Twinkletoes
About Twinkletoes
Monica "Twinkletoes" Minasi dances in Limehouse, first in the street and then at the head of Roseleaf's Quayside Kids, chasing the gift her dead mother had. Prizefighter Chuck Lightfoot, married and older, falls for her after she breaks up a police row his wife Cissie started. Twink holds back until he saves her from an attack. Cissie learns that Twink's father paints signs by day and burgles at night, and she turns him in. Roseleaf tries to force himself on Twink; she gets away. Cissie dies in an accident, and Twink goes into the river. One ending leaves her drowned. The other has Chuck pull her out.
Cast & crew
More about Twinkletoes
John McCormick, Colleen Moore's husband, produced the picture and First National released it on 28 November 1926. Winifred Dunn adapted Thomas Burke's novel, with comedy construction by Mervyn LeRoy and titles by Morton Blumenstock. After So Big, McCormick had both a drowning and a rescue filmed so exhibitors could choose. An 8-reel print runs 7,833 feet.
Themes
Making
The studio spaced Moore's comedies and dramas so audiences would not get only one kind of picture. Dunn's scenario follows Burke's Limehouse story, and the unhappy ending is the one the book uses.
Audiences
The Los Angeles Times of 28 November 1926 reported that a preview audience voted almost unanimously for the ending in which Twink drowns, calling it the logical one. Picture-Play that December quoted Moore as leaning toward the rescue and McCormick as preferring the tragic finish.
Look
James Van Trees photographed it, with Ira Hoke also credited on camera and Speed Mitchell and Al Irving as assistants.
Preservation
A late-silent Moore feature that survives. Silent Era lists home-video copies on DVD and Blu-ray, and a print is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Moore danced several of the numbers herself.
- The Los Angeles Times of 10 January 1926 reported that Dunn had gone to San Francisco's Chinatown to study atmosphere for the Limehouse sets.
- Warner Oland plays Roseleaf and Gladys Brockwell plays Cissie Lightfoot. Tully Marshall is Dad Minasi.
- Just before release, Exhibitors Herald's poll of 2,471 theater owners put Moore first among box-office stars, with 278 votes, nearly 100 ahead of Norma Talmadge.
- Charles Brabin directed. It was Moore's first serious part since Salena Peake in So Big.
Scenes
- Twink dances in the street and stops a police row.
- Cissie tells the police that Dad Minasi is a burglar.
- Roseleaf corners Twink in his rooms and she gets away.
- Twink goes into the river.
Influenced by
- Thomas Burke's novel Twinkletoes
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Twinkletoes (1926).webm)
