“Splashes of Fun and Beauty”–Sennett’s Famous Bathing Beauties

Being in the midst of preparing an article for the upcoming issue of The Silent Film Quarterly (have I mentioned that I have a column there now? No? Oh. Well, I do), I decided to do a repost of one of my favorite 2015 articles. It was written especially for Keystone Month, and was a lot of fun to write. Hope you enjoy!

Silent-ology

If you’re ever having an earnest discussion about silent comedy (and who wouldn’t), there are a few topics that will often bring out a smile: fake mustaches, cream pies, satirical twirling of said fake mustaches, the Ton of Fun. And there’s one topic that always seems to make people smile: Mack Sennett’s Bathing Beauties.

Once considered mildly risqué, but now considered surprisingly innocent, the playful, perky, mischievous girls popped up in Sennett’s comedies time and time again. Admittedly the plots would sometimes screech to a halt just for them, but at least half of the theater audiences were too appreciative to mind.

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