitors, mondoes and hippies in their given era. Instead we are given a light comedy cautionary tale that allows our heroine to make believe vamp it but also have a gun pointed at her.
The beautiful and tragic Olive Thomas as Ginger is quite convincing as a 16 year old and pretty hot to trot when donning flapper regalia to fool the folks back home. Looking at times that she may have gone over to the dark side with the slippery Eel and Hortense she never jades and her innocence remains even as it looks she'll have to spend a night in the slammer. She's Daisy Buchanan in real time.
Alan Crosland's direction offers up a few improbable and slow moments but some of his compositions are impressive, particularly in the transition from Orange Springs to a sledding scene at the girls school as well as a trolley car scene on the streets of Manhattan. He also adds some comic incidentals but for the most part wisely allows his camera to remain on Thomas most of the way and she does not disappoint. What does is the title which more aptly might have been called The Faker since none of the bacchanalian, jazz age dissipation that might be associated with this title ever really materializes.
The Flapper's title immediately sends the wrong message that may have well been intentional to get people in the theatre given the public's curiosity over the relatively new social phenomena similar to zoot suitors, mondoes and hippies in their given era. Instead we are given a light comedy cautionary tale that allows our heroine to make believe vamp it but also have a gun pointed at her.
The beautiful and tragic Olive Thomas as Ginger is quite convincing as a 16 year old and pretty hot to trot when donning flapper regalia to fool the folks back home. Looking at times that she may have gone over to the dark side with the slippery Eel and Hortense she never jades and her innocence remains even as it looks she'll have to spend a night in the slammer. She's Daisy Buchanan in real time.
Alan Crosland's direction offers up a few improbable and slow moments but some of his compositions are impressive, particularly in the transition from Orange Springs to a sledding scene at the girls school as well as a trolley car scene on the streets of Manhattan. He also adds some comic incidentals but for the most part wisely allows his camera to remain on Thomas most of the way and she does not disappoint. What does is the title which more aptly might have been called The Faker since none of the bacchanalian, jazz age dissipation that might be associated with this title ever really materializes.