Confession time: I don’t like watching silent films that much. The acting, such as it is, seems to consist of lots of staring off into the distance or significant eyebrow waggling. I prefer dialog! But the visuals in silent films can be striking, and that’s what caused me to seek out Beau Brummel (1924). You may notice an image from this film on the sidebar of this blog to promote our Patreon account. So I finally got around to watching the actual movie to see that costume in context.
Telling the biography of Regency trend-setter Brummell, this flick invents a romantic tragedy backstory for him to explain that he wants ‘revenge’ on society and is using his position at court to achieve this. I don’t really buy it, though maybe if this was a talkie there might be more nuance to flesh out that idea. Beau uses and loses women, impresses and offends men, somehow inspires the lifelong devotion of his butler, and gains forgiveness from both his first lover and the Prince of Wales. John Barrymore plays Brummell as a self-absorbed jerk with a vindictive streak, and yet I did find the end of his life rather poignant.
Unfortunately, costume designers (or art directors or production designers) weren’t listed in the credits for most silent movies, so I have no idea who created the 1790s-1810s fashions for this movie. While the costumes aren’t perfectly historically accurate, they’re gorgeous and pick up on many of the key elements of Regency style. This is most true in the menswear, which is, of course, important when the main character is such a famous dandy that his name became synonymous with men’s fashion. The tailoring of the men’s suits is far more 20th century than Regency, but the silhouette is great with the high-cut waistline and biiiiiig collars.
Beau starts out as a captain in the Tenth Hussars, so we get lots of shiny braid and buttons.
His one true love, the fictional Margery (Mary Astor), marries for money and her family’s status.
She’s a very pretty bride. Astor was not quite 18 when she made this movie, and the older Barrymore tried to have an affair with her on set — her parents weren’t thrilled.
Likewise, in the movie, Margery’s parents aren’t thrilled by Beau showing up at the wedding. Mrs. Wertham (Clarissa Selwynne) objects, wearing a slightly more mid-18th-century costume than her daughter. Mom also has the most impressive towering feathers!
Denied love, Beau meets up with the Prince of Wales and starts his life at the center of court. There’s a fun scene at his house where a group of men watch Brummell get dressed and primped and preening. They’re all very tight pants, quizzing glasses, and high collars.
For now, Beau has the patronage and friendship of Prinny (Willard Louis), who looks spot-on, especially the hair.
Telling off his creditors, Beau is completely stylish, down to his multiple watch fobs and striped socks.
This is when Lady Hester Stanhope (Carmel Myers) comes to Brummell’s house, pining after him, even though she’s married. She and Beau have been carrying on an affair, but he’s neglected her, driving her mad with desire — that’s where this image comes in.
So the stripey dress is fabulous on screen, really amazing, both suited to the period and super dramatic. But I wondered why the name “Lady Hester Stanhope” seemed a bit familiar. Turns out, she’s a real person, a famous traveler, and perhaps the first modern archaeologist. Her memoirs were published after her death and widely read. She never married and never had an affair with Beau Brummell or anyone else that I can find. WTFrock, Hollywood?!? Why turn a fascinating independent woman into a love-starved cliche? Shame on you.
After she’s rejected by Beau, the Prince takes pity on her, and at least Lady Stanhope gets another excellent gown, this black one with leaf-style trim.
Beau tries to secure the patronage of the Prince’s sister-in-law, the Duchess of York (Irene Rich), who has an amazing tiara.
But Margery comes back to warn Beau he has enemies at court. Her gown has lovely Regency lines, though I don’t know what’s up with her hair.
The tiny brise fan is perfect for the Regency period.
But those earrings look too modern.
The Prince and Beau Brummell are starting to fall out, with Brummell getting too high and mighty for his originally lowly state. They cross paths at the Mall, where Lord Byron is socializing with Beau, but then the Prince calls the poet over and invites him to dinner. When Byron returns to Brummell, the later makes a version of the ‘who’s your fat friend?’ remark that in real life did get Beau Brummell kicked out of the Prince’s circle for good.
I do wonder if a stretch fabric is involved, because those pants are very tight and smooth…
Exiled to Calais, Beau Brummell has an unfortunate end that he’s brought upon himself. The entire movie is now in the public domain, and you can watch for yourself.
