The Manicure Girl
Lobby card
Directed byFrank Tuttle
Written byTownsend Martin (scenario)
Story byFrederick Hatton
Fanny Hatton
Produced byAdolph Zukor
Jesse Lasky
StarringBebe Daniels
CinematographyJ. Roy Hunt
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • July 6, 1925 (1925-07-06)
Running time
60 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

The Manicure Girl is a 1925 American silent romantic comedy[1] drama[2] film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Bebe Daniels.[3][4]

Plot

As described in a film magazine review,[2] a poor young manicurist becomes engaged to a poor young man who has saved enough money to build a bungalow to live in after they are married. The young woman craves riches and becomes interested in a married man who treats her gentlemanly and kindly. This "other" man is becoming estranged from his wife. The manicurist realizes her own influence in wrecking the marriage and, in sympathy with the wife, she effects a reconciliation between the two. Her fiancé lover quarrels with her, but there is a happy ending when the two decide to hasten their marriage.

Cast

Produciton

1930s Glazo products
Still of The Manicure Girl featuring Edmund Burns and Bebe Daniels

Paramount Pictures ran an advertising tie-in with the Glazo nail polish company of Cincinnati, Ohio.[5] Movie theaters were encouraged to apply for promotional materials, which would then be distributed among local drug stores that sold Glazo products.[1]

The Film Daily reported that The Manicure Girl was one of the first American films to use the English gyroscopic camera, an early camera stabilizer, which was acquired for the production by Famous Players. It had previously been used on the German film The Last Laugh. The gyroscopic camera was a hand-held unit that allowed the camera operator to smoothly walk and follow actors. Tuttle wrapped filming three days ahead of schedule, to which he partially credited the new camera.[6]

Reception

The Exhibitors Herald listed the "sincerity of acting" as one of the film's highlights.[2] The Los Angeles Times, however, felt the film was underwhelming, and Variety labeled the film “a flop."[7]

Motion Picture News reported that the consensus on the film was that it was a "Very mediocre picture that didn't do well and didn't deserve to do well."[8]

Preservation

With no prints of The Manicure Girl located in any film archives,[9] it is a lost film.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b "Sell "THE MANICURE GIRL" with this Big National Tie-Up!". Motion Picture News. Vol. 32, no. 2. New York City: Motion Picture News, Inc. July 11, 1925. pp. 138–139. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "New Pictures: The Manicure Girl". Exhibitors Herald. Vol. 22, no. 3. Chicago, Illinois: Exhibitors Herald Company. July 11, 1925. p. 49. Retrieved November 18, 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ Progressive Silent Film List: The Manicure Girl at silentera.com. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  4. ^ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: The Manicure Girl AFI Catalog of Feature Films Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  5. ^ Jessica Helfand (November 30, 2016). "Ezra Winter Project: Chapter Four". designobserver.com. Design Observer. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023. Bebe Daniels, now appearing in the Paramount Picture, 'The Manicure Girl,' knows the value of beautiful nails. So do thousands of other 'stars' in society, business and the home. That's why so many smart women have adopted Glazo as their 'Manicure Girl.'
  6. ^ "The Gyroscopic Camera and Future Production Possibilities". The Film Daily. Vol. 32, no. 58. United States: Motion Picture News, Inc. June 7, 1925. p. 5. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  7. ^ "THE MANICURE GIRL (1925)". afi.com. American Film Institute. May 2020. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023. Two days after the latter opening, the 20 Jul 1925 LAT noted that the picture was outshone by the preceding stage show, while the 29 Jul 1925 Var dismissed the entire engagement as 'a flop.'
  8. ^ "What the Big Houses Say". Motion Picture News. Vol. 32, no. 3. New York City: Motion Picture News, Inc. July 18, 1925. p. 318. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  9. ^ The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: The Manicure Girl Library of Congress Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  10. ^ The Manicure Girl at Arne Andersen's Lost Film Files: Paramount Pictures 1925 Retrieved November 18, 2022.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Manicure Girl.


Films directed by Frank Tuttle
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