Joy Girl!: Olive Borden Watchfest

[BettyLouSpence]

Joy Girl!
The Olive Borden Watchfest
Welcome, one and all, to the Silent Photoplay Olive Borden watchfest! For the next five weeks, we'll be focusing on the Joy Girl of the 1920s, vivacious silent actress Olive Borden.

We have a special format this time: we will be viewing three features and four shorts. Remember how in our Jobyna Ralston watchfest I expressed frustration at the lack of feature length films (other than the Lloyd films and Wings) available online? Well, in Olive's case we have all of three available in total, and one of them in very poor quality. Luckily, we have four comedy shorts Olive did for the likes of Hal Roach and Educational Pictures to help pad things out.

After stints as an extra, acting in two reeler comedies, being voted a 1925 WAMPAS Baby Star and a couple films with Tom Mix, Olive was cast in her breakout film, 3 Bad Men, in 1926. She became known as the Joy Girl in 1927 after starring in the film of the same name. The transition to sound was not an easy one for Olive. In 1934 she starred in her last film, Chloe, Love Is Calling. Her later years were marked by alcoholism, struggles with infertility, and poverty. Sadly, she passed away from cirrhosis in 1947 at only 41, in a home for destitute women she had lived in for the past two years. I highly recommend heading over to Elizabeth Landis' Olive Borden website to read more about her.





And a final note: if there is a film here you really liked, I highly suggest downloading the mp4 in case any of these videos are pulled from YouTube. We've had some films get yanked after past watchfests, and during our vamp one we actually had a film get taken down during the event.

Below is our list. We'll be going chronologically through Olive's career. If there is an issue with a link, please let me know. Films currently being watched will have red titles and a larger bolded font. We can discuss the films at any time in this thread, just be sure to use spoiler tags! They're the icon with the yellow exclamation and triangle in the posting toolbar.

Feb 1 - Feb 8
Too Many Mammas (1924)
With Charley Chase
9m 1s
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0tnUzqjn9VI

and

Air Pockets (1924)
With Lige Conley, Sunshine Hart
20m 24s
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A9B79ZFQ3Gk


Feb 8 - Feb 15
Tell It To A Policeman (1925)
With Glenn Tryon
17m 34s
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BuZcFlkeO5M

and

Good Morning Nurse (1925)
With Ralph Graves
11m 56s
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IlZ8d6JWkAE

Feb 15 - Feb 22
3 Bad Men (1926)
With George O'Brien
90m 36s
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wa1HjvcULH4

Feb 22 - Mar 1
Fig Leaves (1926)
With George O'Brien, Phyllis Haver
70m 58s
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bK9i3wzd0QI

Mar 1 - Mar 8
The Monkey Talks (1927)
With Jacques Lerner
62m 49s
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cP7E4UT3yuk
Note: Unfortunately this copy is in pretty bad quality, especially in the beginning.


Happy Watching!

[Kitty]

Nice!!!

Omg 3 Bad Men is an amazing movie, at least that's how I remember it! I saw it on one of those movie channels without commercials many years ago. It had this beautiful, serene cowboy type music throughout.

Edit: I'd thought I'd seen it on Fox Movies, and I think I was right, since this was a Fox film... And I found out that this is the same soundtrack! I'm super excited to see this again, and am hoping that it lives up to my memory.

[donnie]

Hurray! Looking forward to it. This is a star about whom I know nothing. In fact, I have to confess that I had her rather confused in my mind with Olive Thomas. (In my mind? Well, where else would you be confused? ) Anyway, this sounds like a fun one!

[Kitty]

I already downloaded all of these so I can watch. I'll probably watch these on Friday.

[Kitty]

Too Many Mammas

► Show Spoiler

Wow! This one starts out pretty racy. I think it’s interesting that they have technology for video chat, but the phones look like their modern ones. It’s also curious that the cafe is called The “Humming” Bird Cafe, with quotes around the word humming. Wonder what that’s about?
The film really lived up to its name! From the title, I thought there were going to be too many mothers, but in this context, mammas is use differently. It's kind of interesting to hear early uses of slang.
That’s some dance they get into! The choreography when they’re in the booth is pretty funny and well done, although extremely unbelievable. Sometimes that type of thing will take me out of the comedy/story if it’s totally ridiculous like that. I know it’s meant to just be silly, but it doesn’t always work for me.
When the husband and young man are about to fight, I thought it was pretty amusing how he started taking off all his clothes. It would have taken forever to prepare for a fistfight that way! We think about how many clothes that women wore back then…. well men wore a lot, too! That guy was wearing a coat, a vest, a tie, a shirt, pants, and most likely socks, long underwear, and obviously shoes. Don’t forget the hat!
Overall, this was a cute little short, but I wonder how audiences reacted to it; as we all know, people definitely cried out for the immorality of their film!

[Kitty]

Air Pockets

► Show Spoiler

In the beginning, that threatening note is horribly written.

