NOW PLAYING (100 YEARS AGO)

[scsu1975]

Coming in August:

Broken Barriers, with James Kirkwood, Norma Shearer, Mae Busch, and Adolph Menjou

Hold Your Breath, with Dorothy Devore and Walter Hiers

The Average Woman, with Pauline Garon, David Powell, and Harrison Ford

The Lone Wolf, with Jack Holt and Dorothy Dalton

[NoShear]

Coming in August:

Broken Barriers, with James Kirkwood, Norma Shearer, Mae Busch, and Adolph Menjou

Hold Your Breath, with Dorothy Devore and Walter Hiers

The Average Woman, with Pauline Garon, David Powell, and Harrison Ford

The Lone Wolf, with Jack Holt and Dorothy Dalton

Looking forward to your BROKEN BARRIERS look, scsu1975...

[scsu1975]

Broken Barriers, directed by Reginald Barker, starred James Kirkwood as Ward Trenton, Norma Shearer as Grace Durland, Adolphe Menjou as Tommy Kemp, and Mae Busch as Irene Kirby. The film was released in August of 1924 at six reels, and is presumed lost.

Plot: Grace Durland gives up college to work in a department store when her father loses his money. Having been brought up in comfortable circumstances, she now misses social activities to which she had become accustomed. Desperate for amusement, she goes to a party with her superior, Irene Kirby. Irene is having an affair with Tommy Kemp. There, Grace meets Ward Trenton.



The two fall for each other, but Trenton is already married. He decides to ask his wife for a divorce, since she has said on a number of occasions he only had to ask for his freedom to get it. But this time, his wife refuses to grant the divorce.



Trenton tells Grace that for her own sake, they should not see each other again. Grace says she loves him and will never give him up – in spite of public perception.



Meanwhile, Grace’s brother is having an affair with Sadie Denton.



He has become tired of the arrangement and wants to be free. Sadie asks Grace for help, and Grace begins to realize how inappropriate her own relationship with Trenton has become. Irene begins to feel the same way about her relationship with Kemp.



Grace has a talk with her father. He convinces her that no matter how Trenton may feel now, some day he will want a home and children. Trenton and Grace will never be happy if they have to hide their love. So Trenton and Grace decide to give each other up after a party that Kemp gives for Irene Kirby at a mountain lodge. But on the drive home, Kemp, who is drunk, takes a turn at high speed and crashes the car. Kemp is killed and Trenton is seriously injured. Although Grace and Irene fear notoriety from the incident, Grace takes Trenton to his wife. Mrs. Trenton blames Grace for the accident. A doctor tells Mrs. Trenton that, even if her husband lives, he will be a cripple for life. At this point, Mrs. Trenton selfishly says she will give her husband up for Grace. The doctor sees through Mrs. Trenton’s pretense and confides in Grace. She asks if Trenton will truly never walk again. “Of course he’ll walk,” he tells her, “and, I hope, with you as his wife.”

The two stills below show Director Reginald Barker working with Norma Shearer and James Kirkwood. The young boy could not be identified):





The film was based upon a novel by Meredith Nicholson, which first appeared as a serial in Cosmopolitan Magazine before publication in book form. The novel is a decent read, but the filmmakers invented the melodramatic ending for the screen, since in the book, Trenton is not injured in the car crash.

Moving Picture World praised the production, noting “the outstanding feature of “Broken Barriers” is the work of the cast. Their portrayals make the story seem very real. Reginald Barker deserves credit for the excellent manner in which he has directed this production and in addition to smooth continuity and logical development he has introduced a climax involving an auto accident that imparts a good punch and brings about a satisfactory ending by getting rid of the wife in a rather unexpected way.” Exhibitor’s Herald wrote “the story is the eternal triangle and although the theme is anything but new, it is presented in a manner that holds the interest and leaves no dull moments.” Photoplay wrote “Norma Shearer reveals a steady improvement in her screen work. She will bear watching. The picture is slightly better than passable film fare.” The Film Daily labeled the picture as “sex appeal drama with the usual elements that will probably make it a first rate box office attraction,” adding “it’s really Norma Shearer’s picture. She’s the whole show and a mighty good looking one.”

