# Male and Female
**Male and Female** is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by [Cecil B. DeMille](https://www.edgepedia.org/cecil-b-demille), adapted by screenwriter Jeanie Macpherson from Sir James M. Barrie's 1902 play *The Admirable Crichton*, and starring Thomas Meighan as a butler who takes command after his aristocratic employers are shipwrecked.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography) It was produced by the Famous Players-Lasky Corp. and released by Paramount-Artcraft Pictures on 16 November 1919.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography) • [2](https://www.cecilbdemille.com/portfolio-item/male-and-female/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 16 November 1919, as a Paramount-Artcraft Picture[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography) • [2](https://www.cecilbdemille.com/portfolio-item/male-and-female/) |
| Source | Play *The Admirable Crichton* by James M. Barrie (London, 4 Nov 1902)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography) |
| Principal cast | Thomas Meighan (Crichton), Gloria Swanson (Lady Mary Lasenby), Theodore Roberts (Lord Loam), Lila Lee (Tweeny), Bebe Daniels, Raymond Hatton[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography) |
| Physical properties | Silent, black and white with color tinted sequences; 8,952 feet in 9 reels; copyright LP14289, 8 October 1919[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography) |
| Key crew | Alvin Wyckoff (cinematography), Wilfred Buckland (art director), Anne Bauchens (editor), costumes by Mitchell Leisen, Paul Iribe, and Clare West[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography) • [2](https://www.cecilbdemille.com/portfolio-item/male-and-female/) |
| Production dates | 15 June 1919 to 30 July 1919; some scenes shot on the Santa Cruz Islands, California[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography) |
| Runtime | 116 minutes (UCLA screening print)[3](https://cinema.ucla.edu/events/male-and-female-12-02-23/) |
| Status | Pre-1929 United States public domain[4](https://www.thefilmexaminer.com/films/male-and-female-1919) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Crichton, an educated man who serves as butler to Lord Loam, secretly loves the lord's daughter, Lady Mary Lasenby, while the scullery maid Tweeny loves Crichton. After Lord Loam's yacht wrecks, his family and servants are stranded on a South Sea island. The lord attempts to lead the others but fails, and Crichton takes over. After Crichton saves Lady Mary from a leopard attack, she falls in love with him.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography)
Crichton recounts to Lady Mary a Babylonian tale of a Christian slave girl who, rather than give up her faith to be the king's concubine, is put to death in a lions' den. Just as Lady Mary is about to marry Crichton, the party is rescued. Back in England, Lady Mary's love remains strong, but when Crichton sees that Lady Eileen Dun Craigie is made a social outcast for marrying a chauffeur, he announces that he will marry Tweeny. The two then go to America, where birth does not always determine social position.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography)
The story's theme, as the DeMille estate's site summarizes it, is that when a yacht sinks, its wealthy owners depend on their resourceful butler for survival.[2](https://www.cecilbdemille.com/portfolio-item/male-and-female/) The Library of Congress holds a lobby card captioned "Rather democratic you servants are getting!", showing Swanson's socialite staring back at Meighan's butler holding an empty tray, a snapshot of the film's class-reversal premise.[5](https://www.loc.gov/item/2013648184/)
## Production
DeMille began directing Macpherson's adaptation, then titled *The Admirable Crichton*, on Monday, June 2, 1919, according to *Motion Picture News*.[2](https://www.cecilbdemille.com/portfolio-item/male-and-female/) AFI lists the production period as 15 June to 30 July 1919, with location work on the [Santa Cruz Islands](https://www.edgepedia.org/santa-cruz-islands), California.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography)
**Casting change.** Elliott Dexter was originally slated to play Crichton but suffered a nervous breakdown and did not take the role, which went to Thomas Meighan.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography) Major Ian Hay Beith, a British writer, worked with DeMille and Macpherson to make the atmosphere correctly British.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography)
**Crew.** Alvin Wyckoff photographed the film and Wilfred Buckland served as art director.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography) Anne Bauchens, according to modern sources, was the film editor, beginning a long association with DeMille.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography) Costume work is credited to Mitchell Leisen, who said in an interview that he designed costumes for only the Babylonian sequence, alongside Paul Iribe and Clare West.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography) • [2](https://www.cecilbdemille.com/portfolio-item/male-and-female/) According to an interview with [James Wong Howe](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-wong-howe), the later celebrated cinematographer was the third assistant cameraman on this film.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography)
## The Babylonian sequence
The film's famous ancient Babylon scene became a showcase for spectacle and costume. UCLA's archive notes that DeMille's trademark flair for spectacle is underscored by dazzling costumes and distinct locales, and quotes his remark: "It was a theory that died very hard that the public would not stand for anyone dressed in clothes of another period." The Babylon scene proved his point and helped make the film a box office hit in which costumes were front and center.[3](https://cinema.ucla.edu/events/male-and-female-12-02-23/) When DeMille hired Clare West, he told her he wanted costumes that would "make people gasp"; the film delivered spectacular designs as well as everyday wear and fantastical desert island garb.[3](https://cinema.ucla.edu/events/male-and-female-12-02-23/) UCLA frames the film as capturing a moment when the professional film costume designer was in ascendancy, along with the early career of Leisen and Parisian designer Paul Iribe's short-lived foray into Hollywood.[3](https://cinema.ucla.edu/events/male-and-female-12-02-23/)
## Reception and legacy
[Gloria Swanson](https://www.edgepedia.org/gloria-swanson)'s role as Lady Mary helped propel her into stardom.[3](https://cinema.ucla.edu/events/male-and-female-12-02-23/) The BFI includes the film among its "10 great silent epics" selected by writer Pamela Hutchinson.[6](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/1853a7f8-9956-5a33-b66f-61039e40d8a4/male-and-female)
Barrie's shipwreck satire of a dutiful butler who bests his aristocratic betters has been adapted repeatedly. Earlier and later versions include *Shipwrecked*, a three-reel 1913 Kalem film starring Anna Q. Nilsson and Guy Coombs; *The Admirable Crichton*, a 1918 British production directed by G. B. Samuelson and starring Basil Gill; *We're Not Dressing*, a 1934 Paramount musical directed by Norman Taurog and starring [Bing Crosby](https://www.edgepedia.org/bing-crosby) and [Ethel Merman](https://www.edgepedia.org/ethel-merman); and *Paradise Lagoon* (the U.S. title), a 1957 British-American co-production directed by Lewis Gilbert featuring [Kenneth More](https://www.edgepedia.org/kenneth-more) as Crichton, the first color adaptation of the play.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography) • [7](https://www.tcm.com/articles/686909/the-admirable-crichton)
The film is now in the United States public domain, having been first published in 1919, before January 1, 1929, and copies circulate freely online.[4](https://www.thefilmexaminer.com/films/male-and-female-1919)
## References
1. [Male and Female (1919), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/17455-MALE-AND-FEMALE?cxt=filmography)
2. [Male and Female, Cecil B. DeMille (estate site)](https://www.cecilbdemille.com/portfolio-item/male-and-female/)
3. [Male and Female (1919), UCLA Film & Television Archive](https://cinema.ucla.edu/events/male-and-female-12-02-23/)
4. [Male and Female (1919), The Film Examiner](https://www.thefilmexaminer.com/films/male-and-female-1919)
5. [Male and female, Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2013648184/)
6. [Male and Female (1919), British Film Institute](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/1853a7f8-9956-5a33-b66f-61039e40d8a4/male-and-female)
7. [The Admirable Crichton, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/686909/the-admirable-crichton)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Early and silent cinema › Silent feature films › Released 1914 to 1926*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license