What do you think of silent movies?
Don’t have any strong feelings about silent films but Behind the Bastards on YouTube had a 3-part investigation about Brummell. He wasn’t a bastard but he was adept at navigating Regency society, until he wasn’t!
The podcast Behind the Bastards did a couple episodes about Brummel (consensus: he wasn’t a true bastard, but pretty misunderstood) that were absolutely fantastic. BtB is one of my favorite pods anyway, but I learned so much about him…Beau was a really fascinating human and really help start the fashion cycle for men that kinda continues to this day.
Maybe not “stretch” fabric but “tricot” was used for breeches and their was special very nice fitting fabric for such trousers. You surely noticed the Antiquity-ideal men on works bey Johann Baptist Seele when he for example even shows soldiers from his period in very narrow trousers making all muskels of the legs visible.
It’s funny to see Beau Brummel with these stripes even on his inner lining and how they managed to never get the real cravate for Beau Brummel and the collars of his shirts too low and not 1800s style although he was so famous for his cravats.
I have the impression that most of the silent era films had one focus and often there they were very good. “Old Ironsides” from 1926 is a fine example. The clothing of the sailors and ladies is very much straight from the 1920s but the American uniforms are impressively well researched that you even can see the different ranks of the officers under commander Preble’s command.
While Lady Hester Stanhope certainly was an interesting and forceful character who only in middle age managed to break through the restrictions of a lady’s role in Regency society, she certainly was love-starved, indeed downright sex-starved (before she she headed out to adventure inn the Middle East, anyway). She had a massive crush on General Sir John Moore, who was held to be “the Apollo Belvedere of the British Army”; she once remarked to her younger bro Charles that she considered Moore the perfection of male beauty; Charles (who Moore had taken on as an ADC as a favour to Hester, and idolised him, as many of his junior officers did) naively replied ‘Oh, but Hester, you should see him bathing; he’s like a god!’. Which was depressing for Hester, because Moore kept their relationship firmly at friendship; despite which, after his tragic death at the Battle of Corunna, she considered and portrayed herself as his bereaved fiancée.
Re. Lady Hester: Female explorers of the 18th and 19th centuries tended to be fascinating people. My favorite is Mary Kingsley–I SO wish Vanessa Redgrave could/would have played her.
Re. John Barrymore, whom I revere: he was considered the greatest Hamlet of his generation, and was really fine in sound comedy, being one of those performers who can do tragedy and farce and everything in between. One problem with silent film drama is that the stills tend to look posed and stagey, but Barrymore was still pretty glam in middle age. And, yes, he did have an affair with Astor, whom he hoped to train for the theatre. According to Astor’s autobiography–which she actually did write herself, and very well, too–she progressed from adorable screen ingenue to wicked woman (steamy adulterous frolics with a famous playwright) to distinguished character actress. My late mother loved Mary Astor.
Of course one should always take an autobiography (Especially an actor or a politician’s autobiography) with a pinch of salt – the author tends to be just a little too close to the subject.
I suppose that to include her was just a typical idea of the period. We see the same in many old productions. For example when the old David Garrick meets Dick Turpin in “The lady and the bandit” which is complete nonsense. But nobody did know in the period and to research was not so easy as it is today. They were just famous persons of the 18th century and that served the purpose. Maybe it’s the same to push the lady into his movie for no real reason.
… clearly Hollywood traduced Her Ladyship’s memory: she was a one crush woman!
Also, I am now deeply sad HORRIBLE HISTORIES never dramatised this exchange.
Sadly the 10th (Prince of Wales Own) Regiment of Light Dragoons were not yet a hussar regiment at the time of Mr Brummel’s very brief service as a junior officer (He apparently resigned when the regiment was moved from London to the provinces), so history has cheated us of Beau Brummell in the full Hussar rig (Furs, moustaches, hairy hat, pelisse et al), a look so inherently glam that entire cavalry corps took one look at the Hungarian originals and thought “FABULOUS!” (Or, quite possibly “TALLY HO!”), hence the widespread adoption of the style.
Though given his devotion to “Less is more (Except when it comes to the price tag)” it’s interesting to wonder if he’d have gone for the famously Loud and Proud hussar uniforms.