[NoShear]

Broken Barriers, directed by Reginald Barker, starred James Kirkwood as Ward Trenton, Norma Shearer as Grace Durland, Adolphe Menjou as Tommy Kemp, and Mae Busch as Irene Kirby. The film was released in August of 1924 at six reels, and is presumed lost.

Plot: Grace Durland gives up college to work in a department store when her father loses his money. Having been brought up in comfortable circumstances, she now misses social activities to which she had become accustomed. Desperate for amusement, she goes to a party with her superior, Irene Kirby. Irene is having an affair with Tommy Kemp. There, Grace meets Ward Trenton.



The two fall for each other, but Trenton is already married. He decides to ask his wife for a divorce, since she has said on a number of occasions he only had to ask for his freedom to get it. But this time, his wife refuses to grant the divorce.



Trenton tells Grace that for her own sake, they should not see each other again. Grace says she loves him and will never give him up – in spite of public perception.



Meanwhile, Grace’s brother is having an affair with Sadie Denton.



He has become tired of the arrangement and wants to be free. Sadie asks Grace for help, and Grace begins to realize how inappropriate her own relationship with Trenton has become. Irene begins to feel the same way about her relationship with Kemp.



Grace has a talk with her father. He convinces her that no matter how Trenton may feel now, some day he will want a home and children. Trenton and Grace will never be happy if they have to hide their love. So Trenton and Grace decide to give each other up after a party that Kemp gives for Irene Kirby at a mountain lodge. But on the drive home, Kemp, who is drunk, takes a turn at high speed and crashes the car. Kemp is killed and Trenton is seriously injured. Although Grace and Irene fear notoriety from the incident, Grace takes Trenton to his wife. Mrs. Trenton blames Grace for the accident. A doctor tells Mrs. Trenton that, even if her husband lives, he will be a cripple for life. At this point, Mrs. Trenton selfishly says she will give her husband up for Grace. The doctor sees through Mrs. Trenton’s pretense and confides in Grace. She asks if Trenton will truly never walk again. “Of course he’ll walk,” he tells her, “and, I hope, with you as his wife.”

The two stills below show Director Reginald Barker working with Norma Shearer and James Kirkwood. The young boy could not be identified):





The film was based upon a novel by Meredith Nicholson, which first appeared as a serial in Cosmopolitan Magazine before publication in book form. The novel is a decent read, but the filmmakers invented the melodramatic ending for the screen, since in the book, Trenton is not injured in the car crash.

Moving Picture World praised the production, noting “the outstanding feature of “Broken Barriers” is the work of the cast. Their portrayals make the story seem very real. Reginald Barker deserves credit for the excellent manner in which he has directed this production and in addition to smooth continuity and logical development he has introduced a climax involving an auto accident that imparts a good punch and brings about a satisfactory ending by getting rid of the wife in a rather unexpected way.” Exhibitor’s Herald wrote “the story is the eternal triangle and although the theme is anything but new, it is presented in a manner that holds the interest and leaves no dull moments.” Photoplay wrote “Norma Shearer reveals a steady improvement in her screen work. She will bear watching. The picture is slightly better than passable film fare.” The Film Daily labeled the picture as “sex appeal drama with the usual elements that will probably make it a first rate box office attraction,” adding “it’s really Norma Shearer’s picture. She’s the whole show and a mighty good looking one.”

Thank you for the choice and work you put into it, scsu1975. Even where there's the lost Norma Shearer movie, usually there seems enough production stills to 'compensate', but not true with BROKEN BARRIERS, so you did a lot with a little.

[scsu1975]

Hold Your Breath, directed by Scott Sidney, starred Dorothy Devore as Mabel, Walter Hiers as Freddie, and Tully Marshall as Blake.* The film was released in May of 1924 at six reels. Several archives hold incomplete copies.

*Contemporaneous reviews list the three main characters as “the girl,” “her fiancé,” and “the eccentric millionaire.” IMDb gives the characters names (which I adopted), but I am unsure where those names came from.

Plot: Freddie is working on a little bungalow for himself and Mabel, his girlfriend. Mabel lives with her brother and sister-in-law, and cares for their baby. Mabel works in a beauty parlor. One day, while giving a woman a permanent wave, she goes to assist a manicurist, and the woman’s hair is ruined.





