Thomas Meighan (as the admirable Crichton) is head butler for an aristocratic British family; he is obviously quite taken with luscious Gloria Swanson (as Lady Mary Lasenby), but unable to cross class barriers. The household's scullery maid Lila Lee (as Tweeny) is in love with Crichton. The threesome, and some others, go out yachting; when cross currents hit, the ensemble is shipwrecked! Turns out, the servant class has far more advanced survival skills. Who knew? Ms. Swanson is the film's main attraction; her bathing and showering scenes, near the beginning of the film, helped clean-up at the box office. Note that whenever there is nakedness afoot, DeMille has an object cover-up Swanson's figure, however. Though not as famed, Swanson's later wet spot, when she is nearly drowned in the bowel of the sideswiped yacht, is far superior. Swanson and Ms. Lee perform well, actually, with the material given. Loved the "upper crust" lady complaining about limp toast! Mr. Meighan delivers the movie's finest performance; the other players have moments, but Meighan is outstanding in the pivotal role of Butler Crichton. From the moment he checks the mansion for dust, he is delightful; the actor makes the movie even more interesting when the suppressed desire for Swanson begins registering on his face. A couple of smaller roles are noteworthy: Wesley Barry is great as the peeping Buttons, indicating what Cecil B. DeMille's "Male and Female" is really all about (more or less). You should also keep an eye on Bebe Daniels during the "King of Babylon" imaginary sequence; she is terrific as Meighan's right-hand lady. Silent film veterans Guy Oliver and Clarence Burton inexplicably disappear, after the shipwreck. Theodore Roberts and Raymond Hatton are around much longer, thankfully.The film is recommended, and DeMille obviously expert - but it's one of the more ludicrously-themed silent era classics preserved for modern scrutiny. Apparently, in adapting "The Admirable Crichton" for DeMilledom, the director substituted sex for satire. AND, he gets his titillating re-title "Male and Female" from no less than God Himself! quoting, "So God created Man in His own image, in the image of God created He him: Male and Female created He them." There is also a oddly placed bow to the good ol' U.S.A. With all its oddities, it's still a fun film. ******** Male and Female (11/23/19) Cecil B. DeMille ~ Thomas Meighan, Gloria Swanson, Lila Lee

"Male and Female" is another of Producer/Director Cecil B. De Mille's comedy/dramas. This one is about role reversal and makes one think of "Gilligan's Island" the farcical TV series that was popular in the 60s.The Loam family is a group of spoiled upper crust British nobles which include Lord Loam (Theodore Roberts), his daughters Lady Jane Lasenby (Gloria Swanson) and Agatha Lasenby (Mildred Reardon) along with Agatha's husband or suitor (I'm not sure which) The Honorable Ernest Wolley (Raymond Hatton). They are served by the butler Crichton (Thomas Meighan) and maid Tweeney (lila Lee). Crichton is secretly in love with Lady Jane but despises her spoiled antics ("The toast is too soft, Crichton"). Tweeney is in love with Crichton and so it goes.Lady Jane becomes engaged to marry the stuffy Lord Brockelhurst (Robert Cain) much to the dismay of Crichton. The family plans a south seas cruise and brings along Crichton, Tweeney and a young minister named Treherne (Edmund Burns). The party is ship wrecked on a remote island. Being of the spoiled upper class, the family is unable to cope with living in the wilderness. Crichton steps up and gradually takes command of the situation.The family at first rejects the idea of taking orders from their servant, but soon hunger and the need for shelter prevail. The family members gradually pitch in and learn to live off the land. Crichton seems to enjoy the role reversal where Lady Jane and Agatha are now forced to serve him. Two years pass.After Crichton rescues Lady Jane from a leopard, we are transported in Crichton and Lady Jane's imagination to ancient Babylon where Crichton is the King and Lady Jane a Christian. The King has a favorite (Bebe Daniels) who languishes at his feet in a web like head dress. When the Christian refuses to be a slave to the king, she walks into the lion's den and is eaten.Cut back to the present where Crichton and Lady Jane plan to be marries by Treherne. Just as the ceremony is being performed, Tweeney spots a passing ship and the party is rescued. They return to England where..............................................................Its hard to imagine that no hanky panky went on during the party's two year odyssey but that's what we're supposed to believe. The flashback sequence though lavishly staged is really unnecessary.The performances are generally good. Gloria Swanson was born to play the spoiled rich girl and looks lovely doing so. Lila Lee is equally beautiful as the love lorn Tweeney. Theodore Roberts and Raymond Hatton are mere cartoon characters. But it is Thomas Meighan who stands out. Being head and shoulders taller than the diminutive Ms. Swanson, he exudes leadership, authority and male virility as Crichton.It's not a bad movie but I challenge you not to think of "Gilligan's Island" when watching it.

