Women’s contribution to the development of film comedy can be seen through their work as writers, producers and a variety of comedic performances. For instance, Mary Pickford’s heart-of-gold character in My Best Girl (1927) contrasts with the flapper stereotype of the 20s, exemplified here by ‘It’ girl Clara Bow in The Wild Party (1929), directed by Arzner, who was Hollywood’s most successful woman director during the silent period. Film historian Walter Kerr claimed that “No comedienne ever became a truly important film clown”, but Marion Davies in the glorious Show People (1928) absolutely disproves Kerr’s theory. The excellence of female scriptwriting is also represented by My Best Girl and The Love Expert (1920), the latter written and co-produced by the famous Anita Loos.

All of the silent films in this season will be accompanied by female musicians presenting original works, specifically commissioned for the festival, and in conjunction with the launch of the Comedy Lab, several of the films will also be introduced by Comedy Lab participants.

EVENT: The Original and Best Girls of Film Comedy
How do we evaluate the contribution of female directors, stars or writers to the success of silent film comedy? Were the roles available to women, in front of or behind the camera, different before the coming of sound? Such questions, shedding more light on the careers of the witty women illuminating our screens this month, are addressed by the likes of eminent film historian Kevin Brownlow, US critic Jay Weissberg and curator Bryony Dixon.
Mon 10 Mar 20:20 NFT3 [Joint ticket available with The Vagabond Queen (1929)]
www.bfi.org.uk/clowningglories