
Dorothy Arzner is one of many brilliant women in film who helped shape early cinema while using the new medium to tell distinctly feminist and progressive stories. In her more than two decades of filmmaking and screenwriting, Arzner built up a body of work that is as noteworthy for its nuanced treatment of complex social themes as it is for its innovative use of technology. Arzner brought us sound by inventing the boom mic, introduced new techniques for adding special effects to films, and did this all while portraying some of the most interesting and independent female characters to ever grace the silver screen.
This review of two films, one written by Arzner and one directed by her, reveals her commitment to working on films with strong feminist messages as well as her dexterity when handling the rise of the Hay’s Codes, which created voluntary (but not really voluntary) censorship standards for films. The two films selected include The Red Kimona, made before the Hay’s Codes, and Dance, Girl, Dance, made while the codes were in full effect.
The Red Kimona (1925)
Dorothy Arzner wrote the script for this female-directed, female-produced, and female-led story. Inspired by a true story, the film follows Gabrielle Darley, beginning with the murder of her pimp, Howard Blain, and the subsequent trial.
It then launches into a flashback to reveal her unhappy family life, how she was kicked out her house as a teen, and then was lured by Howard Blain on the false promise of marriage to New Orleans, where he forced her into sex work.
In a beautiful use of cinematography, the film portrays this manipulation and the pain it brought her in a beautiful use of cinematography. Gabrielle is staring into a mirror, adorned in an elaborate wedding gown, complete with veil and overflowing bouquet:

Then, the camera cuts to a wide shot, revealing that the image in the mirror is only Gabrielle’s fantasy:

When she reaches out to touch her reflection, the wedding dress disappears and is replaced by the vivid red kimono that she’s actually wearing—symbolizing her position as a “scarlet woman”:

After hearing this tragic story, the jury acquits her, and the film then shifts to showing Darley’s journey to redemption and the challenges of trying to start over when you have no money, no friends, and your work opportunities are limited by your gender. Having exhausted all options, she finally breaks and decides to return to New Orleans—and to her life of sex work.
Freddy, a driver who has fallen in love with Darley, races to the train station in a dramatic attempt to propose to her and stop her from getting on the train to New Orleans. Unlike a romantic comedy, he misses her.
He ends up taking the next train to New Orleans. Before he can find her, Darley is accosted by a drunk man outside the brothel where she is agonizing over whether or not to go in. He chases her through the streets of New Orleans, attempting to rape her. To avoid rape, she throws herself into oncoming traffic. A crowd gathers and her unconscious body is taken to the hospital where she lies in recovery for weeks.

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In the meantime, Freddy stays on in New Orleans, loitering around the red light district every night in hopes of finding her. Meanwhile, America enters World War I and the Spanish flu pandemic wreaks havoc across the world. Freddy enlists.
Darley, fully recovered and preparing to leave the hospital, overhears two nurses complaining about how short-staffed they are to handle this pandemic. Immediately, Darley seizes the opportunity and asks to be hired as a nurse—promising to take any menial work while she’s being trained. They agree. She has finally found her way out of sex work.
As she’s scrubbing the hospital floor with a rag, Freddy walks in, bringing in some fellow soldiers-in-training who have succumbed to the Spanish flu. Having finally found her, he immediately proposes. Darley refuses, insisting that she has not done enough yet to wipe away her past—but that she’ll gladly marry him after the war.
A few things stand out about this ending. First, that a character with such an “indecent” past finds love, happiness, and redemption—at a time when these women would be seen as unworthy of such a story arc. Second, that she is not rescued by a man, but rescues herself. The love story between Darley and Fred is secondary to her redemption. She is not saved by marriage. She is saved by her own resourcefulness and determination.
This allows the implied marriage at the end to be one purely of love, not of relief at having found a man to provide for her. It also makes it clear that Freddy is not proposing marriage out of pity for a “fallen woman” but out of genuine love for Darley—thus proving that a woman with a past like hers is still worthy of love.
The film closes with Dorothy Davenport again, looking directly at the audience as she tells us that even though Gabrielle Darley “won her redemption and found love and happiness, there are others—countless others.”
She then stands up, closes her book, and walks to the camera to give a passionate plea to the women of the audience:
“It is toward these [countless others] that we women must face our responsibility, if we would fulfill the duty of true womanhood.”
This closing call to action reveals a much more intersectional understanding of feminism than was prevalent at the time. It asserts that a feminism that does not include sex workers and poor women is not true feminism.
You can watch the full film for free on the Internet Archive.
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
Directed by Dorothy Arzner, Dance, Girl, Dance is much more cautious about its portrayal of marriage and “indecent” women but remains uncompromising in its feminist message. The film tells the story of Judy O’Brien (played by Maureen O’Hara), a showgirl who dreams of being a classic ballerina but can only find cheap gigs in dance halls or burlesque shows.
Meanwhile, her friend and professional rival, Bubbles (played by Lucille Ball), embraces the showgirl life that Judy wants to escape. The professional rivalry between the friends creates tension which bleeds into their personal life.
Judy falls in love with an emotional trainwreck of a man who is going through a divorce. But, when Bubbles learns that this trainwreck is also incredibly wealthy, both women pursue him. Meanwhile, he’s busy drinking himself so blind that he barely remembers either of them.
Despite the rivalry, the friendship endures. When Bubbles lands a breakout role in a burlesque show that comes with a generous salary, she manages to secure a well-paying role in the show for Judy as well. However, that role is to come on stage in between acts and perform a classic ballet routine while the crowd boos her off stage and demands Bubbles, at which point Bubbles will return and perform a second number.
Reluctant at first, Judy ultimately decides to endure the nightly ridicule for the paycheck. However, when Bubbles lures the blackout drunk divorcee to a court for a quicky marriage one day—one that he has no memory of the next morning—Judy absolutely loses it on stage that night.
In the middle of her ballet routine, she stops, walks to the front of the stage and tears into the audience of jeering drunks. This speech is where Arzner’s critique of society shines brightest:
When Bubbles tries to come on stage for her second act after this speech, Judy pounces on her from behind the curtain and they break into a decidedly not choreographed brawl. Bubbles wants to press charges, so Judy is taken to night court.
At the trial, Judy is unapologetic and just as candid as she was on stage earlier. When the judge reads out, “the complaint states that you slapped her,” Judy replies, “No, your honor, I punched her. Then, I jumped on her and tried to strangle her.”
She’s sentenced to ten days in jail for disorderly conduct—but ultimately the ending is a happy one, as the director of a prestigious dance academy who took an interest in her earlier offers her admission to the academy due to the tenacity and courage she exhibited during her outburst and public brawl.
While Arzner is unable to take as many risks as she did in earlier films, she does not shy away from explicit social commentary and feminist themes.
Judy’s angry speech at the burlesque show is unmistakably feminist when she declares that the women the men objectify on stage each night are also looking back at them—and they’re laughing.
It’s feminist when the divorcee promises to annul the marriage to Bubbles to marry Judy—the “happy ending” you’d expect from the movie—but Judy refuses and the movie ends with her unmarried, but happily pursuing her career at the dance academy.
You can watch the full film for free on the Internet Archive.