What Happened to Rosa
Summary
In the soot-stained corridors of a metropolitan department store, Mayme Ladd exists as a mere cipher, a clerk whose vitality is stifled by the rhythmic monotony of commerce. Her liberation arrives not through revolution, but through the esoteric whispers of a clairvoyant who identifies Mayme as the transmuted soul of Rosa Alvaro, a legendary Spanish noblewoman. This revelation triggers a profound psychological metamorphosis; the drab shopgirl discards her utilitarian identity to inhabit the spirited, castanet-clicking persona of an Iberian aristocrat. As she navigates the high-society waters of a coastal resort, Mayme/Rosa becomes a vessel for a quixotic exploration of class and identity. The narrative unfolds as a series of sophisticated comedic set-pieces, where the protagonist’s commitment to her fabricated lineage collides with the pragmatism of her suitors. It is a story of self-actualization through delusion, where the boundary between a mundane present and a romanticized past becomes irrevocably blurred, culminating in a romantic pursuit that challenges the rigid social hierarchies of the early 20th century.
Synopsis
A fortune teller tells a store clerk with a romantic disposition that she was a Spanish noblewoman in an earlier life. The girl begins to live the part of the Spanish noblewoman and romance and comedy ensue.
Director
Adolphe Menjou, Tully Marshall, Doris Pawn, Eugenie Besserer, Mabel Normand, Hugh Thompson, Buster Trow
