When people often think of the 1920s, images of Art Deco, flappers, jazz, dance marathons, radio parties, and glamorous silent movie stars come to mind. Images of people dancing on airplane wings or other stunts in the air made it seem like the sky was the limit. There’s a reason the 1920s are also known as the Roaring Twenties. There may be an element of fantasy to it, but even people who never existed in the decade like to look back and imagine how fun it must have been.
The 1920s aesthetic has appeared in a lot of films. Often, the focus is placed on the film industry. Sometimes, it’s the music or the fashion that remains center stage. Even celebrities of the decade naturally get a few shout-outs. In fact, some of these films even try to mimic what actual films from the era would have been like.
Anastasia (1997)
Anastasiaisa loose animated remakeof the 1956Anastasiafilm. In both, a woman claims to be the long-lost Grand Duchess Anastasia during the Roaring Twenties. While the live-action film keeps an air of ambiguity, the animated film indeed portrays its heroine, “Anya,” as the real Anastasia.
Opening up in 1916 Russia, the animatedAnastasiainitially doesn’t have too much of what people think of a 1920s aesthetic after the time skip. Of course, what the ’20s meant for some depends on who you are asking. Once the characters go to Paris, however, the Roaring ’20s are in full swing. This is especially prominent in the “Paris Holds the Key to Your Heart” number, which is filled with icons associated with the decade. This includes Josephine Baker, Maurice Chevalier, and Charles Lindbergh. Characters' fashion also highlights the decade. Anya briefly dons a flapper dress. One of the imposter Anastasias, seen back in Russia, even famously wears a sailor dress.
Midnight In Paris (2011)
Midnight in Parissees modern writer Gil Pender vacationing in the French city with his fiancée Inez and her parents, while working on a novel set in the 1920s. At midnight, magic happens when a car straight out of the 1920s filled pulls up to Gil and invites him for a ride. Soon, Gil is rubbing elbows with celebrities of the time, like Jean Cocteau and Pablo Picasso. A few of the surrealists,like Salvador Dalí, don’t even question Gil being from the future. Soon, Gil meets Adriana, who herself admires La Belle Époque, or the late 1800s.
Interestingly,Midnight in Pariswarns against romanticizing the past too much. Not only does someone of the 1920s likewise fantasize about the past, but when Gil and Adriana are treated to a trip to La Belle Époque, they find the people then pine for the Renaissance. The lesson of the story is that ennui is just a part of life.
Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
Bullets over Broadwaysees playwright David Shayne put on a show in 1920s New York City. Unfortunately, getting his play produced comes with a price: a gang leader, Nick Valenti, is funding the project, and he’s got a few demands, including having his talentless girlfriend Olive in a starring role. This is just the start of the production’s problems. In fact, things get so bad a mafia shootout ends up accidentally salvaging the whole mess.
Bullets over Broadwayfeatures flappers, Prohibition, and the 1920s art scene of Greenwich Village. The soundtrack is filled with songs from the 1910s and 1920s, though the prominent “Up a Lazy River” is from 1930. The story ultimately takes a cynical look at the decade, however, as David ultimately leaves the glitz and glam of New York’s high society for Pittsburgh.
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Chicago (2002)
Chicagostarted as a 1926 play, so it’s only natural for the decade to be on full display. Roxie Hart is a cabaret star in the titular city until she shoots her lover and ends up in prison. There, she meets her idol-turned-rival vaudevillian Velma. Roxie, however, begins to pull strings to escape death row, including a lawyer that’s never lost a case. Soon, Roxie’s got the fame she’s always wanted. However, in a parody of celebrity trials, an acquittal might mean a fate worse than death for two starlets: obscurity.
In addition to highlighting the Prohibition Era’s Chicago cabaret scene, many of the musical numbers are presented as vaudeville-style dream sequences, if not presented as actual performances. The original play was based on two 1924 court cases, with Roxie and Velma being based on Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner, respectively. In fact, the original playwright, Maurine Dallas Watkins, covered the actual cases as a reporter.
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
The Princess and the Frogis an animated Disney fairy tale set during the 1920s.A New Orleans waitress, Tiana, gets caught up with a talking frog and a scheming witch doctor one magical Mardi Gras.