Mabel is fired. When she gets home, she discovers her brother has been sent home sick, and his wife has just invested the family savings in oil stock. Mabel rushes out to try to find the stock salesman, but he has disappeared. Freddie tries to get Mabel to marry him right away, so he can take care of the family. But she insists on going to the newspaper where her brother works and trying to hold down his job while he is ill. She reminds the city editor of the promises he made to her brother when he went to war. Now that her brother is sick from being gassed, the editor ought to help him. The editor agrees to give her a chance, but her efforts at being a reporter end in disappointment. Finally, the editor tells her to get an interview with Blake, an eccentric millionaire collector, who has just brought back priceless objects from Egypt.



Mabel dons various disguises in order to gain access to Blake, but she keeps getting thrown out.



She finally manages to interview him, and he allows her to examine a $50,000 bracelet. Mabel leaves it on a chair, and an organ grinder’s monkey comes in the window, seizes the bracelet, and runs up the side of the building. Blake accuses Mabel of theft and phones the police. In desperation, Mabel goes out the window and tries to catch the monkey. She is pursued by the house detective and a policeman.







A crowd gathers below, and an enterprising gentleman peddles field glasses and camp chairs. Someone gets Freddie, who tries various methods of saving Mabel. She makes several narrow escapes.



But finally she is hauled into the building by the police. The oil stock salesman brings news of a gusher. Mabel finally consents to marry Freddie.

The still below could not be placed in context, but it shows Walter Hiers (at right):



The publicity still below shows Hiers with Devore:



Screen Opinions called the film “one of the best slap-stick farce-comedies in many moons,” adding “thrills on the order of “Safety Last” with the girl doing the stunts.” Photoplay wrote “Dorothy Devore impersonates the human fly a la Harold Lloyd. … With Walter Hiers as a corpulent foil, Dorothy certainly does keep us guessing, and laughing. It is an amusing film – this sort usually is.” The Film Daily wrote “it has plenty of laughs and a comedy thrill climax that will probably have them on the edges of their seats. Dorothy Devore is delightful and the rest of the cast is good. The laughs come in good succession and it ends up in a gale of laughs.” Moving Picture World noted that the film was “aptly named, for if it does not make you do just that thing we don’t know what will. Once it gets underway, it moves with great rapidity, with a laugh or a thrill or both in nearly every foot. It is corking good entertainment for any type of house.” Exhibitor’s Trade Review called the film “screen entertainment of the highest comedy order,” adding “it seems to offer itself in particular as a good number for a Summer program, that season of the year when the respected ticket buyers would rather laugh than be carried away by some spectacle of poignant grief.”

[scsu1975]

The Average Woman, directed by William Christy Cabanne, starred Pauline Garon as Sally Whipple, David Powell as Rudolph Van Alten, and Harrison Ford as Jimmy Munroe. The film was released in February of 1924 at six reels. The UCLA Film and Television Archive holds a nearly complete copy, with one reel missing.

Plot: Judge Whipple believes that the average woman of today does not compare favorably with the young women of his own day. His daughter Sally moves in the fast social set. Rudolph Van Alten, her suitor, comes from an old New York family, but has a shady reputation. Judge Whipple is ignorant of Van Alten’s character, and looks favorably upon him as a prospective son-in-law. Sally and Van Alten spend the evening at the Blue Boar Tavern, a fashionable place indirectly owned by Van Alten.





