The Flapper (1920) and Olive Thomas

I have no idea why this film is called The Flapper because it has no flappers (or flapper dresses); in fact, it was made in 1920 before the term was even used on a regular basis. At the most, star Olive Thomas (a one-time Vargas and Ziegfeld girl) attempts to vamp her man as she acts like (and wears a dress similar to the one) Theda Bara wore in A Fool There Was. The story is a piffle about a teenager from a girl's school, the adult she finds exciting (silent child sex?) and a robbery, but it is fascinating to see Thomas whose death (from accidental poisoning shortly after this film was made) was the first of the Hollywood tragedies to be sensationalized by the media - which ultimately lead to the enactment of the Production Code.

See The Flapper in its entirety

See my Pinterest page for a slew of
pictures of Olive from throughout her life and career.

Olive Thomas in Love's Prisoner - unfortunately incomplete -
ends with a title card explaining the missing footage.

This episode of Beatrice Fairfax is Olive Thomas's first screen role.

---