Madame Behave (Silent) (DVD)

Struggling architect Jack Mitchell is months behind on the rent after buying an expensive engagement ring for his girlfriend. In a desperate attempt to confuse his elderly landlord M.T. House, the young man starts wearing the left behind clothing of a former (female) tenant. His plan goes over a little too well, however. The senile oldster becomes infatuated with his renter, who he starts calling 'Madame Behave'. Whether he likes it or not, Jack must keep up his cross-dressing pose so he doesn't end up homeless. But his pretty fiancee has no interest in wearing the pants in the family, and just may walk out on him, engagement or not...

Julian Eltinge (1881-1941) was the most famous female impersonator of the early 20th century. He began at the tender age of 10, performing in saloons and brothels in a Montana mining town where his father worked -- a town in which women were in short supply. By the time he reached New York in 1904, his ability to perform as a female was such that audiences believed they were seeing the real thing. Unlike many drag artists of the era, Eltinge did not present a parody of a woman, but the illusion of actually being one. His most popular show on Broadway was The Fascinating Widow, in which he played a red-blooded college student forced to disguise himself as a woman to avoid being arrested for a crime. This same duality was found in Eltinge's off-stage persona, as well. The actor would put up a macho front, getting in bar fights and squiring gorgeous Ziegfeld girls about town, to cover up his homosexual lifestyle. In the 1920s, Eltinge joined the mass exodus of stage actors who left for the sunny climes of Hollywood. He found great success there, starring alongside the legendary Rudolph Valentino in 1922's The Isle of Love (playing a man forced to impersonate a woman, of course.) Despite his popularity, movie producers often paired Eltinge with devastatingly sexy actresses to offset their star's gay associations. For instance, his leading lady in Madame Behave, Ann Pennington, was a dancer infamous for performing the racy 'Black Bottom' dance in the Scandals revues on Broadway. Eltinge was one of several Hollywood stars whose fortunes were adversely affected by the 1929 stock market crash, leaving him broke and penniless. Persistent rumors about his sexuality continued to dog him, not helped by crackdowns on cross-dressing in public. At the end of his life, he was reduced to standing next to displays of his gowns as he spoke about his former glories. It would be at one such speaking engagement that Eltinge died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 59.

• silent