History Headscratchers / TheArtist

*** The central conceit of the movie is that it's made as if it was an actual silent picture from the 1920s. Ergo, the fashions remain kind of locked into those of the '20s, despite the events of the film moving into a different decade with different fashion tastes, because it's generally acting as if it were actually being made in, say, 1929 (like how many movies made in the late 1980s but set in the 1990s tend to assume that fashions would stay more or less the same, just because they're working with what they've got). Essentially, it's an artistic choice.

*** The central conceit of the movie is that it's made as if it was an actual silent picture from the 1920s. Ergo, the fashions remain kind of locked into those of the '20s, despite the events of the film moving into a different decade with different fashion tastes, because it's generally acting as if it were actually being made in, say, 1929 (like how movies made in the late 1980s set in the 1990s tend to assume that fashions would stay more or less the same, just because they're working with what they've got). Essentially, it's an artistic choice.

*** Maybe, but still, one would wonder that even the richer and fashion-wise women like Peppy still wore them, despite the silhouette changing from higher waists and longer skirts.

** Claude Raines was British, not French.

** Historically, having a "foreign" accent tended to limit one's options in terms of casting, but not always as with Creator/GretaGarbo and her Swedish accent. It is possible that George's particular accent might not be as big of a bar as some other cases, but he'd probably be looking at getting typecast as a FrenchJerk, FunnyForeigner, or something like that. During that era, being a "leading man" generally required being a {{WASP}} or at least being able to pretend to be one.

** Historically, having a "foreign" accent tended to limit one's options in terms of casting, but not always as with GretaGarbo and her Swedish accent. It is possible that George's particular accent might not be as big of a bar as some other cases, but he'd probably be looking at getting typecast as a FrenchJerk, FunnyForeigner, or something like that. During that era, being a "leading man" generally required being a {{WASP}} or at least being able to pretend to be one.

** It was the Great Depression, some people couldn't afford new clothes.

** Historically, having a "foreign" accent tended to limit one's options in terms of casting. It is possible that George's particular accent might not be as big of a bar as some other cases, but he'd probably be looking at getting typecast as a FrenchJerk, FunnyForeigner, or something like that. During that era, being a "leading man" generally required being a {{WASP}} or at least being able to pretend to be one.

** You're right. A lynching was in order.

* How come some of people still wore 1920s clothing in 1932?

* It's a bit surprising George Valentin career faltered so much with the arrival of talking pictures. Sure, it's TruthInTelevision, and he did initially refuse to go into talkies, but with the kind of characters he played, one would think that his [[spoiler: French accent]] would have played very well. Wouldn't they have tried to approach him after was forced to swallow some of his pride?

* How tolerated was left-handedness in the 1920s? Clifton and Doris were both lefties.