Review of Ducks and Drakes (1921) by Antonius B — 11 Mar 2017

What a charming little movie this is. Bebe Daniels plays a young woman trying to resist her aunt pushing her into marriage with a man (Jack Holt) she doesn't love. Instead she likes doing naughty things: reading salacious books, ordering lingerie, and in some incredibly cute scenes, call random men on the phone and talk to them, without revealing her identity.

At one point she's talking to an old guy who exclaims, "Oh, I'm a handsome young fellow, full of pep and crazy about the girls." Shades of the internet, 100 years ago. In another cute scene, Daniels is in a tub built-in to the floor, playfully splashing her aunt.

When a couple of Daniels' would-be suitors find out about each other, they resolve to teach her a lesson. From here you can probably guess where the film is heading, and it's too bad that it's a morality tale illustrating the double standard ("Moral: Don't go to weird places with strange men").

I would prefer the spunky young woman being allowed to continue to be herself and to be free, but this was the state of things in 1921. I liked it for what it was, and for zipping right along at 58 minutes.