Manhandled

 "Manhandled" 1924 directed by Allan Dwan and written by Frank Tuttle, Sidney R. Kent, and Arthur Stringer for Paramount Pictures.

Gloria Swanson, Tom Moore, Lilyan Tashman, Ian Keith, Arthur Housman, Paul McAllistair, Frank Morgan, Pierre Collosse, Ann Pennington, Brooke Johns, Marie Shelton, Carrie Scott.

"Gloria Swanson plays Tessie McGuire, a shopgirl who, when her boyfriend breaks their date one evening, goes to a party with a louche crowd of artists and hangers-on. She wows them with some zesty mimicry, and so gains an introduction to a better-paying job, impersonating a high-toned Russian countess to attract snobby customers into a dressmaker's establishment."

The opening scene on the subway is classic and it was beautifully choreographed, but the rest of the film doesn't hold up. There are amusing moments in which it seemed as if it was a Jazz Age anthem like Colleen Moore's "Why Be Good" and Marion Davies' "Show People" and Clara Bow's "It", but the story is weak with Swanson giving a stellar comic performance. The surviving print doesn't include her impersonation of Charlie Chaplin, unfortunately, and audiences had to wait to see her do it in "Sunset Boulevard". The guest appearance of Ziegfeld Follies sensation Ann Pennington is lost to today's audience but in 1924, she was a stage star who crossed over to movies.