dontate now

Contact
Join Email List

Facebook  Become a Fan on Facebook
twitter  Follow Us on Twitter

329 West 18th Street Suite #610
Chicago, Illinois 60616
(312) 243-1808
info@chicagofilmarchives.org

Search Collections

Flapper & the Quarterback [1938]

Bookmark and Share
Film Identifier: F.2011-05-0022b
Run Time
0h 2m 48s
Format
16mm
Color
B&W
Sound
Silent
Date Produced
1938
Abstract
"The Flapper and the Quarterback" is an early Americana ballet choreographed by Ruth Page.  It premiered on December 26, 1926 at the Eighth Street Theatre, Chicago.  

This film appears to represent an excerpt from a later rehearsal or performance of the ballet--filmed in 1938.  Costumes are worn, but there is no scenery.  The original film container notes suggest the featured dancers are Ruth Page and Paul DuPont.
Description
The film opens with a shot of a stage, on which a male dancer dressed as a football quarterback performs football movements--a hike and a slide.  Then the flapper enters from stage left, scurrying in backwards and waving a flag as if spectating at the game.  She seems to be trying to catch the attention of someone else, but she bumps into the quarterback and forgets that someone else immediately.  The quarterback takes and tosses her flag and then her boots; the two then break into a modified Charleston together.  Bits of Lindy Hop and ballet are incorporated; during the former, the quarterback completely drops his flapper on the ground in a moment of comedy.  She reaches for help up, but he merely pulls her skirt down, and when he helps her up he grabs one leg and one arm.  The two hug and continue dancing, again with a Charleston and then into a brief waltz--bits of ragtime-era "animal dances" seem to creep in as well.  The film ends while the two are stil dancing.
Additional Credits
Page, Ruth (is choreographer)
Actors, Performers and Participants
Page, Ruth (is performer)
du Pont, Paul (is performer)
Genre
Dance