By Raquel Stecher
The Roaring Twenties was a decade of prosperity and indulgence. The US was enjoying a post-World War I boom that brought social and cultural change and marked the decade as one of the most transformative of the 20th century. A technological boom saw advancements in the automobile and aviation industries. Prohibition made alcohol illegal and threatened to put a damper on everyone’s fun.
In turn, it created a cottage industry of dangerous bootleggers who smuggled booze all over the country. Partygoers were imbibing rum and bathtub gin in hidden speakeasies like there was no tomorrow. Women were enjoying more freedoms thanks to women’s suffrage and a feminist movement that began to take hold. Flappers, as they were often referred to, wore shorter skirt hems, fewer corsets, cloche hats, bobbed hair, finger waves, and could often be seen dancing the Charleston. Bright young things were incorporating fun colloquialisms like “the cat’s meow”, “the bee’s knees”, “banana oil”, and “he’s a sheik” into their everyday conversations.
Jazz music was all the rage and musicians like Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Louis Armstrong, Paul Whiteman, and Jelly Roll Morton were in high demand. And no other entertainment medium was having as strong an effect on the public like movies were. Audiences flocked to their local movie theater to watch their favorite stars on the big screen. It can’t be underestimated the level of celebrity enjoyed by movie icons like Rudolph Valentino, Greta Garbo, Clara Bow, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks. Everything came to a halt when the October 1929 stock market crash ushered in the Great Depression.
The generations that followed would look back at the Roaring Twenties as a carefree time, not exactly one without its own set of challenges, including gangster violence, police corruption, and racism. Many films about this era have been made over the years. Let’s take a look at some of these 1920s-themed period pieces that are available to rent on DVD Netflix.
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Directed by Raoul Walsh, James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart star in this gangster movie about World War I veterans that are struggling to transition back to civilian life and take up bootlegging. Priscilla Lane plays a young singer whom Cagney takes under his wing and whom he hopes will return his romantic affections. The movie was written by Mark Hellinger who was inspired by what he witnessed as a newspaper reporter back in the 1920s. It’s a classic gangster flick, but with a bit more emotional depth than you’d expect.
Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952)
Directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Piper Laurie, Rock Hudson, and Charles Coburn, Has Anybody Seen My Gal? is a lighthearted comedy set in 1920s Vermont. Laurie plays a small town gal who’s fallen for Hudson, a soda jerk who works at her father’s pharmacy. The soda counter was a popular hangout for teens and young adults, especially in the 1920s.
Coburn plays an eccentric millionaire who goes undercover as a boarder to see if Laurie and her family are worthy of inheriting his money. He decides to anonymously give bestow upon them $100,000, just to see what will happen. Utter chaos ensues! The title of the movie comes from a popular 1920s tune. James Dean has a bit role as a demanding soda jerk customer.
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
One of the most beloved musicals ever made, Singin’ in the Rain (1952) fictionalizes the turbulent time in early Hollywood as the movie industry transitioned from silent movies to talking pictures. Gene Kelly, who co-directed with Stanley Donen, stars as Don Lockwood, a famous actor frequently paired with the ditzy squeaky-voiced Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen). Lockwood seeks the assistance of his new love interest Kathy (Debbie Reynolds) and his best friend Cosmo (Donald O’Connor) to disguise Lina’s terrible voice for his upcoming talkie debut.
Written by MGM’s Betty Comden and Adolph Green, this musical is best known for its 1920s-themed musical numbers including Singin’ in the Rain, Make ‘em Laugh, Good Morning as well as extended dance sequences featuring Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse, and Debbie Reynolds. You can easily make Singin’ in the Rain a double bill with The Artist (2011), another story with a similar plot but depicted as a (mostly) silent black-and-white film.
Pete Kelly’s Blues (1955)
Based on the popular 1950s radio series, Pete Kelly’s Blues (1955) stars Jack Webb as a trumpet player and bandleader who encounters various nefarious types in his journeys. The story is set in 1927 and follows Pete Kelly as he and his band play a Kansas City speakeasy run by dangerous mobster (Edmond O’Brien).
The film also stars Janet Leigh as Pete Kelly’s girlfriend, Lee Marvin as a retired musician, Peggy Lee as an alcoholic singer, and features jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald in a bit part. The movie explores speakeasy culture, bootlegging, and mobster crime, all within the world of jazz music.
Some Like it Hot (1959)
Widely considered one of the best comedies of all time, Some Like it Hot is a Billy Wilder masterpiece starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, and Tony Curtis. Lemmon and Curtis play jazz musicians who witness a mob execution. In order to escape the mob, they dress up as women and travel with an all-female band lead by Joan Shawlee. Curtis finds himself falling in love with the band’s singer, played by Marilyn Monroe, and Lemmon catches the eye of eccentric millionaire Joe E. Brown.
There is so much to enjoy here from the 1920s setting, the screwball and slapstick comedy elements, and the electric Curtis-Lemmon-Monroe trio. Cary Grant fans will notice when Tony Curtis takes on a Grant-style accent in one of his disguises.
Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
If you love 1920s aesthetics and don’t mind a musical with a disturbing storyline, then Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) might be for you! Directed by George Roy Hill, Julie Andrews stars as the title character, a young woman who moves to New York City to live out her dream of marrying a wealthy man. Millie lives in a boardinghouse run by Beatrice Lillie, a mysterious woman who is secretly kidnapping boarders to sex traffic them. Her next victim is the naive Dorothy, played by Mary Tyler Moore.
The costumes worn by Andrews and Moore are to die for and they’re beautifully showcased throughout the movie’s changing color palette. Thoroughly Modern Millie touches upon various 1920s cultural points including the transportation boom, social dancing, colloquialisms, vaudeville, and buildering (the practice of climbing buildings freestyle that was for some reason really popular during that decade).
Raquel Stecher has been writing about classic films for the past decade on her blog Out of the Past. She attends the TCM Classic Film Festival as well as other events where old movie fanatics get together to geek out. Raquel has been a devoted DVD Netflix member since 2002! Follow her on her blog Out of the Past or find her on Twitter @RaquelStecher and @ClassicFilmRead, Facebook, and Instagram.