Wanted to follow up an vintage idea with a REALLY vintage caption photo!
Ahh, the pre-code era of the movies was such an interesting time in cinema, right before the Hays Code went into effect, and film was at it's most adult in content, in style, and innuendo! Lots of snappy dialog, and a surprising amount of sex and sin, pretty much right out in front of you, whether you wanted it straight, between 2 women, with lavender lads, or even some cross-dressing .. well LOTS of cross-dressing female impersonating when you watch a Wheeler and Woolsey movie. Usually the other benefit of watching a W&W was the delicious Thelma Todd! Yum!
Anyway, with the Stooges still in mind, I was roaming around the Internet at one of the Pre-Code websites I frequent, and I came across this picture, and I was very smitten .. and thought out loud the lines that surround her legs on the spot. Then it was just figuring out the rest of the plot, as much as it could be called "a plot."
Mostly, it's an "in the moment" slice of life showing the character taking stock of what happened, and then trying to fit in better with the situation, and I think starting to merge into the lifestyle, using period correct slang for the era .. I'm not sure how much was learned from being a film buff, and how much is whatever magic or technology placed him/her there in the first place. I like it vague .. and yet it could still be both.
And the ending was the second one I had come up with, as it fit better within the picture and its setting. Originally I had her calling up the operator to see if she could possibly join a high-class brothel and getting the terms wrong, finally asking him with many different euphemisms if he'd like to have sex, ending with something like, "you do know how to FUCK? Right?" Something tells me that what I rewrote came out better than that.
Feel free to talk about this caption, and the preceding one that took something from the past and made it modern, as opposed to this one that takes a person from now and places them back then. Even though neither are very deep, which one works better in action? Yes-sir, another blog exclusive!
This scene was originally written for Duck Soup with Zeppo and Groucho as the male leads. I think it works better here.
Who wouldn't want to be comedians in the 1930's? Lots and lots of outtakes, I assume!
I kinda like the brothel ending - all those euphemisms could have been fun - but this is definitely more in keeping with the image and era.
ReplyDeleteOf course, that original endings could be layered beneath this. Maybe when she gets up to go shopping for her lingerie she'll open the door and recognize that she's in a brothel, only for the girls to come rushing in and ask if their Madam is okay.
Hmmm, so did she perhaps hit her head accidentally? Now there's a 1930's prostitute in some modern guy's body? Sounds like a sitcom I'd love to watch!
DeleteSuddenly Al appears, "Sam what are you doing? You are supposed to put this girls life back in order! OH my! pull your skirt down or close your legs!'.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely sounds like Quantum Leap would do!
DeleteI love how risque' Hollywood was before the Hayes code came along....all that passion....all that satin and lace....and it was really funny too!!!
ReplyDeleteI have the dialogue problem when I'm working on a Matinee post....I try not to include the modern vernacular but everything I know about the era comes from gangster movies and comedies!!!
I love how your protagonist tries to make herself understood and the frustration that ensues...I think that's something that's left out of almost all sci-fi time travel stories...
Anyways....I always love a trip into days gone by....history is one of my passions...
Great cap Dee...loved it
kisses
Kaaren
I was awaiting a reply from you here. Figured this might be right up your alley!
DeleteDialog is always a tricky thing. I know there are websites out there with old scripts, and perhaps that would be the best way to attack a longer story .. find a screenplay and chop up the dialog where it fits the time frame you are trying to ape. For this, it was more just using the 'common' well remembered slang you'd hear in an old Warner Brothers' cartoon or a gangster flick of the 1930's.
Oh, and for a time travel music story that I adore, go to Youtube and search out Ludo and their 5 song concept EP called Broken Bride. Its AWESOME and at some point it might make your mascara run!