Summary
In the twilight of the 1910s, Erminie Foster exists as a living paradox, navigating the bifurcated reality of a Manhattan mannequin by day and a sharp-witted short-story architect by night. Her equilibrium is disrupted when Ernest Sanford, a novelist of considerable hubris, invades her workspace with the clinical intent of dissecting the 'flapper' archetype for his next manuscript. This encounter, predicated on Sanford's supercilious gaze, ignites a narrative of social subterfuge. Erminie, seeking the raw veracity of high-society atmosphere for her own literary pursuits, infiltrates an elite reception, only to be rescued from exposure by Sanford's quick-witted, albeit patronizing, claim of kinship. The subsequent domestic entanglement—born of Erminie’s eviction by a puritanical aunt and her relocation to Sanford’s residence under the watchful eye of his housekeeper—serves as a crucible for gendered irony. While Sanford meticulously crafts a satire on feminine foibles that ultimately fails to find a market, Erminie’s biting critique of masculine vanity achieves commercial success. The plot thickens into a melodrama of reputation when Erminie discovers a blackmail plot involving Sanford’s fiancée, Helen Reeves, and the predatory Monte Ralston. In an act of profound self-abnegation, Erminie risks her social standing to retrieve incriminating letters, a gesture that shatters Sanford’s illusions of superiority and forces a reckoning with his suppressed affections.
Synopsis
A model by day and a short-story writer by night, Erminie Foster is insulted when novelist Ernest Sanford visits her display room to study her as a "flapper" type. Later, Erminie attends a reception uninvited to gather atmosphere for a story. Sanford saves her from being thrown out by saying that she is his cousin. When her prudish aunt forbids her entrance at 3AM, Sanford offers her lodgings under the protection of his housekeeper and soon persuades her to stay for inspiration. He writes a satire on women that is turned down, while hers on men sells. After Erminie overhears Monte Ralston, who loves Sanford's fiancée Helen Reeves, threaten Sanford with Helen's incriminating letters, Erminie sacrifices her reputation to retrieve the letters. When the engagement is broken and Helen and Monte explain Erminie's behavior to Sanford, he loses his smugly superior attitude and confesses he loves Erminie.
Review Excerpt
"The Literary Subversion of the Silent ScreenIn the grand tapestry of early American cinema, few films capture the liminal space between the Victorian moral hangover and the burgeoning Jazz Age quite like The Girl Problem (1919). Directed by Kenneth Webb and produced under the venerable Vitagraph banner, this film is far more than a mere romantic trifle; it is a sophisticated, if occasionally melodramatic, interrogation of the male gaze and the commodification of the 'New Woman.' The narrative ce..."
