Mack Sennett's Bathing Beauties!

Summer is fast approaching, folks! For many of us, that means more time outdoors – whether at the pool, the beach, the lake, the river – summer is THE time to have Fun in the Sun! It’s a small wonder that this would be the theme for the Classic Movie Blog Association’s Annual Blogathon, which we are quite proud to be a part of. Be sure to click the banner below for more info on the CMBA – you won’t be disappointed!

In 1914, comedy mogul Mack Sennett came up with an idea for a new way to help sell his comedy short films. As the story goes, he was looking through a newspaper and saw an article about a young lady who was in a minor traffic accident. The story, relatively minor in itself, was on the front page! Why? Well, the answer was simple – the knees of the attractive young lady were visible in the accompanying photograph (which took up 3 columns). KNEES...? So what?! Well, in 1914....knees were to the general public what “Sports Illustrated” is today! Simpler times... So when Mack saw what a great sensation this was in the newspaper, he had a brilliant thought – could he harness this “sacred knee power” to draw more people to his films?? In his own words:

“... I called in the staff. ‘Boys, take a look at this. This is how to get our pictures in the papers. Go hire some girls, any girls, so long as they’re pretty. Especially around the knees ... Get those kids on the screen,’ I told our people. ‘Sure, I know they can’t act, but they don’t have to act. Put them in bathing suits and just have them around to be looked at while the comics are making funny.’”

The knee-power-discoverer himself (Mack Sennett)

While Mack’s films were successful at the time, many early filmmakers began making “copycat” versions that were too similar to his own, so coming up with a fresh angle was crucial! With these girls (later dubbed the “Bathing Beauties”), audiences would know without a doubt whose film it was! Mack arranged to have his Bathing Beauties pose with his leading comedians to promote upcoming films – and he made sure to pose them so that the newspapers couldn’t cut out the comedian and only use the pictures of the girls (by themselves)! Sharp, Mack. Sharp.

Sexy for 1915, we assure you...

18 Bathing Beauties (1917). Look at the body diversity!

The Bathing Beauties’ swimsuits were of particular importance, because (as aforementioned) they had to showcase their scandalous knees. But in order to avoid public outrage, most of the girls were originally given more “standard” swimsuits for the time (bloomers, tunics, boots, etc.) with the exception of visible legs and knees, which was risqué enough! As time went on, the suits became more revealing, keeping up with the changing fashions and evolving social norms. The girls themselves were originally a variety of sizes, which is a breath of fresh air even today – but unfortunately (again, due to the changing times), the girls got progressively slimmer as the suits became more form-fitting. What a statement it would have been, for then as well as now, if the Bathing Beauties had stayed size diverse!

Is this a Bathing Beauty?? ....No. She says no.

Several of the Bathing Beauties became stars in their own right, such as Carole Lombard, Marie Prevost and Virginia Fox, but most of them never became known and are still somewhat anonymous today. Our leading lady Gloria Swanson is often mistook as having been a Bathing Beauty, but she always held to the fact that she was not. Although she did appear in a bathing suit a few times in Mack Sennett’s comedies, she claimed she was not among the official group of Bathing Beauties (who were always unnamed as individuals).

Circa 1919

In 1917, the Bathing Beauties made their first screen appearance, drawing thunderous applause from audiences....and outrage from the morality groups of the time. See, Mack had decided to push the swimsuit boundaries a bit more, and give the girls extra-revealing costumes (for their time)! Even the comedians appearing with them were concerned about the public’s reaction. With all of the ensuing praise (and badmouthing), Mack did what any filmmaker looking for publicity would do – he put the Bathing Beauties in ALL of his films from then on! In addition, he arranged for them to do a multitude of publicity stunts, personal appearances, tours, photoshoots, the works. Atlanta police shut down one of their touring dance revues (complete with swimsuited dancing by the girls), which prompted some of the Bathing Beauties to issue a public response:

"We all come from good families in California and we’ve got fathers and brothers who’d never let us do anything improper. Why, my dad is a prominent doctor, and so is hers, and hers is a lawyer. We don’t do a thing except just let the folks see us in the bathing suits we really swim in out home. They’re glad enough to look at us that way in the pictures, why wouldn’t they like it in real life?"

One magazine writer gushed:

“Mack Sennett has every male movieite in the U.S. raving over his bunch of bathing beauties. No wonder the population of Los Angeles is increasing!”

Sidenote: “Movieite” is a word we all need to use more. “Please”, “thank you” and “movieite”.

Well sir, Mack’s Bathing Beauties were so successful that (wouldn’t you know it??) other studios started copying him! AGAIN. Fox Studios came up with the “Sunshine Girls”. Hal Roach had “Bathing Girls”, and the relatively small Christie Studios (the very first film company in Hollywood!) shamelessly ripped off the name “Bathing Beauties”! But by then, the original Bathing Beauties had established their name – it didn’t matter what knock-offs the other companies had. Mack’s million-dollar idea had done just what he’d hoped it would. For a while, at least...

Mack and his Bathing Beauties, towards the end of their popularity (1927)

By 1928, society had changed so drastically in just 11 years, the Bathing Beauties were no longer a novelty (or a scandalous spectacle). Knees and legs were normal, showing one’s curves in a swimsuit was standard, so Mack stopped featuring them in his films. But thanks to the brilliant publicity that saturated the American public, we have plenty of photos and film of these joyful, playful, lovely young ladies....having fun in the sun! Enjoy a few of our favorite photos below and a clip from "His New Mamma" (1924), in which the Bathing Beauties play themselves!