Posters from "So Big," from the Margaret Herrick Collection. 
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Flirting with Love
Her next film with First National, as reported by the May 17th Exhibitors Herald, would be Counterfeit, based on the short story by LeRoy Scott, who had sold the unpublished story Counterfeit to First National in December 1923 for $5000.
A week later, on May 24th, the Cleveland News ran a story on Colleen's early career, “How Colleen Started,” which included an apparent quote from her that “…The old Essanay Company had a studio in Chicago. It was a long way from my home. My Chum Helen Ferguson, had the same ambition. We talked by the hour about what we could do if only we had the chance, until one day I said ‘Let’s try and get on as extras at Essanay.’” Without telling their parents they dressed up and went out the next Saturday morning. The Chicago elevated railroad passed right in front of the home of Colleen's aunt and uncle where she spent many summers. That line had a stop about two blocks distant from the Chicago Essanay studios. So while distant, it would not have been impossible for Colleen and Helen (if they had actually been acquainted at the time) to meet and stand in line for their opportunity to appear as extras. Colleen would repeat variations on this story several more time during her career, though it does not appear at all in Silent Star.
The Perfect Flapper had been released the day after the Cleveland News story, another success for Colleen and First National, and work proceeded on Counterfeit. Following the start of production the film underwent a name change. The June 4th Omaha News reported “They’ve changed their minds about Counterfeit, contemplated film. Afraid the public might think they were being fooled, LeRoy Scott’s novel was called Counterfeit, but the movie version will be Temperament. Colleen Moore and Conway Tearle will show it.”
Commenting on an earlier story that Colleen wore what she called "vamp shoes," or comfortable shoes for close-ups while she wore dressier shoes for full-length shots, the June 22nd Cincinnati Inquirer noted “Colleen Moore wears what she calls ‘vamp shoes’ in close-ups. We don’t know what they are, but we’re willing to wager they’re not straight-laced.”
June 24th the Los Angeles Times reported on a “Flappers Ball” that was going to happen that evening, one of many promotional events that would take advantage of the newfound popularity of Colleen's on-screen style and persona. “A dancing contest for girls only will be a feature of the “perfect flapper’s ball” at the Cinderella Roof tonight. Girls will dance together in the contest, showing the independence of the modern flapper, who does not need a mere man to dance with her. Colleen Moore, who is starred in The Perfect Flapper at Loew’s, will judge the contest and present prizes.” E. G. Bond of the Biltmore was to be there cutting hair into the Colleen Moore bob before the dancing audience. According to the Motion Picture News in early July, some of the larger sets for Temperament had to be built at the Clune Studios, across the street from United Studios where the film was being shot. By mid July it was being reported that "Temperament had been renamed yet again, this time settling into the title Flirting with Love, the name that would stick. When Flirting with Love was completed, newspapers reported, Colleen was to go on to her next production, So Big. Directed by John Francis Dillon, continuing the successful collaboration that had produced Flaming Youth, Flirting with Love was released on August 17th.
So Big
The end of 1924 proved to be the beginning of a very busy period for Colleen, as if the sudden popularity that followed to her new celebrity had not already been hectic enough; on November 28, 1924, Colleen Moore signed a new contract. Beginning retroactively, back to August 25th, 1924, and for the balance of 1924, Colleen's salary was increased by $800 per week from the original $1200 specified in her May 18, 1923 contract, so that her new salary was $2000 per week.
“Miss Moore left Hollywood for a complete rest in preparation for her next characterization in So Big. The part she is to portray in this story is considered her most emotional character to date, and Colleen has decided she will be fit when the director calls ‘camera’ on the first scene.” --“Flashes; Colleen Moore Please Write,” by Grace Kingsley, Los Angeles Times, July 10th, 1924, page A9. |
In addition, Colleen was to star in So Big, an adaptation of Edna Ferber's 1924 novel. The story took place over a number of years and would require Colleen to age significantly throughout the film. Additionally it was a very serious book, telling the story of a school teacher named Selina Peake De Jong, who teaches in rural farm country. Colleen was to play Selina, who marries a Dutch farmer and has a child with him, Dirk, nicknamed “So Big” by her mother. Her husband dies, and Selina is left to raise Dirk alone. It was a fairly dramatic fare, quite different from the material that had made Colleen suddenly famous, and was no doubt seen as a test of her dramatic skills.
Colleen very likely saw the role as a test herself; having achieved stardom through her comedy, her ideal of a motion picture star was that her fame should be based at least as much on her dramatic abilities as her comedic skills. She had originally gone into comedy as a means of sharpening her dramatic skills. To reach stardom without her dramatic skills being recognized—especially after all the years she had been in the profession—would have been a disappointment.
Appearing with Colleen was Wallace Beery as Klass Poole, John Bowers (from The Sky Pilot) as Pervus, and Ben Lyon was Dirk. Jean Hersholt, Ford Sterling, Phyllis Haver appeared as well. Colleen insisted that no modern music played on the set. Rather, music from the 1890s was chosen. She had gotten so immersed in the mindset of an older woman that took weeks after the filming the movie to relate to her friends as a contemporary again.
Sally
To follow the “heavy” film So Big, a more upbeat vehicle was chosen. Colleen’s next project would be an adaptation of the popular musical stage comedy Sally. The Ziegfeld show had been inspired by an earlier 1902 play, Sally in our Alley, which itself had been inspired by a song by the same name written in the 1700s. June Mathis would write the adaptation while Leon Errol, from the stage musical, would reprise his role in the film. Al Green was selected to direct Sally and he brought his own gag man, Mervyn LeRoy.
To keep the musical atmosphere intact during the making of the film, Green surrounded the production with musicians and performers, so that the production became an informal gathering place for performers during the production.
In the movie, Sally (Colleen) is an orphan adopted by Mrs. Du Fay (Louise Beaudet). Hard times hit Du Fay’s dance studio Sally finds work as a dishwasher at the Ally Inn cafe, run by Pops Shendorf (Dan Mason). Sally meets the Duke of Checkergovinia (Leon Errol), a European nobleman working as a waiter. She also meets Blair Farquar (Lloyd Hughes), a wealthy society man who frequents the cafe. Sally gets her break when she gets to dance at the café. She’s so successful her agent has her pose as a Russian dancer. Blair Farquar falls for her, but she knows he’s fallen for her Russian character. He had ignored her at the café when she had been a drudge.
Her fame is ended, however, when Pops from the café reveals her true identity, but not before she so impresses the great Florenz Ziegfeld that she is signed to a contract. Farquar convinces her that he really loves Sally, and they live happily ever after.
It was during the production of Sally that Colleen met Mervyn LeRoy, who would become one of her best friends. They both shared a terrific sense of humor, and Mervyn knew about John McCormick's drinking problems, so that Colleen felt she could talk about her marriage with him. He was a sympathetic ear for Colleen.
