The Olive Thomas Collection

The advent of DVD has encouraged exploring some of the more obscure chapters of silent movie history, and this release is a good find. Olive Thomas (1894-1920) was a former Ziegfeld girl who enjoyed a meteoric rise in early American film: she married into Hollywood royalty (Jack Pickford, brother of Mary), and her career was promoted by producers Lewis and Myron Selznick (father and uncle of David O.). But she became the focus of one of Tinseltown's earliest scandals when she died under suspicious circumstances during a Parisian vacation, in what might have been an accident, suicide, or murder (her death also led to Lewis Selznick's bankruptcy and perhaps fed the later drive of his son to succeed in the business). The Olive Thomas Collection presents an excellent transfer of one of the few Thomas features to survive--The Flapper (1920), an amiable if episodic comedy about a sheltered but vivacious small-town girl who becomes involved with a military school swain, an older man, some crooks, stolen jewels, and trouble--along with an hour-long documentary about Thomas, rather solemnly narrated by Rosanna Arquette. This combination makes for a solid introduction to the career of a largely-forgotten ing(nue, whose engaging presence on celluloid didn't reflect the demons that apparently haunted her offscreen. DVD extras include a dramatic reading of an interview with Thomas' first husband, performances of two songs written for her, two (unfortunately rather inept) reenactments of episodes from her life (both featuring her great grand-niece), and a stills gallery. Recommended. (F. Swietek)