Tiana’s fashions particularly highlight the decade. Even in her various work clothes, Tiana’s cloche hat and colorful uniforms show attention to contemporary fashions. During the “Almost There” musical number, Tiana is dressed in the fashions of the day, with a feather in her hair and a fur stole, complete with a Josephine Baker-style haircut. Tiana also dons a modest green flapper dress, paired with a shawl, during the final scenes of the film. Of course, it makes sense that a seamstress' daughter would know a thing or two about fashion. The music of the film also pays tribute to the sounds of the period, complete with Louis, a trumpet-playing gator anda prince who’d rather playa ukulele than settle down. After all, there’s a reason the Roaring Twenties is also known as the Jazz Age.
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous contemporary novelThe Great Gatsbywas written in the 1920s, so it makes sense film adaptations would have fun with the fashions of the decade. The story of old money vs the nouveau riche feels bound to the decade. Gatsby earned his fortune by bootlegging, something only made possible by Prohibition. In fact, there was even a lost 1926 silent film adaptation of the book.
The 2013 film in particular promoted the story with scenes of Art Deco visuals, flapper costumes, big buildings, and the lavish parties of the idle rich. Interestingly, the soundtrack tried to marry modern music with the Jazz Age, such as the swing-infused hip-hop single, “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got),” the Charleston-influenced electro song, “Bang Bang,” and the jazz rendition of “Crazy in Love.” This was done partially to reflect how the Jazz Age’s music was the pop music of its time. There is some irony to all this, as the story isn’t too fond of the decade’s decadence, as even the rich tend to have dreary, unfulfilled lives.
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Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
Thoroughly Modern Milliestars Millie, a “modern” flapper in 1922, who wants to be a stenographer, hoping it will help her find a rich husband. After checking into a hotel, Millie finds love, befriends the mysterious Miss Dorothy, and gets caught up in a slavery ring scheme.
The film’s soundtrack features songs from the 1910s and the 1920s, as well as a few new ones. Attention is given to costumes, as the dialogue even notes that women’s fashion of the time actually downplayed a woman’s figure. At times, the movie even has intertitle cards, representing Millie’s inner thoughts, as if it were a silent film from the era. Millie’s love interest Jimmy even looks like a parody of Harold Lloyd. Even the villains are a parody of 1920s pulp fiction.
Blancanieves (2012)
Blancanievesis a silent film retelling theSnow Whitefairy tale in 1920s, Spain. The heroine Carmen endures the wrath ofher wicked stepmother Encarna. After her father’s death, Carmen escapes a murder attempt and becomes a bullfighter under the name “Blancanieves,” or “Snow White.” When the girl’s popularity reaches the papers and outshines Encarna, the witch prepares to destroy Blancanieves once and for all.
Blancanievesis designed to resemble a film of 1920s Europe. Everything is silent, with dialogue conveyed with intertitles. Added to this, the film is in black-and-white and in the old 4:3 aspect ratio. Fashion is notably showcased in the figure of the wicked stepmother Encarna, who often looks straight out of an Erté work. Even Carmen’s maid uniform seems period accurate. Carmen’s short hair, initially meant as a punishment, eventually becomes a flattering bob cut.
The Artist (2011)
The Artistis a 2011 French film mimicking the cinema of the 1920s, though the story takes place towards the end of the decade. George Valentin is a prominent silent film star, but his career might not survive the advent of the talkies and the 1929 Stock Market Crash.
The Artistisfilmed in monochromewith a 4:3 Aspect Ratio, but it’s not entirely silent, as three scenes have sound. The film also pokes fun at how silent actors transitioned into speaking roles. Language barriers weren’t an issue for foreign actors in Hollywood or France during the silent era. Once films embraced sound, however, even an accent could limit an actor’s previous range. Valentin’s French accent only becomes noticeable in a single line said towards the end of the film.
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Singin' in the Rainis a film revolving around three performers from the silent era getting caught up in the transition to talkies. When a new film,The Dueling Cavalier, looks like it’s going to flop, it’s decided to rework it as a musical. Unfortunately, the lead actress can’t sing and needs to be dubbed over, but she will fight tooth and nail before letting the real singer get the credit.
Singin' in the Rainis effectively a jukebox musical of 1920s songs, including the title song. The film also highlights how silent films and talkies often had completely different productions. Physical actors had to switch to a more stiff style, especially as hidden microphones limited movement. One shot ofThe Dueling Cavalieris ruined by rattling pearls. Sound monitoring became a bigger issue after the silent era, where production could ironically be as loud as it wanted.