In 1952 humorist S.J. Perelman contributed a piece to The New Yorker magazine devoted to Cecil B. DeMille's silent drama Male and Female. He was a teenager when the movie was first released in 1919, and found it so enthralling he sat through it twice. More than thirty years later Perelman, by then a middle-aged playwright and essayist, saw the film again at the Museum of Modern Art and recorded his impressions. It goes without saying for anyone familiar with the man's work that his piece is hilarious, but what's surprising is how little he exaggerated. I read his essay long before I saw the movie itself, and assumed that when he quoted title cards or described the action he was employing artistic license to get laughs, but no; he described the film with journalistic accuracy and yet his article is laugh-out-loud funny. Time has not been kind to Male and Female, that is, if DeMille honestly intended to say something profound about class and gender relations, but viewed in the proper spirit the movie is still quite entertaining. Certainly it offers sumptuous production values and top-notch cinematography (and happily, survives in beautiful condition), while most of the performances are surprisingly nuanced. It's the storytelling technique that lacks subtlety, for DeMille was a moralist who could never make his points delicately when there was a sledgehammer handy.The story is based on J. M. Barrie's 1902 stage play "The Admirable Crichton," a satire on the English class system that has been staged repeatedly and adapted into all sorts of movies over the years, and no wonder: it presents a deeply satisfying fantasy of virtue recognized and bogus class distinctions overturned—temporarily, anyway. Crichton, dignified butler in a household full of pampered, lazy snobs, proves to be the most useful person present when the whole gang is shipwrecked on a remote island in the South Seas. In the version made in the '30s, We're Not Dressing with Bing Crosby and Carole Lombard, this premise was turned into a musical comedy, while a 1957 English adaptation followed the satirical elements of the play more closely, but DeMille had his own distinctive approach to the material. As the title suggests, Male and Female plays up the romantic/erotic aspects of the role reversal, giving audiences of 1919 some of the steamiest situations then permissible.The naughty tone is set early on, when an impish serving boy who works in the stately household of Lord Loam peeks through bedroom keyholes, giving us our first look at each major character via "keyhole shot." The most dramatic intro is reserved for the beautiful, haughty Lady Mary (Gloria Swanson), who rises from her luxurious bed and is promptly accompanied by serving girls into her marbled bathroom for a descent into a sunken tub—and celluloid immortality! This bathing sequence was an instant sensation, and lives on in the textbooks as the most famous such scene in silent cinema. Today it's a little difficult to imagine what all the fuss was about, but I'll bet your eyes won't wander from the screen. Miss Swanson was at the peak of her youthful beauty at this time, with a special charisma all her own.Once the plot gets under way the opening sequences set up the thesis question: can lovers who cross class boundaries find happiness, or is "kind-to-kind" the only formula that works? The question is put to the test on a South Sea voyage when the Loam family's rented yacht hits the rocks, splinters apart, and strands them on an uncharted island, along with loyal Crichton and scullery maid Tweeny (the adorable Lila Lee), who is slavishly devoted to him, but well aware of the charged relationship between he and Lady Mary. Crichton soon establishes himself as the only person present who knows how to live on an island: he can build a fire, hunt, and cook a good meal, so his authority is grudgingly recognized. Two years pass, and here's where the inescapably silly elements of the story kick in. Crichton is now the unquestioned but benevolent ruler of an idyllic jungle paradise. Like the Swiss Family Robinson —or Gilligan and his friends— our castaways live in elaborate "primitive" huts that look like rustic vacation cabins where everyone wears designer pelts. Clothes horse Gloria even has a Peter Pan-style hat with a feather! We note the altered relationship between the one-time butler and his former employers: Lady Mary, who commanded Crichton with such hauteur in the opening scenes, now literally fights with Tweeny over the privilege of serving him his dinner. And it's finally explained why Mary and Crichton repeatedly yet unwittingly quote a passage of Victorian poetry concerning antiquity. It seems that, in a past life, Crichton was a Babylonian King and Lady Mary was a Christian slave, a defiant captive the King was unable to subdue, thus compelling him to feed her to "the sacred lions of Ishtar." (This is all enacted in a jaw-dropping flashback played absolutely straight.) The slave's dying curse is that the King will suffer for his deed throughout the ages, and so now, naturally, she is his superior and he waits on her—although on the island, of course, their roles have reverted to what they once were, back in ancient Babylon.After that bizarre episode there is little left to do but arrange for the timely rescue of the castaways and then conclude with Barrie's ironic finale, in which the class system reasserts itself and all our characters revert to type. Crichton earns himself a happy ending, however, and so does the long-suffering Tweeny. This movie was a smash hit in its day, and it remains a kitschy treat for silent film buffs who enjoy exquisitely produced hokum. If you can find a copy of Perelman's essay it may help to have it handy as a sort of Viewer's Guide while you watch Male and Female: he captures its grandeur as well as its absurdity with admirable precision.

Delightful silent film about a shipwrecked British family and their servants, with a great cast; story based on James Matthew Barrie's classic play The Admirable Crichton. The class structure in Britain at the time is gently ridiculed throughout and therein lies the fun. Special mention goes to Thomas Meighan's incredible performance as the butler Crichton who falls in love with the aristocratic daughter of Lord Loam, Lady Mary. Thomas was so manly, tall, muscular and handsome, completely fascinating to watch in this role, and every other role I have ever seen him in. No wonder he was so popular as a leading man in silents. As far as I am concerned he stole the show. You couldn't take your eyes off him.Gloria Swanson brings a vulnerability to her role, which in the beginning is pretty unsympathetic. During their time on the island she grows the most emotionally, and one cannot help but feel sad for her at the end. Her character gets the fuzzy end of the lollipop (a philandering future hubbie), and the scullery maid Tweeny (pixie Lila Lee) gets the Grand Prize and moves to America to start a new life with Crichton. One strange thing about this version: there was a crew of men on board the boat, but after the shipwreck they are not seen or heard from again. What happened to them? Only Lord Loam and his children and two servants survive, as far as we can determine. Yet we see this crew rowing away from the site of the wreck, two years go by, and they are never accounted for. Odd.The musical score is pretty here but sounded a bit synthetic at times. I would have preferred a straight piano score, her piano moments were lovely. I really enjoyed this silent film. But then I have read almost everything James Barrie has written, so it's not surprising I would love Male and Female, based on his play. I just wish at least one of the silent versions of his "The Little Minister" would have survived, especially the one with Betty Compson.