Dan Navarro's Movie Reviews

At the beginning of Cecil B. DeMille's 1919 film Male and Female, an intertitle tells us the film's title is taken from the Book of Genesis, as in: "God created Man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; Male and Female created He them." The plot is based on Sir James M. Barrie's 1902 play The Admirable Crichton, but DeMille's title change signaled that his film version would take some chances, open up vistas not examined by Sir James.

Gloria Swanson plays Lady Mary Lasenby, a young English noblewoman. DeMille rubs our noses in Lady Mary's wealth and privilege, showing her being outrageously pampered by her maidservants, and featuring a lengthy scene of Lady Mary in the luxurious ritual of taking a bath, with scented rose water and loofah sponges, her maids attending her every step of the way. DeMille lets us see Miss Swanson's lovely white back as she enters her tub, but the extras who play her maids are well-rehearsed and never allow her towel to drop low enough to outrage the censors.

Lady Mary's family is thoroughly indulged in every way. Her father, the Earl of Loam (Theodore Roberts); her sister, Lady Agatha (Mildred Reardon); and her second cousin Ernest (Raymond Hatton), are seen lolling about the manse being waited on, hand and foot, by Tweeny (Lila Lee) the maid and by the tall, handsome, no-nonsense butler William Crichton (Thomas Meighan).

But this over-the-top display of sumptuousness is a set-up, and we know it. For this family of privilege is about to face an ordeal they could never have foreseen, when the yacht they are sailing on crashes onto the rocks in the open sea. The skipper and his crew are lost, but the family and two servants—Crichton and Tweeny—survive and are washed ashore on an uncharted island.

Now with no shelter, no means of transportation, and no communication with the outside world, the castaways are on their own. The proletariat have merged with the ruling class. The aromatic bath salts of the first reel have been replaced by seaweed and sand pebbles.

At first, Lord Loam's family regards the calamity as a minor nuisance, something their servants will surely make right for them. Lady Mary barks orders at Tweeny, who remains meek and servile and ready to wait on her mistress. But the butler, Crichton, is more realistic about matters. He quickly sets about building a small shelter from driftwood and palm leaves; builds a fire using a watch crystal and the sun's rays; and finds some food, in the form of mussels and cocoanuts.

Naturally, the wealthy family thinks Crichton is preparing to serve them. Not so. As he tells an outraged Lady Mary, "My lady, all of us may spend the remainder of our lives on this island.... Those who are not willing to serve are apt to find themselves both cold and hungry!"

Days and weeks stretch into months and years. By the second anniversary of the castaways' arrival at the island, Crichton is so firmly in command, Lady Mary and Tweeny are fighting over who gets to serve him his dinner! Crichton has used his working-class know-how to build shelters for everyone, taught them to fish and hunt, even trained them to use bow and arrow against any predatory animals. He is clearly the leader, and they are his devoted followers. Stripped of their luxurious privileges, the wealthy family follow the Strongest among Them... and it's their former butler, Crichton.

But there's another dimension to the tale: Now that class distinctions have no meaning, Lady Mary finds herself being drawn, romantically, to the tall former servant who has, for all intents and purposes, become her master.

Their love comes to fruition one night on the beach, where Crichton has just killed the tiger cat that was preparing to attack Lady Mary. She rushes to him for consolation and maybe a little bit more. (The scene is unintentionally funny because Thomas Meighan was well over 6 feet tall, while Gloria Swanson stood only 4 feet 11 inches—and their embrace emphasizes the difference.)

Now DeMille gets to have some fun. He inserts a fantasy scene flashing back to Biblical days, with Meighan as the King of Babylon on his throne, being attended by his harem favorite (the criminally uncredited Bebe Daniels), as two burly guards bring in their latest captive—a Christian slave, played by Miss Swanson in an exquisite leopard skin and not much else. The King rises and commands the slave to "yield" to him—DeMille isn't being subtle here—or else be devoured by the sacred lions of Ishtar. This leads to the famous scene where Gloria Swanson actually lets a live lion place his paw on her as she lies prone on the arena floor.

Male and Female is great fun to watch, partly because it is played tongue in cheek, despite the gravity of the castaways' situation. Another reason may be that the film survives in an excellent print, lovingly restored by David Shepard for Film Preservation Associates. It's one of the best-looking 1919 films you'll ever see.