The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-06-19
"MLLE. MODESTO
MORALS IN THE MOVIES.


might almost as well be called Bah
bitt in Paris" The similarity be-
tween Hiram Bent, its wine 'em,
dine 'em, and sign 'em' hero, and Sin
clair Lewis picture of typical Ameri-
can business man as seen on the
screen is accentuated by the coinci-
dence Of Willard Lewis having been
cast for both roles. And in the words
of one of the comedy's many wise
cracks, Willard knows his onions
especially when it comes to playing
the part of an affable nincompoop.
Hiram Bent halls from st. Louis,
Mo-, and, for movie purposes, is a mil
lionaire banana importer. But IN
Paris he reveals his commercial in
genuity by taking up a side line,
women's clothes. 1t is around the
momentous subject Of women's
clothes, therefore, that the meaning
and moral of this movie revolve. AS
Hiram puts it when he opens his
mile. Modiste" shop with a "splen-
dfferous" banquet. Here's to low
necks and short skirts-may they
never meet" The hairbreadth es-
cape that keeps the two from meeting
provides the germ for plot.
Middle-class morality is sort of in
describable, indefinable- something
that is nevertheless Indispensable, one.
finds out as the story progresses.
Fiji, the model, is the kind of a girl
who says she isn't that kind Of
girl" and she isn't! When Hiram, as
banquet host, introduces her to all the
potential masculine buyers (not of
her, but of her costumes-the distinc-
ton is a fine one) she conceives the
naive idea of auctioning off her clothes
for the benefit of the French orphans,
right on the spot. First her slippers,
her fan, etc. =.
When her dress is being bid for she
modestly retires behind a screen,
challenging male rivalry from over
the top with head bobbing from bare
shoulders. Even her tiny undergar-
ments reach the hand of the highest
bidder, and then the boldest amongst
the males opens the bid For the
Screen!" Bidding goes on frenziedly,
with Hiram's protests overruled be-
cause "It's all for the French orphans,
you know" and finally the financially
fittest is told to come and get 1T.
Eyes CLEAN evilly and mouths cape as
he eagerly clutches for the screen. 1t
folds together in his arms, disclosing
to the breath-holding guests mile.
Modesto calm and smiling in her sim
pie little dinner gown, donned dex-
trously between sales.
The fact that Hiram's buying guests
saw a disrobed Fiji only with their
minds eyes and not with their
naughty physical optics made all the
difference in the world, of course, as
far as middle-class morality is con-
cerned. It happened, however, that
her high-born lover, present incognito,
became somewhat disconnected before
the final unwilling and departed early
in a selfish dudgeon. Therein lay the
great tragedy. How to convince him
that she wasn't that kind of a girl?"
This problem was happily solved by
resort to the green-eyed monster,
jealousy, aided by the fact that Fiji
had whatever it is necessary to hang
clothes on" and she also had the
clothes.
The picture, adapted from the op-
eretta, "Fif," is full OF funniness and
well acted, while Corinne Griffith is
very easy to look at-and she has
sense of humor that shows itself In
Charleston-like antics which appeal 70
ones sense of 1nodernity, to say the
least. It's a far cry from her back to
Americas former sweetheart" old
fshioned Mary Pickford, who scarcely
moved anything but her eyes.