Sally has no inkling of her suitor’s connection with the tavern. Jimmy Munroe, a newspaper man, has been designated by his editor to write a series of articles about “The Average Woman.” To obtain first-hand information, he decides to study the average woman who comes to the New York Public Library. Coincidentally, Sally pays a visit to the library to pick up some reading material. Jimmy writes down some preliminary thoughts before making any observations:
1. The average woman opens locks with hair-pins.
2. Adds postscripts to letters
3. Is afraid of mice
Sally happens to peer over her shoulder and reads the statements. She then impishly starts to follow each one, finally getting up on a chair and yelling “a mouse!” Jimmy immediately believes she is a perfect specimen of the average woman and decides to watch her closely. Sally leaves and Jimmy follows her. Meanwhile, a delegation of women are in conference with Judge Whipple, demanding that the owner of the Blue Boar Tavern be jailed on account of the establishment’s bad reputation. Judge Whipple promises to investigate, in conjunction with the District Attorney. On her way home, Sally realizes that Jimmy is following her. She flags down a police officer to arrest him, and bring him to Judge Whipple’s office. When she enters her father’s study, Sally tells him of the happenings at the library and asks him to follow through with the game she is playing on the reporter. When Jimmy is brought in by the police officer, Judge Whipple, without revealing he is Sally’s father, orders Jimmy to report to her every week regarding his conduct. Jimmy then reports on a regular basis, and he and Sally begin to build a relationship. About this time, Bill Brenon, ostensibly the proprietor of the tavern, informs Van Alten that the police are investigating the establishment, and that he should use his influence with Judge Whipple to avoid notoriety. Van Alten goes to the Judge’s house, where he also meets Sally and Jimmy. The Judge informs Sally and Van Alten that he and the District Attorney are on their way to investigate the tavern. Van Alten rushes to the phone and advises Brenon as to what is happening. When the Judge and D.A. arrive, they find nothing suspicious, prompting the Judge to declare the owner was probably tipped off. The D.A. asks the Judge if anyone was informed of their visit. The Judge replies that only his daughter and Van Alten knew. The D.A. then informs the Judge that the real owner of the tavern is Van Alten, which enrages the Judge. The next day, Judge Whipple summons Van Alten to his office, and tells him he cannot run a place like the Blue Boar Tavern and expect to be welcomed in the Judge’s home at the same time. Van Alten leaves and immediately calls Sally, asking her to dine with him at the tavern. When Sally tells Van Alten she has an engagement with Jimmy that evening, Van Alten says he will also invite Jimmy to the tavern. Sally informs the maid of her plans that evening. When she arrives at the tavern, Van Alten pressures Sally to marry him.



She evades the issue, asking what time Jimmy is supposed to meet them. Van Alten replies that Jimmy has been delayed. Meanwhile, a waif named Tike, watched by the tavern’s hostess, Mrs. La Rosa, is playing in the attic of the tavern and comes across a pile of letters. Mrs. La Rosa happens to be Van Alten’s mistress. While searching for Tike, she finds the letters. They appear to be compromising, and were written by the deceased wife of Judge Whipple. Mrs. La Rosa sees an opportunity for blackmail. She informs Van Alten of her discovery. Van Alten shows them to Sally, telling her that unless she marries him, he will have the letters published which will politically ruin her father.



Sally consents to the marriage and calls her father to inform him of her plans.



Mrs. La Rosa, now jealous of Van Alten’s attention to Sally, phones the police and offers her help if they raid the tavern. Jimmy, who was never informed by Van Alten of the meeting, stops at the Judge’s house, looking for Sally. The maid informs him where Sally went. When Jimmy arrives at the tavern, Sally tearfully tells him of her plans to marry Van Alten. Jimmy leaves, and moments later, the police raid the tavern. Jimmy rushes to the Judge’s home and informs him of Sally’s predicament. They go to the tavern and find the place has been raided. Van Alten informs the Judge that he is marrying Sally the next day. When the Judge objects, Van Alten produces the letters, expecting they will change the Judge’s attitude. Upon reading the letters, the Judge laughs, stating that the letters were sent by his wife to her sister’s husband. The Judge asks Sally if the letters were the reason she agreed to marry Van Alten. When she admits it, the Judge now realizes that his daughter was willing to sacrifice herself, and his faith is restored in the “modern woman.” Van Alten turns on Mrs. La Rosa for calling the police. The hostess fatally shoots Van Alten and escapes. Finally, Sally and Jimmy swear eternal love to each other.



The stills below could not be placed in context. The first shows Ford, Garon, and Powell:



The second shows Garon with Russell Griffin, who played “Tike.” One review mentioned there was a family connection between Judge Whipple and Tike, so this photo may illustrate that revelation:



The film was based upon a Saturday Evening Post story by Dorothy De Jagers. Motion Picture News wrote that the film “hasn’t much of a plot – but develops it so that it offers suspense. Builds up to climax in logical and straightforward fashion. Some of the early scenes need trimming to heighten the action. Carries punch in concluding scenes.” The Film Daily called the movie “good audience stuff – where they like this kind of material – and has the usual accessories, such as shots on the Fifth Ave. busses, where they show a flirtation and the road house trimmings, including a cabaret scene, with some novelties from a Broadway show. Nothing very new in the story, nor the treatment, but it holds interest and is well dressed and unusually good stuff for the independent field.” Exhibitor’s Trade Review wrote “Mr. Cabanne’s excellent directorial judgment is early made manifest by his skill in preserving continuity intact in the case of a plot which turns around so many unexpected corners. In the hands of a less gifted or inexperienced producer the filming of such a tale would probably result in a series of disconnected situations as hard to disentangle and understand as a Chinese puzzle.”

