Blythe Spirit

Such a great face on Betty Blythe, this week's long-forgotten silent film star.

She carries such a direct look. The set of her mouth suggests a sense of humour as well as a hint of some wicked bon mots.

Sadly, hers is not a name that one readily remembers as a leading light in the roaring 20s, yet funnily enough her name graces a London catering and gourmet food company.

Why?

Dunno. There's no explanation on the company's web site.

While Blythe's leading lady career ended in the silent era, she did appear in two of Nora's favourite films - The Women (in an uncredited role) and as the lead in the 1940 farce Misbehaving Husbands.

Here's a clip:



You can watch the whole film here for free.

Betty's most famous role was the title role in 1921's The Queen of Sheba and yet one is pretty sure there was none of the media titillation surrounding her topless appearance in the film, in sharp contrast to today's adolescent slavering media over actress Eva Mendez's breast flashing in Calvin Klein's latest perfume commercial.

It shows what's has changed in 87 years.