Just about the last silent movie star still alive today, (December of 2012) is "Baby Peggy" Montgomery. Her career resembled that of Shirley Temple a dozen years later -- indeed, at least one of her features, "Captain January", was remade with Miss Temple in the lead.
Before she went into features, she had a career in short subjects. However, while some of the shorts that Miss Temple were in, directed by Charles Lamont, whiff of a sexuality that disturbs me -- call it post-Millennial hypersensitivity if you will -- Baby Peggy was always a child playing at being an adult. In this one she dances a tango -- and passes out from exertion; she fights a bull in the bull ring -- and the bull is clearly an adult in costume. The result is a charming short subject that made me chuckle.
Before she went into features, she had a career in short subjects. However, while some of the shorts that Miss Temple were in, directed by Charles Lamont, whiff of a sexuality that disturbs me -- call it post-Millennial hypersensitivity if you will -- Baby Peggy was always a child playing at being an adult. In this one she dances a tango -- and passes out from exertion; she fights a bull in the bull ring -- and the bull is clearly an adult in costume. The result is a charming short subject that made me chuckle.