Eltinge as groom and bride
Julian Eltinge was internationally renown as a female impersonator in the aughts and teens of the 20th century. He made his name on vaudeville stages and in Broadway theatres - even as he christened the Julian Eltinge Theatre on Broadway, September 11, 1910. In the 1920s as Prohibition was changing the country and vaudeville was dying, Eltinge went to Hollywood and made several films. One of these films is called Madame Behave and I've just posted the film to YouTube with a score made of jazz tunes from the 1920s. (See song titles and artists at the bottom of this post.)
Madame Behave • 1925
I had never seen Eltinge perform on film and by the contemporaneous reviews I'd read of his live performances, I imagine he had a lovely singing voice and his female mimcry was legitimately spot on (and not what we would consider campy). In fact, Eltinge was so popular with the female population for his raiment and makeup that he started a cottage industry with Julian Eltinge's Magazine of Beauty Hints and Tips which promoted his own line of cosmetics, corsets and shoes. One ad has a picture of Eltinge as a woman with the copy "See What the Julian Eltinge Cold Cream Does for a Man. Imagine What It Will Do For a Woman".
No one pronounces Eltinge's name correctly.
Here are instructions from the horse's mouth.
My guess is that Madame Behave was made to capitalize on Eltinge's fame because it doesn't hold up to the imagination after reading reviews of Eltinge's live performances. We (obviously) don't hear a singing voice and we certainly don't see a high standard of female mimicry on screen so it does nothing to capture what Eltinge did on stage. In Madame Behave, Eltinge jokes around and gets in his gowns quickly and without care. There are some scenes in which he is well put together but by 1925 Eltinge was in his forties and more overweight than in his youth so it's difficult to compare the time periods in that respect. Madame Behave is also not funny despite its best attempts. The film co-stars Ann Pennington as Eltinge's girlfriend and there is a minute or so of Pennington dancing the Charleston; she was a very famous dancer of the day known for her Black Bottom and others so this is something of a see.
Cast of Madame Behave: Jack Duffy, Evelyn Francisco, Lionel Belmore
Ann Pennington kissing Eltinge (in drag) and David Jones
Other than Pennington and the fact that it is a surviving Eltinge film, Madame Behave is similar to movies like Charley's Aunt, Tootsie and Some Like It Hot in its use of drag is a pretext that a straight man must do to get out of whatever situation he finds himself. Unfortunately, it's just not as good as the aforementioned titles but it is 95 years old! Music used to score Madame Behave includes the following tracks in order of aural appearance.
- Chant of the Weed Don Redman and his Orchestra
- Four O’Clock Blues The Original Memphis Five
- The Minor Drag Fats Waller
- Viper’s Dream Django Reinhardt
- Bull Frog Blues Six Brown Brothers
- Do-Doodle-Om Piron’s New Orleans Orchestra
- Forgetful Blues The Original Memphis Five
- New Orleans Wiggle Piron’s New Orleans Orchestra
- Pianoflage Fate Marable’s Society Syncopators
- Red Man Blues Piron’s New Orleans Orchestra
- Red Onion Drag Louis Dumaine’s Jazzola Eight
- Sad New Blues The Original Memphis Five
- Pillow Fight SFX
- All Muggled Up Blue Steele And his Orchestra
- Astoria Strut Jones and Collins Astoria Hot Eight
- Dear Almanzoer Celestin’s Original Tuxedo Jazz Orchestra
- Henpecked Blues The Original Memphis Five
- Mobile Stomp Sam Morgan’s Jazz Band
- New Orleans Blues Johnny de Droit and His New Orleans Jazz Orchestra
- West Indies Blues Piron's New Orleans Orchestra
More pictures from (and an article or two regarding) Julian Eltinge's life and career are available on my Julian Eltinge Pinterest board.
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