Whilst perusing the web not too long ago to look for some information on Marie Lloyd to post on our group blog, I stumbled across what looked like a movie about her life. At the time I didn’t really pay much attention to it because there was no way I was going to post 8 different video clips to the group blog, I just felt like that would be slightly excessive. But a few days ago I was back on You tube and in search of this movie. The video, entitled Marie Lloyd, Queen of the Music Hall, was produced by the BBC in 2007 and stars Jessie Wallace as Marie Lloyd. It is divided into eight ten minute clips that were uploaded to You tube by aliyevajamila. I’ll give the link for part one of eight, and if anyone would like to continue watching the movie the other parts will be there.
The link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNZCUGhPOTA&NR=1
I really enjoyed the way in which the film was put together; it reminded me a lot of the movie version of Chicago. Many of the songs Marie Lloyd was famous for performing were used in the movie and her act was actually recreated on stage. All of the action that took place on stage showed Marie Lloyd the performer, but all the drama off stage was that of Marie Lloyd the person. There was also a sort of random character who fulfilled the roll of a narrator. He is depicted as the ring leader of the Music Hal; his narration is always sung but never part of the actual act. His narration is never directed towards the audience in the theater, but rather towards the audience at home.
I’m hardly a Marie Lloyd scholar but I do find her place in Music Hall history very interesting. Because I have only a basic knowledge of who Marie Lloyd was, when I began watching the movie I was a little skeptical. I realize that in only 80 minutes the story line needs to be condensed, but this movie made it seem as though Marie Lloyd went on one audition, never really having performed before, and got her big break later that same night. Marie Lloyd was not quite the novice she is made out to be in the movie and had actually been performing on stage for a considerable length of time before her ‘big break.’ Her rise to fame was not quite as easy as the movie might suggest.
However, despite my criticism of the beginning of the film I found it pretty interesting and really appreciated the fact that many aspects of the Music Hall experience we discussed in class had been incorporated in the movie. For example, there were several musical numbers which featured performers in drag, (men and women), the life of the Music Hall performer was discussed and the issues of morality and propriety in the Music Halls were touched upon as well. The movie would cut to old news paper headlines condemning the behavior taking place in the Music Halls and criticizing them for their lack of respectability and urging the performers, Marie Lloyd included, to clean up their acts.
Although by today’s standards Marie Lloyd wasn’t particularly vulgar, she certainly was suggestive and her act risqué. Her success was based off of her incredible ability to take otherwise innocent texts, and through her delivery, express the words in an entirely new light, she was a genius of double entendres. One of my favorite parts in the film is when she is called before some sort of a review committee to deal with the inappropriate nature of her act. While examining one her songs the committee draws attention to a particular phrase, “I sit among the cabbages and peas.” The issue here was that when performed, it sounded as though Marie Lloyd was announcing to the audience that she basically urinates in cabbage patches. Her response was to politely ask if they would prefer her to change a particular vegetable. Lloyd immediately delivers the new lyrics, “she sits among the cabbages and leeks.” I’m not sure if this is a true story but I certainly hope it is, I find it incredible endearing and it just further shows her wit.
Although Lloyd became quite wealthy from her Music Hall career the film shows that her life was hardly easy. She was married three times over the course of her life. In the film she marries her first husband after they find out that she is pregnant. Although the couple seems in love and happy at first, Percy Courteney, Lloyd’s husband becomes jealous of her fame and begins drinking heavily and gambling; even though the couple had a daughter together they did proceed with a divorce. Her marriage to her second husband was also a flop, especially after she began cheating on him with a young jockey, Bernard Dillon. (Not really a great way to maintain a relationship). Her second husband dies and she is then able to marry Dillon who like her first husband, also develops a drinking problem and becomes abusive. Lloyd too began drinking heavily and in 1922 collapsed on stage during a performance, she died soon after in her home.
Obviously the movie is an extremely abridged version of Lloyd’s life and it’s important to keep in mind that this is a movie and not necessarily a true depiction of who she was and what she did. One particularly interesting aspect of the movie is the authentic film footage of Marie Lloyd’s funeral procession. I think this could be a valuable movie to watch for anyone interested in Victorian Music Hall culture and especially Marie Lloyd. It’s useful to gain a sense of the big picture of her life, her achievements, her struggles and her eventual demise. Those who produced this film obviously think quite highly of Marie Lloyd. Although the movie doesn’t gloss over the hardships in her life it tends not to portray Marie Lloyd as a dislikable character; even though there are moments when she does dislikeable things, she retains a charming personality.
Marie Lloyd was undeniably one of the Music Halls greatest stars and her influence on English entertainment most definitely transcended to America. I always think back to Vaudeville, the circus, and Broadway when I think of Music Halls. Even in America Lloyds influence on actresses like Mae West is clearly apparent. She pushed the envelope but was able to make people laugh while doing so. She was a true original, and this is a great movie to check out and gain a better idea of what she did for the Victorian Music Hall, and what the Victorian Music Hall did for Marie Lloyd.
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