Movie poster for 'A Woman of Paris' featuring a woman wearing a large black feathered hat, holding pearl necklaces, against a night sky with stars and a large orange moon.

The Decline of Sentiment:
American Film in the 1920s

The Decline of Sentiment (University of California Press, 2008) seeks to characterize the radical shifts in taste that transformed American film in the jazz age. Based upon extensive research in the trade papers and the popular press of the day, Lea Jacobs documents the films and film genres that were considered old-fashioned, as well as those dubbed innovative and up-to-date, and looks closely at the works of filmmakers such as Erich von Stroheim, Charlie Chaplin, Ernst Lubitsch and Monta Bell. Her analysis—focusing on the influence of literary naturalism on the cinema, the emergence of sophisticated comedy, and the progressive alteration of the male adventure story and the seduction plot—is a comprehensive account of the modernization of classical Hollywood film style and narrative form.

Table of Contents

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Bibliography and Filmography

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A black-and-white photo of a couple dancing closely in a crowded venue with a stage in the background where musicians are performing. The woman has curly hair and is wearing a shiny dress, while the man is dressed in dark attire. The scene is lively with many people gathered and seated around.
In a black and white photo, two women and one man are sitting at a table, holding drinks and engaging in conversation. The women have their heads tilted back, with one raising her hand. The men are dressed in tuxedos, and the scene appears to be lively and social.
Black and white photo of a woman in vintage clothing, leaning into a car, wearing high heels and a dress with a big bow, with her face partially visible.

The Artists’ Ball in So This is Paris (Ernst Lubitsch, 1926)

“The Decline of Sentiment pinpoints a moment during which filmmakers introduced not only new attitudes but new techniques with which to express them—techniques that favored understatement and economy of expression over melodrama. The legacy of Chaplin, Lubitsch and the lesser known Monta Bell continues to affect films and the way we read them today, making Lea Jacobs’ formidable achievement all the more valuable and fascinating.”

— Jim Hemphill, American
Cinematographer Magazine

A black and white photo of a woman and a man sitting close together, holding hands and smiling at each other in a room with bookshelves in the background.

Production still for A Gentleman of Paris (Harry d’Abbadie d’Arrast, 1927)

RELATED WORK

“John Stahl: Melodrama, Modernism and the Problem of Naïve Taste.”

Lea Jacobs | Modernism/Modernity, vol. 19, no. 2 (April 2012).

“The Talmadge Sisters” in Idols of Modernity: Movie Stars of the 1920s

Lea Jacobs | ed. Patrice Petro | Rutgers University Press, 2010.

Three women dressed in vintage winter clothing, standing outdoors with a ship in the background.

“Unsophisticated Lady: The Vicissitudes of the Maternal Melodrama in Hollywood”

Lea Jacobs | Modernism/Modernity vol. 16, no. 1 (January 2008).

A young boy standing on a street, holding flowers, looks down at a kneeling woman holding a basket, who is gazing up at him. The scene appears nostalgic and emotional, with a blurred background of a street scene and a horse-drawn carriage.

Publicity photo for The Lady (1925, Frank Borzage).

Historical photograph of a man and woman standing in front of a vintage car, smiling at the camera. The woman is wearing a floral dress and a wide-brimmed hat, while the man is dressed casually with a tie loosely hanging around his neck. The image is black and white with overlaid text promoting a book titled "The Call of the Heart," edited by Bruce Babington and Charles Barr.

The Call of the Heart: John M. Stahl and Hollywood Melodrama

Lea Jacobs | Entries on Sowing the Wind, The Child Thou Gavest Me, One Clear Call, Memory Lane, and Back Street

ed. Bruce Babington and Charles Barr | John Libbey/Indiana University Press, 2018. 

“Way Down East,” in The Griffith Project, vol. 10

Lea Jacobs | ed. Paolo Cherchi Usai | British Film Institute, 2006.

In this issue: Ben Brewster | “The Circle: Lubitsch and the Theatrical Farce Tradition”

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ON SOPHISTICATED COMEDY

The cover of a magazine titled 'Film History' with a black and white image of a woman in a wedding dress holding a bouquet, sitting with her head resting on her hand. The magazine features articles about Hollywood movies, with red text box on the right saying 'This Issue Before Screwball.'

“Before Screwball”

Edited by Lea Jacobs | Special issue of Film History, vol. 13, no. 4 (2001).

Table of Contents and Introduction

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Ernst Lubitsch

Ben Brewster and Lea Jacobs | Oxford Bibliographies in Cinema and Media Studies | digital resource published by Oxford University Press.

Title card for Warner Brothers presenting Ernst Lubitsch production with a dancing woman's figure and bubbles.

ON HOLLYWOOD AUDIENCES

The B Film and the Problem of Cultural Distinction

Lea Jacobs |  Screen, vol. 33, no. 1 (Spring 1992).

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Hollywood’s Conception of its Audience in the 1920s

Lea Jacobs and Andrea Comiskey | Classical Hollywood Reader, ed. Steve Neale (New York: Routledge, 2012).

ACCESSING 1920s FILMS ON DISK

Many of the films discussed in The Decline of Sentiment were initially quite hard to see except in archival prints. Several important titles have since been released on disk. One can check the quality of the titles listed below, and many other silent films released for home video, at silentera.com.

The Austrian Film Museum has released this beautiful edition of The Salvation Hunters (Josef von Sternberg, 1925).

The Criterion Collection has released the all-important A Woman of Paris. Their invaluable set 3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg includes The Docks of New York (1928) which retains some of the Antonioni-esque dimensions of The Salvation Hunters.

Woman walking along a shoreline with debris, including a large pipe and part of a broken ship, in a coastal area with industrial structures in the background.

From The Salvation Hunters

A woman with curly hair looking to the side, standing in front of a rustic wooden structure with a sign that reads 'JESUS SAVES' in a black-and-white setting.

From The Salvation Hunters.

A woman with curly hair lying in bed, looking at a man standing beside her bed in a dark room with a textured wall.

Publicity still from The Docks of New York.

Cover art for the Ernst Lubitsch Collection titled 'Three Women', featuring three vintage photographs of women in elegant attire and hairstyles.

Kino Lorber has recently released Ernst Lubitsch’s Three Women (1924), an interesting if uneasy mix of sophisticated comedy and maternal melodrama. And, luckily, Flicker Alley has an excellent DVD-R edition of The Marriage Circle (1924). Unfortunately, the best version of Lady Windemere’s Fan (1925) which was included in the National Film Preservation Foundation’s set More Treasures from American Film Archives is out of print.

A woman dressed in elegant vintage clothing seated on a bench, with a dark background, looking directly at the camera.

Norma Talmadge’s films are poorly represented on home video. I would particularly like to see good copies of:

  • Yes or No? (Roy William Neil, 1920)

  • The Sign on the Door (Herbert Brenon, 1921)

  • Secrets (Borzage, 1924)

  • The Lady (Borzage, 1925)