Miss Lulu Bett (1921)

From novel to the stage to the big screen, Zona Gale's story about a woman finding her inner self confidence was a big hit for its time. Gale would see much success as her novel would win her a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, while it was adapted for the stage (which can be seen performed by random theaters around the country once and a while to this day) and soon after for the screen as William C. deMille (older brother of Cecil) for what would be his finest (if not only surviving) film.

The story follows Lulu as she lives with her sister's family, and her mother. Lulu does everything for them, a la Cinderella, the whole time she is made to feel as less than a person as the family reminds her continually that she is single, not particularly pretty, and doesn't do much other then her servant duties. One day her brother-in-law's brother, Ninian, an adventurer, comes to visit. Chance would have it that Lulu and Ninian have a little attraction and over dinner the two perform a mock marriage, but because the her brother-in-law happens to be the Justice of the Peace the two are actually proclaimed as married. (I know this not how it actually works in real life, but hey, it's a movie, let's just go with it and not ask questions.) Well, Lulu goes along with the marriage and actually enjoys being cared and respect by another for the first time. Things go wrong as Ninian discovers that he has a wife, who left him 16 years ago after just two days of marriage, and has made herself know to still be alive. This makes Lulu's marriage a problem.

Lulu, afraid she has married a bigamist, returns to her family, who create a story to share with the public that Lulu's husband left her out of disintrest as to less humiliate the family with Lulu's circumstance. The family makes Lulu feel as if she is embarrassing them, further putting her down. Lulu befriends a kind man named Neil who sympathizes with Lulu as they grow fond of each other. Lulu's brother-in-law disapproves of this as he scolds her to not further embarrass the family. Lulu reaches her breaking point, tells off her family in a furious burst and leaves the family with Neil for a life of her own as she discovers that her marriage to Ninian was a sham all along and will not keep her from moving forward with Neil.

The story of Miss Lulu Bett was an empowering woman's tail for its time, but with the progress of woman in America as well with change in tastes, the story has been graced over in the passage of time.

The motion picture shows us the talents of William C. deMille as a director, whose works where far over shadowed by his talented younger brother Cecil B. DeMille. (Note the difference in spelling of last names, as Cecil put more emphasis on the "De" as he thought it would make his name seem more bold if it was strongly pronounced.) Cecil was known for his large, extravagant films, meanwhile William focused on the struggles on the inner individual. William's works may not be as well known, but it was he who led to the rise of his brother, first as a poor actor and later as director. William would go on to help form the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as well as host the first two Academy Awards. (the first as co-host with Douglas Fairbanks.)

By watching this picture we can see how times have changed in America with the progression of women and how pictures (and filmmakers) that once where big have been sadly lost in the background of history. But it must have been hard to be noticed when you are strongly overshadowed by a epically popular brother. I mean ask Billy Baldwin.