''Twinkletoes'' is a 1926 American silent

romantic drama film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typica ...

directed by Charles Brabin and starring

Colleen Moore Colleen Moore (born Kathleen Morrison; August 19, 1899 – January 25, 1988) was an American film actress who began her career during the silent film era. Moore became one of the most fashionable (and highly-paid) stars of the era and helped po ...

. The film, as with most of Moore's vehicles at this time, was produced by her husband John McCormick with the couple distributing through Moore's resident studio First National. This film is one of Moore's surviving films from the late silent era and is available on DVD.

Plot

Monica "Twinkletoes" Minasi, a motherless child of the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Limehouse district, is a brilliant young dancer who lives in poverty. She saves a crowd from abuse by the police through an impromptu performance, during which she meets Chuck Lightfoot, a champion fighter and older married man whose wife, Cissie, was the cause of the ruckus. Twinks finds herself slowly falling in love with Chuck but resists, because he is married and much older (he is in his late twenties, she might be as young as 15), but when he saves her from an attack one night she realizes that it is useless to fight her feelings. She dances at the head of the "Quayside Kids," a local dance group in a music hall run by Roseleaf, who has designs on the young girls that dance for him. Chuck's wife Cissie realizes that her husband had feelings for Twinks and, learning that Twink's dad is a burglar, exposes him to the police. Twinks is distraught when she learns the news that her father—whom she admired above all other people—is a criminal. Roseleaf takes her to his apartment and attempts to have his way with her, but she manages to escape. Cissie is killed in an accident, and, in despair, Twink throws herself into the river. She is rescued by Chuck and in his arms finds something to live for.

Cast

Production

Scenario writer

Winifred Dunn Winifred Dunn was an American screenwriter, editor, radio scenario writer, and art critic in the early 20th century. She was one of the youngest scenario editors of the silent era and was credited with writing over 40 productions.Hansen, James. " ...

did research in

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Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

for the atmosphere of the film. The movie was based on the 1918 novel ''Twinkletoes: A Tale of the Limehouse'', by Thomas Burke. Like the book, the film's original story had a dramatic ending, with Twinks drowning in the river. Colleen's husband did not believe that the original ending would play as well as a happy ending, perhaps worried that the production might not be well received by audiences, as had been the case with the dramatic '' So Big''. Two endings were filmed and exhibitors were allowed to pick which version they wanted to show. The audiences generally preferred the sad ending. This was Colleen's first "serious" film since her portrayal of Salena Peake in '' So Big''. Coleen danced several of the numbers in the film herself.''Post Standard'' (Syracuse, New York), August 15, 1926, page 4 The film came between two of her comedies, as it was the studio's strategy to stagger her comedies and dramatic roles, so that the public would not become tired of any single genre.

References

Footnotes

*Jeff Codori (2012), ''Colleen Moore; A Biography of the Silent Film Star''
McFarland Publishing
(Print , EBook ).

External links

* *
Lantern slide plate, coming attractions "Twinkletoes"
at www.silentfilmstillarchive.com {{Charles Brabin 1926 films 1926 romantic drama films American romantic drama films American silent feature films Films directed by Charles Brabin Films based on British novels Films based on works by Thomas Burke First National Pictures films American black-and-white films 1920s American films Silent romantic drama films Silent American drama films