The Olive Thomas Collection: The Flapper/Olive Thomas - Everybody's Sweetheart

Starring:Olive Thomas, Warren Cook, Theodore Westman Jr., Katherine Johnston, Arthur Housman, Louise Lindroth, Charles Craig, William P. Carleton, Marcia Harris, Bobby Connelly, Barbara Butler (II), Maurice Stewart, Russell Hewitt, Mildred Cheshire, Athole Shearer, Aleene Bergman, Dorothy Kent, Norma Shearer, Rosanna Arquette, Patricia Erhardt
Director: Alan Crosland, Andie Hicks
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Film history records that during the late Teens of the 20th century, Olive Thomas was the screen's "quintessential American girl" and possibly "the most beautiful woman in the world." The beauty was there for anyone to see: a heart-shaped face, luminous skin and smile, large eyes whose deep blue photographed a lustrous gray. As for quintessential American girlness, she'd been born in the milltown of Charleroi, Pennsylvania (unlike "America's sweetheart" Mary Pickford, who'd been born Canadian), and gone from gingham counters in Charleroi and then New York City, to modeling for the most popular portrait artists of the day, to stardom with the Ziegfeld Follies. Wonderfully natural on screen, she made a passel of movies (eight in 1919 alone), married Mary Pickford's brother Jack, got to define the screen image of "the flapper" (albeit comically), and may have been turning into a real actress when she died in Paris in 1920, either a victim of accidental poisoning or an impetuous suicide.

It's necessary to say "film history records" because the films themselves, by and large, do not survive. One that does, pristinely, is The Flapper (1920), Thomas's next-to-next-to-last movie. Written by the estimable Frances Marion, it's an easygoing comedy about a Southern teen who, sent to a ritzy boarding school up North, gets into mischief while acting the sophisticated grownup to impress a suave gentleman and match wits with a pair of jewel thieves. She's lovely to look at, and there's an exhilarating sequence shot atop a double-decker bus as it bears her along Fifth Avenue--an innocent girl in a vibrant metropolis she had already seduced years earlier.

Completing the Collection is Olive Thomas: Everybody's Sweetheart, an hourlong documentary chronicling the actress's life and career--including her relationships with Flo Ziegfeld and the three Selznicks, Lewis J., Myron, and David--and affording glimpses of some of her other movies. Much of the commentary is supremely fatuous, but not the legend that her ghost haunts the New Amsterdam Theatre where her star first rose. --Richard T. Jameson
Description
n the heyday of silent films, a winsome ingenue named Olive Thomas had a seemingly charmed life. Born in the mining town of Charleroi, Pennsylvania, her beauty and spirit carried her to New York where she found fame and fortune.

The Olive Thomas Collection: The Flapper/Olive Thomas - Everybody's Sweetheart
Average customer rating:

One of My First Silent Films

Rare Collection

Makes it obvious why she was called "Everybody's Sweetheart"

Fascinating Discovery!

A historical journey

The Olive Thomas Collection: The Flapper/Olive Thomas - Everybody's Sweetheart
Starring: Olive Thomas , Warren Cook , Theodore Westman Jr. , Katherine Johnston , and Arthur Housman
Director: Alan Crosland , and Andie Hicks
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video
Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video
Arquette, Rosanna | ( A ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Shearer, Norma | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Crosland, Alan | ( C ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0007M21ZI
Release Date: 2005-04-26

Amazon.com

Film history records that during the late Teens of the 20th century, Olive Thomas was the screen's "quintessential American girl" and possibly "the most beautiful woman in the world." The beauty was there for anyone to see: a heart-shaped face, luminous skin and smile, large eyes whose deep blue photographed a lustrous gray. As for quintessential American girlness, she'd been born in the milltown of Charleroi, Pennsylvania (unlike "America's sweetheart" Mary Pickford, who'd been born Canadian), and gone from gingham counters in Charleroi and then New York City, to modeling for the most popular portrait artists of the day, to stardom with the Ziegfeld Follies. Wonderfully natural on screen, she made a passel of movies (eight in 1919 alone), married Mary Pickford's brother Jack, got to define the screen image of "the flapper" (albeit comically), and may have been turning into a real actress when she died in Paris in 1920, either a victim of accidental poisoning or an impetuous suicide.

