By 1921 what with bad management and just putting her trust in the wrong people, Clara Kimball Young was watching her career die. Starting out as a wide eyed heroine in popular comedies her career went through various ups and downs as different managers tinkered with her screen personality. Her last husband, Harry Garson, took over as manager, director and boss and in spite of complaints from her friends that he would only bring her grief, she pushed on regardless. "The Worldly Madonna" is an example of the very complex scripts that Clara had to grapple with.
Sister Janet Trevor (Young) daily prays for the salvation of her wayward twin sister, Lucy, who dazzles members of the Cubist Café with her provocative singing. Among Lucy's many admirers are café owner Alan Graves, a politician McBride and a hunchback clown Ramez (George Hackathorne who must have been fed up with all the odd ball parts he was given) who takes her mocking and teasing very much to heart. Clara seemed a bit frumpy and "long in the tooth" to inspire so many admirers - she wasn't, only being in her early 30s, she just photographed old.
Graves is pedalling dope through his waiters and McBride, who sees a transaction, threatens him with exposure to the police if he doesn't stop. McBride is concerned that Lucy is being offered the drug - little realising she is a regular user!! When a waiter tries to get fresh with her, Ramez, who is behind the curtain, shoots him using Lucy's gun. Lucy flees to McBrides to proclaim her innocence but when she sees him trying to destroy the drugs she so desperately craves she grapples with him, the gun goes off and again a man is lying wounded.
Lucy heads to the convent where she quickly convinces Janet to change places with her - who knows why, perhaps to escape responsibility for her actions. Janet dons the disguise of cabaret singer and it is amazing how fast she blends into her surroundings, except that she sings "Mother O Mine" and has the whole cabaret in tears and Ramez is suspicious as the new Lucy treats him with dignity and respect. Surely the addiction of drugs would have been easy to spot then but Lucy who in the earlier scenes had struggled to secure drugs is now impersonating a nun!!! and for the rest of the movie shows no signs of addiction!! Talk about enough plot for several movies, it even gets ahead of the actors for in the next scene everyone seems to know that Janet is impersonating Lucy with Graves promising reporters the biggest scoop of the year if a "certain young lady doesn't show up by 10 pm"!!! Alls well that ends well because it turns out that .... but no, I don't want to spoil the ending!!
There are so many silent classics available it is interesting to view an average movie with the type of overladen plot that probably made up a big percentage of films shown at that time. Jean de Limur who played the oily waiter directed Jeanne Eagels last films "The Letter" and "Jealousy".
Recommended if only for the fantastic plot!!
Sister Janet Trevor (Young) daily prays for the salvation of her wayward twin sister, Lucy, who dazzles members of the Cubist Café with her provocative singing. Among Lucy's many admirers are café owner Alan Graves, a politician McBride and a hunchback clown Ramez (George Hackathorne who must have been fed up with all the odd ball parts he was given) who takes her mocking and teasing very much to heart. Clara seemed a bit frumpy and "long in the tooth" to inspire so many admirers - she wasn't, only being in her early 30s, she just photographed old.
Graves is pedalling dope through his waiters and McBride, who sees a transaction, threatens him with exposure to the police if he doesn't stop. McBride is concerned that Lucy is being offered the drug - little realising she is a regular user!! When a waiter tries to get fresh with her, Ramez, who is behind the curtain, shoots him using Lucy's gun. Lucy flees to McBrides to proclaim her innocence but when she sees him trying to destroy the drugs she so desperately craves she grapples with him, the gun goes off and again a man is lying wounded.
Lucy heads to the convent where she quickly convinces Janet to change places with her - who knows why, perhaps to escape responsibility for her actions. Janet dons the disguise of cabaret singer and it is amazing how fast she blends into her surroundings, except that she sings "Mother O Mine" and has the whole cabaret in tears and Ramez is suspicious as the new Lucy treats him with dignity and respect. Surely the addiction of drugs would have been easy to spot then but Lucy who in the earlier scenes had struggled to secure drugs is now impersonating a nun!!! and for the rest of the movie shows no signs of addiction!! Talk about enough plot for several movies, it even gets ahead of the actors for in the next scene everyone seems to know that Janet is impersonating Lucy with Graves promising reporters the biggest scoop of the year if a "certain young lady doesn't show up by 10 pm"!!! Alls well that ends well because it turns out that .... but no, I don't want to spoil the ending!!
There are so many silent classics available it is interesting to view an average movie with the type of overladen plot that probably made up a big percentage of films shown at that time. Jean de Limur who played the oily waiter directed Jeanne Eagels last films "The Letter" and "Jealousy".
Recommended if only for the fantastic plot!!