Starring the incomparable Gloria Swanson
The Norman Studios Silent Film Museum and the Hotel Indigo® Jacksonville will screen 1924’s Manhandled, starring Gloria Swanson, at the next Silent Sundays event April 28, 4pm.
When her boyfriend, Jimmy, forgets a date, department store clerk Tessie McGuire heads to a party at the studio of Robert Brandt where she makes a hit with impersonations and lands a job portraying a Russian countess in a high-dollar style emporium.
Based on Arthur Stringer’s short story of the same name that ran in Saturday Evening Post in 1924, the film prompted Swanson to go under cover in preparation for her role. Having never held down a customer service job, or any form of employment outside of acting, she spent two days at Gimbel's Department Store in New York working as a sales clerk while donning a blonde wig, becoming competitive enough to out-sell her none-the-wiser coworkers.
Jacksonville University's Tony Steve and the Silver Synchro Sounds will provide live musical accompaniment. Tickets are $5 and available at the door (cash or credit) and online.
Silent Sundays proceeds support efforts of the Norman Studios Silent Film Museum, a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing public knowledge of Northeast Florida's early film industry and the preservation and restoration of Jacksonville’s only remaining silent film studio. The Norman Studios was among the nation's first to produce films starring all African American casts. Find out more at normanstudios.org.
Located on the lake in upscale Tapestry Park, the Hotel Indigo® Jacksonville is a boutique-style, lakefront property with interior design elements that recall Jacksonville's film history.