Bare Knees – 1928
Starring: Virginia Lee Corbin Directed by Erle C. Kenton
With live musical accompaniment by pianist Andrew Earle Simpson
This film is on loan from and is preserved by the Library of Congress. Bare Knees is an American silent film comedy-drama directed by Erle C. Kenton starring Virginia Lee Corbin an early Hollywood child star turned flapper in the 1920’s. In the film, Corbin plays the family’s black sheep, who returns to her small hometown causing a sensation with her short skirts, cigarettes, and other “flapper” accouterments. Flappers of the 1920s were young women known for their energetic freedom, embracing a lifestyle viewed by many at the time as outrageous, immoral, or downright dangerous due to the sexual undertones and sexual promiscuity displayed. Now considered the first generation of independent American women, flappers pushed barriers in economic, political, and sexual freedom for women.
The screening will include a pre-show intro and a post-show discussion with Andrew Earle Simpson.
