More Colleen Moore!

I was really pleased this week to discover that two of silent superstar Colleen Moore’s films have been rediscovered. (The news has been out there for a while, I was a bit slow to pick up on it.) Colleen Moore is one of my style icons and, more importantly, helped set the flapper look of 1920s America, which spread around the world. However, because many of her flapper films have been lost, she’s largely missed off of any modern lists of 20s trendsetters.

The rediscovered films are Synthetic Sin and Why Be Good? Colleen’s last two silent movies, made in 1928. They were found in Milan, but are now back with Warner Brothers, who are taking good care of them. Film and acting changed so rapidly in the 1920s, it will be interesting to see what these films are like – Colleen had a great gift for comedy, and I’m hoping the more natural style of acting favoured in the later part of the decade will allow that to shine even more. What’s more, the two have a full-on deco look that’s sure to please any lover of the Jazz Age.

According to the news reports that I’ve read, the films are currently being restored for release on DVD. Oh, how I hope they do a Region 2 release!