It's necessary to say "film history records" because the films themselves, by and large, do not survive. One that does, pristinely, is The Flapper (1920), Thomas's next-to-next-to-last movie. Written by the estimable Frances Marion, it's an easygoing comedy about a Southern teen who, sent to a ritzy boarding school up North, gets into mischief while acting the sophisticated grownup to impress a suave gentleman and match wits with a pair of jewel thieves. She's lovely to look at, and there's an exhilarating sequence shot atop a double-decker bus as it bears her along Fifth Avenue--an innocent girl in a vibrant metropolis she had already seduced years earlier.

Completing the Collection is Olive Thomas: Everybody's Sweetheart, an hourlong documentary chronicling the actress's life and career--including her relationships with Flo Ziegfeld and the three Selznicks, Lewis J., Myron, and David--and affording glimpses of some of her other movies. Much of the commentary is supremely fatuous, but not the legend that her ghost haunts the New Amsterdam Theatre where her star first rose. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

n the heyday of silent films, a winsome ingenue named Olive Thomas had a seemingly charmed life. Born in the mining town of Charleroi, Pennsylvania, her beauty and spirit carried her to New York where she found fame and fortune.

Customer Reviews:

One of My First Silent Films.......2007-03-05

THE FLAPPER was one of the first silent movies I watched. In fact, I still haven't watched a whole lot of them, but I am starting to, and though I haven't watched many silents like I said, I have a feeling THE FLAPPER is one of the better silents made in that period (1920-1925). I bought this because I was reading about Olive Thomas in this book called THE ZIEGFELD FOLLIES and it was really good, and I thought Olive's life sounded very interesting, and from what the book said, she seemed like a very good actress. So I bought this, and it was AMAZING!!!!! Olive is MIRACULOUS!!!!! She is very funny at times, and at the scene where Ms. Paddles, her boarding school mistess, makes her leave the Country Club Dance, you feel sorry for her. She seems pretty normal at first, but as the movie goes on, she keeps on getting more bubbly and full of energy, and she is so VERSATILE, and it's just so FUNNY!!!!! THE FLAPPER is about a girl in a small town, Genevieve "Ginger" King (Olive), who is shipped off to a boarding school for girls in New York, which is run by this old lady named Ms. Paddles. After a small while, the girls all accept Ginger, and they have fun at school, but there is this snobby, cheap girl named Hortense who looks about 40, so I was like, " Why is she a student?" But she is and there's nothing anybody can do about it now. Norma Shearer is in here as one of Olive's school mates, and I personally think she would make a better Hortense than this Katherine Johnston. But Katherine does a good job of being a nasty, lying, sleazy schoolgirl/crook. Then there is this boy named Bill (Theodore Westman Jr.) who lives near Olive at her small town, and also goes to this military school near hers. He has a crush on her, and it is cute how he takes her for sleigh rides, and tries to impress her. The whole movie is very cute, so here is a basic plot outline before I get carried away: Olive goes to a boarding school, tries to get a handsome mystery man to fall in love with her, gets mixed up with some crooks, attempts to play a big prank on her fammily back home, and that's all, because I don't want to spoil anything for you. And just so you know, the print is terribly pristine and is definitely one of the best restorations of a silent picture I've seen. And now for the documentary: It's a really interesting, artful, and good summary of Olive's life, what kind of person she was, and good stuff like that. And there are even more extras, and there's nice too. And now, thse are the few silent movies I've seen and I reccomend them all: Wings (1927) A good/okay war drama brightened up by Clara Bow, and my VERY FIRST silent. The Plastic Age (1925)- a good,funny sint that gets boring in parts, again saved by Clara Bow. Intolerance (1916)- A marvelously artful film by D.W. Griffith, that is VERY, VERY good, but can be difficult to sit through, because it's long. The Show Off (1926)- A great, side-splitting funny silent that also makes you feel sad, a REALLY goodmovie. I reccomend this movie for starting your silent movie collection, also a great family film, because my mom liked it too. The Garden of Eden (1928)- THE BEST SILENT MOVIE I"VE EVER SEEN EXCEPT FOR THE FLAPPER!!!!! HIGHLY RECCOMENDED AS A GREAT FLAPPER FLICK!!!!! The Affairs of Anatol (1921)- A wonderful, ornate dramadey with Gloria Swanson, Wallace Reid, and Bebe Daniels. Worth buying just for the sets, costunes, and the scene where Wallace smashes up an apartment with gusto. And that's all I've seen so far. I hope to see many more great silents, and I hope this review was helpful. And aside form silents, I reccomend you watch a great movie titled THE BROADWAY MELODY OF 1936, the best musical I've ever seen. June Knight would've made a good silent actress with her amazingly expressive face. Bye, pearls in your oysters!