[scsu1975]

The Lone Wolf, directed by Stanner E. V. Taylor, starred Jack Holt as Michael Lanyard and Dorothy Dalton as Lucy Shannon. The film was released on April 27, 1924, at six reels, and is presumed lost. I could not find a synopsis in the Library of Congress, so I had to cobble together the plot from contemporaneous reviews, some of which were quite confusing.

Plot: Plans for a ray which can stop an airplane engine in midair are hidden in a pack of cards and stolen. A gang of Parisian crooks known as “The Pack” learn that a man named Eckstrom has the plans, so they go after them. Lucy Shannon, a member of the Pack, meets Michael Lanyard, whom she suspects is the international crook known as the Lone Wolf.



Lanyard, attracted to Lucy, goes to the American Ambassador, and says he will deliver the plans to him if he will furnish a fast airplane and promise the Lone Wolf shall have a chance to live free in America. When one of the members of the Pack gets the plans from Eckstrom, Lanyard knocks him senseless and takes the plans.



He removes them from the pack of cards and conceals them in a cigarette. Lucy leaves a warning in Lanyard’s room that the Pack are after him. She and Lanyard attempt to flee together. They hide in a friend’s studio. When the Pack finds them, Lucy has to pretend she has not double-crossed the gang. So she turns a gun on Lanyard and makes him lay the cards on the table.



The Pack take the cards and flee, but Eckstrom demands the cigarette and leaves in an airplane. Lanyard and Lucy overtake him in another plane.



Lanyard, swinging from a rope, boards Eckstrom’s plane and gets the plans. Lucy later reveals she is a member of the Secret Service. Lanyard wins her, and receives a pardon.

The two stills below, which could not be placed in context, show Dorothy Dalton:





Exhibitor’s Herald wrote “the story cannot be said to be unusual as a screen creation, but it is very well done and the end leaves one with an entirely satisfactory sense of the entertainment it has given. … The outcome proves a pleasant, though not necessarily unexpected climax.” Motion Picture Magazine wrote “carrying the intensified action and atmosphere of a serial, this picture should find response with action lovers.” Photoplay noted “an otherwise pretty smooth performance with a very capable cast headed by Dorothy Dalton and Jack Holt, is made slightly ridiculous at the finish by a double aeroplane transfer in the clouds, a lot of which was too obviously done in a studio.” Screenland wrote “lots of hokum, of course, but it’s the popular kind from which people will come away saying “ain’t that a grand movie?”… Plenty of excitement and the suspense is effectively maintained until the end.” The Film Daily called the film “mystery meller with action and thrills following in rapid succession. Much hokum and little logic but good excitement and plenty of it for those who like it.” Moving Picture World called the film “a picture which will be liked by nearly everyone. It is well handled to make it a thrilling, baffling mystery story, full of suspense and unexpected happenings that will keep the audience in a constant state of excitement.” As usual, there were dissenters. W. J. Shoup, of the De Luxe Theatre in Spearville, Kansas, wrote “this is the poorest picture we have shown in a year. It makes one want to hide when it is over so your patrons will not see you. If you have it bought, trade it back in for a news reel and you will be ahead.”

[scsu1975]

Coming in September:

Flapper Wives, with May Allison and Rockcliffe Fellowes

In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter, with Alexander Carr, George Sidney, and Betty Blythe

The Girl in the Limousine, with Larry Semon, Claire Adams, and Oliver Hardy

The Man Who Fights Alone, with William Farnum and Lois Wilson

[scsu1975]

Flapper Wives, directed by Jane Murfin and Justin McCloskey, starred May Allison as Claudia Bigelow, Rockcliffe Fellows as Stephen Carey, Vera Reynolds as Sadie Callahan, Tom O’Brien as Tim Callahan, and Edward Everett Horton as Vincent Platt. The film was released in February of 1924 at seven reels, and is presumed lost.