I’m going to go off on a tangent right now, so be forewarned. *About the racism in the film: People love to scream about context and how it’s wrong to look at a film through modern eyes, but I think they’re ridiculous in doing so. Racism has never been ok, just accepted. Just because it was “accepted” back then, does not mean that it was necessary to incorporate into a film. It was wrong then, it is wrong now, and no amount of context can change that. What’s more, they were not blind to it back then, either. They knew that their racist tendencies were wrong, but they were afraid of black people, so they created a culture where it was accepted. I’m not saying that it needs to be censored in past projects, no. We need to see how far we’ve come (and how far we need to go) to be able to view history the proper way. I am saying, though, that it’s alright to call out racism and discuss it when we see it.*
That poor horse is running like a trooper. I don’t like the faces he is making during that whole scene where they are hauling the box. Omg, they really should have just taken a different vehicle to transport themselves!
I have no idea what was happening with the man’s cheek when he is hanging in the air on the airplane. Also, when his pant legs roll up, they are obviously white legs.

This movie seemed like 4 films in one, and I honestly have no idea what was really going on in most of the picture. I am going to have to rewatch this one. I’ll do that maybe later today or tomorrow, and get back to you.

[donnie]

My comments on Too Many Mammas:

► Show Spoiler

I enjoyed this. Not a lot of plot in this little short, but fun watching nevertheless. And I always enjoy anything Charley Chase is in. Olive did not have a whole lot to do in this one, other than looking sultry, the real spotlight being on Charley. And the whole film kind of had that Charley Chase style about it.

The “new kind of telephone” was amusing, the video part looking strikingly modern—almost like a iPad on a stand, didn’t it?

From the title, I thought there were going to be too many mothers, but in this context, mammas is use differently. It's kind of interesting to hear early uses of slang.

Yes, I assumed the same thing.

The choreography when they’re in the booth is pretty funny and well done, although extremely unbelievable.

Yes, that was well done. I thought that was the funniest part of the film.

Two questions:

Why would the boss want a “alibi” (aka chaperone?) along with him on an illicit date?

When they arrived at the Hummingbird Café, why did the boss ask him to make sure everything was all right? I.e., what was it he was to check for?

[Kitty]

Comments on comments of Too Many Mamma's

► Show Spoiler

quote=donnie post_id=15776 time=1612746234 user_id=51]
Why would the boss want a “alibi” (aka chaperone?) along with him on an illicit date?
[/quote]

I think he might have told his wife that she was a client, instead of a lover.

When they arrived at the Hummingbird Café, why did the boss ask him to make sure everything was all right? I.e., what was it he was to check for?

Perhaps to check for people they know? I know I'm probably apologizing for the short, but that's what I thought.

[donnie]

And now my thoughts on Air Pockets.

► Show Spoiler

About the racism in the film: People love to scream about context and how it’s wrong to look at a film through modern eyes, but I think they’re ridiculous in doing so. Racism has never been ok, just accepted. Just because it was “accepted” back then, does not mean that it was necessary to incorporate into a film.

Exactly. There was brutality and hurt beneath that “humor.” (I'm reminded of Dunbar's poem "We Wear the Mask.") Not only is the stereotyping offensive and tiresome…it’s just dumb. And they really pile it on heavy in this one, unfortunately.

Having said that, I did enjoy the outlandish slapstick elements of the film.

That poor horse is running like a trooper. I don’t like the faces he is making during that whole scene where they are hauling the box. Omg, they really should have just taken a different vehicle to transport themselves!

All that business going on with an object in motion is a page right out of Sennett’s Keystone. …especially the parts with the ladder and wheelbarrow. Being a Keystonian myself, I loved that part.

This movie seemed like 4 films in one, and I honestly have no idea what was really going on in most of the picture. I am going to have to rewatch this one. I’ll do that maybe later today or tomorrow, and get back to you.

Yes, this is also a Keystone touch—a plot that meanders all over the place for no apparent reason—or more precisely, one that transitions into another plot—or plotlet—for no apparent reason.

And yes, I was clueless about what was going on in most of it myself. The section in the middle where the inventors come in with the DIY car I understood, but other than that… (And what was the guy’s purpose in keeping the plane parked outside the window with the propeller going that whole time??)

If you are able to explain the plot after rewatching, let me in on it.

Also, I actually don't know where Olive is in all this. Was she the daughter...I guess? I was too busy trying to figure what was going on!

[Kitty]

Comments on comments about Air Pockets

► Show Spoiler

Having said that, I did enjoy the outlandish slapstick elements of the film.

The black people ended up being the stars of the show, in my opinion.

Also, I actually don't know where Olive is in all this. Was she the daughter...I guess? I was too busy trying to figure what was going on!

She is supposed to be Morgan's daughter. It's been a while since I've watched it, so I can't tell you who Morgan is, anymore.