Rare Collection.......2005-10-16

It is exciting to see such an unknown actress of the silent era presented with a "collection." Olive Thomas had a short career first as a Ziegfeld Girl and then as a silent movie star. Her life was cut short when she ingested mercury pills, rendering her blind and mute before she died. Perhaps her tragic end is the reason for this release, but her fans are given quite a nice tribute to the star.

The Flapper is the only one of Olive's films on the disk, an innocent, sweet film. Olive plays a feisty girl who is quick to impress her schoolmates by pretending to be a flapper, or a girl who gets around. She sets her sights on an older, sophisticated man who is interested when he hears she is older, but scorns her when he is told her real age. He worries about her still when her flapper antics begin to get her into trouble.
The film shows Olive in a very early example of the flapper, a more innocent and toned down version. She seems more like a southern belle than a sex symbol. However, Olive exudes plenty of personality. In some cases, she is reminiscent of Clara Bow who became a highly charged flapper in the late 20s in her dancing scenes and when she cuts up a dress to go out with a sophisticated man. There is one scene that is somewhat disturbing because of Olive's death. Her character contemplates hanging herself because the man she is infatuated with dismisses her. It turns comical, but only brings up the fact that no one knows for sure if Olive meant to take the mercury pills or if it was only an accident.
The picture is amazingly clear. The scenery is amazing whether it be the snowy country setting or the city life. The title cards are rather artistic and fun especially for 1920. Robert Israel's score is average and accommodates the film well enough.

The documentary on this disk is a real treat. It is not even an hour long, but it contains much information that has never been compiled together and some that is new. The choice in narrator is rather strange, much as it normally is for these types of documentaries, but Rosanna Arquette does a good job. Fans and distant relatives provide commentaries. There are some annoying reenactments and some fake accents used when reading quotes, but on the whole, Olive Thomas: Everybody's Sweetheart is wonderful. It begins by telling that Olive's ghost is said to haunt the New Amsterdam Theater where the Ziegfeld Follies were held, an interesting claim that could drive tourists to the theater. It details Olive's early life and her success on the stage. Many of her films look interesting and will hopefully be released to the public. One story should have been detailed further because it is so unique; a few of Olive's films were found under a swimming pool in Alaska. Olive's relationship with Jack Pickford is discussed in detail including Mary Pickford's stance on the two. It ends with a great epilogue telling about Olive's contribution to the film industry, including speculation on whether David O. Selznik's middle initial is a tribute to Thomas.

There are a few interesting extra features on this DVD as well. There are many Thomas stills, several of them quite rare. There is an audio presentation of a newspaper article written by Olive's first husband that is illustrated by stills and film clips. There are two reenactments of stories told by Billy Bitzer and Lenora Coffee which are silly and fun. Finally, there are two songs played that were written for Olive.