Plot: Stephen Carey, a rector at a fashionable church, clashes repeatedly with his vestrymen over his “radical” ideas. Stephen is defended by Claudia Bigelow, wife of Charles Bigelow, himself a narrow-minded aristocrat and a leading critic of Stephen.



Stephen is also defended by his friend, Tim Callahan.



Nevertheless, Stephen is forced to resign. Claudia, furious at her husband’s bigotry, seeks the aid of Vincent Platt, an old admirer. At Platt’s house, Claudia nervously smokes a cigarette, then leaves it burning on a table as she and Platt step out. Platt then remembers he had promised to take his housekeeper’s son, Jimsy, to the circus that evening. Hurrying back, Platt drives into a fence and is injured. The house begins to catch fire. The housekeeper rushes through the flames to save her son. She is able to get him to safety, but the child is blinded by the fire. Doctors determine his sight is gone forever. Claudia’s return home is delayed by the accident, and her husband is furious. As he storms about her room, he comes across letters from Platt. When Claudia finally arrives with Platt, there is a scene, and Bigelow accuses his wife of bringing scandal to his name. He threatens divorce, and Claudia, weary and hysterical, chooses not to explain herself. Claudia learns of Jimsy’s misfortune and blames herself for it. Stephen takes a job as a mechanic in a garage run by Tim Callahan. Claudia prays with Stephen, and she cries aloud “surely God cannot mean a little boy to pay for my carelessness.” Despite their efforts, no miracle occurs. Stephen gives the boy his dog, Wolf, as a companion and guide.



One day Stephen tells Claudia that her husband wants to discontinue divorce proceedings, but Claudia replies that she cannot return to him. Stephen asks if she cares for another man, and she confesses that the man she does care for is Stephen. Tim Callahan’s wife, Sadie, prefers going out to cooking.



One night, she quarrels with her husband.





She goes out with a “sport” named Tony. They are caught in a terrific storm and Tony’s car becomes stuck. After hours spent in mud and rain, Sadie and Tony hail a passing truck and are given a lift back to town.



Meanwhile, Tim is raging around his apartment, above the garage. Stephen hears him and goes in to talk over the matter. He tells Tim that it is as such times that marriages are made or broken, and advises him to be patient with his wife. When Sadie finally arrives, drenched and weary, Tim deals with her tenderly and their reconciliation is accomplished. One day, Stephen is teaching Jimsy to read with his fingers while the boy is at the garage.



Stephen again prays for the restoration of the boy’s sight. This time, he is successful, and Jimsy’s vision is restored. Unaware of what has happened, Hulda, Jimsy’s mother, plots revenge on Claudia, whom she blames for her son’s blindness. Hulda goes to the garage, prepared to throw acid in Claudia’s eyes. As she raises her arm to throw the acid, she hears her son call out “Mother, I can see!” Hulda is overjoyed and begs Claudia for forgiveness.

For the driving accident sequence with Edward Everett Horton and May Allison, a Dusenberg racing car with a specially designed sport body was used. According to press reports, the car had a “guaranteed speed of 104 miles per hour.”

Child actor Stanley Goethals, who played “Jimsy,” appeared in eight films. Born in Culver City, CA, in 1916, his parents owned a restaurant frequented by film stars and directors. Charles Ray “discovered” the boy and eventually got him into films. Later in life, Goethals became a property manager at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. He died in 2000 in Redding, CA. Sadly, none of his obituaries mention his brief film career.

The film was based upon the play “The Sign,” written by co-director Jane Murfin. The few reviews I could find were lukewarm. Photoplay wrote “the faith-healing process is a topic which bobs up every now and then on the screen as elsewhere. Jane Murfin has not contributed any new or enlightening angle, nor is the co-direction with Justin McCloskey anything to write home about. However, “Flapper Wives” succeeds in holding the interest because you are never exactly sure how it is all going to end.” The Film Daily wrote “the continuity could have been greatly improved upon particularly toward the close where the early situation dealing with the rich man and his wife is left practically unfinished unless you are to assume that she divorces her husband and marries the minister. … The story is a good one and contains interesting situations that could be brought out to much better advantage.” E. A. Armistead, of the Lyric Theatre in Easley, South Carolina, wrote “just a fair picture. My patrons expected to see a comedy drama, but were fooled on this one. The name doesn’t suit, either. Why didn’t they make her a real flapper?”