Overall, this collection is a gem and a must-have for fans of silent films.

Makes it obvious why she was called "Everybody's Sweetheart".......2005-08-15

Although Olive Thomas's life and acting career were far too short, the film presented here makes it obvious why she was called "Everybody's Sweetheart" and known as the most beautiful woman in the world. 'The Flapper' is a delightful, sweet, charming, cute movie, even though most people wouldn't consider it very complex or a classic or great film. When it boils down silent cinema was much like modern-day sound cinema, in that the majority of films were like this one, fun date movies or something cute and lightweight you'd watch on a rainy day, not epic classic masterpieces that win awards or that leave the viewer very powerfully and emotionally moved at the end. Olive plays Genevieve "Ginger" King, who is banished from the tiny town of Orange Springs, Florida, for having gone out to the local soda fountain with her boyfriend Bill without permission, and sent away to boarding school. Olive is very natural and believable as the smalltown girl who wants to fit in and be herself yet still have a good time and act grown-up, along the way getting herself mixed up with some unsavory elements who don't have her best interests at heart. The quality of the print used is fantastic, with a nice piano score and beautiful original art intertitles.

The hour-long documentary is also very charming and informative, narrated and presented in a very informal friendly way instead of having an overly scholarly and pompous feel to it, being more serious than informative yet also enjoyable and fun. There are also a bunch of great extras, an illustrated interview with Olive's first husband, re-enactments of some colorful incidents in Olive's life, and two songs written about Olive, accompanied by images of some of her other films. It's obvious she was talented and beautiful, and it's such a pity she died so young with so much more yet to give; it seems likely she could have advanced into the next stage of the silent era, in the 1920s, and possibly even transitioned to sound eventually. Quite a few stars from this era died young, but only a few of them are still as well-remembered as Olive; anyone can die young, but that doesn't mean your legacy will be well-guarded unless you have what Olive did, a combination of looks, talent, promise, and appeal lasting far beyond that particular era.

Fascinating Discovery!.......2005-07-18

I've read about Olive Thomas in movie history books but couldn't get a full grasp on her importance to movies. Everyone agreed she was beautiful, fascinating, charismatic. Like so many of the old stars, none of her movies are available for viewing or have been lost over the decades. She's been totally forgotten over the decades except among a small band of film buffs and movie historians. She died mysteriously in a Parisian hotel room in l920 and her death was shrouded in mystery. Now we have The Olive Thomas Collection and it's a fascinating revelation of this long forgotten star. "The Flapper" is revealed to us in a beautiful restoration, complete with tinted scenes and wonderful intertitles. You can finally appreciate what all the excitement was all about. Thomas shows us a personality who has fully grasped the art of film acting. While many of her female cohorts were still using exaggerated gestures and bulging their eyes, Thomas was much like Pickford in using subtle gestures and facial expressions. It's not going too far to speculate that if Olive had endured into the l920s, she could have become one of the greatest of silent screen stars. She had that indefinable charisma and personality that comes through the camera lenses. The documentary, "Everybody's Sweetheart" is also a total revelation as we follow Olive's amazing ascendancy from her poor Wisconsin background to the celebrated star of the Zeigfeld Follies and later of Selznick films. She was way ahead of her time in using her personal gifts for climbing upwards, becoming mistress to both Florenz Zeigfeld and then later Myron Selznick. We'll never know how she came to ingest poison that night in l920. It's fascinating to know that even today, her ghost is reported to haunt a Broadway theater. The cast and crew there touch a huge portrait of Olive as a good luck gesture. Now, if we can only get a collection out on Mae Murray and the Talmadge Sisters.

A historical journey.......2005-07-13

Olive Thomas is now a lost name of the silent era yet in her day she was a top star. This DVD has an entertaining yet informative documentary on her life and tragic demise as well as one of her lost films, "The Flapper." After watching this DVD I only wished there were more surviving Olive Thomas films around to enjoy. Well worth the money for any fan of silent film.

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