Movies set at the turn of the Century w/ men and women dining publicly
March 7, 2019 11:01 AM Subscribe
I'm helping out a friend who is working on a project related to food and dining and would like to utilize some film resources!
Details below the fold:
Before the turn of the century, it was not common for men and women to dine together in public (in Western Europe/North Aerica). What are some movies set during that time time period (roughly 1880s-1920s) which have at least one scene featuring men and women dining together in public?
Please note that the project seeks to expand beyond Western food traditions so movies featuring food cultures from all over the world (same time period and featuring inter-gender public dining) is greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Before the turn of the century, it was not common for men and women to dine together in public (in Western Europe/North Aerica). What are some movies set during that time time period (roughly 1880s-1920s) which have at least one scene featuring men and women dining together in public?
Please note that the project seeks to expand beyond Western food traditions so movies featuring food cultures from all over the world (same time period and featuring inter-gender public dining) is greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
A TV show, not a movie, but Downton Abbey had a couple of restaurant scenes set in London shortly after WWI.
posted by skewed at 11:12 AM on March 7, 2019
posted by skewed at 11:12 AM on March 7, 2019
This Oxford University Press blog entry lays out the actual messy and inconsistent nature of the landscape on this:
Restaurants’ justifications for their policies of discrimination were contradictory. On the one hand, the Hoffman House defense implied that unescorted women of dubious character were lurking on the premises, and that respectable ladies needed to be isolated from them. Elsewhere, however, women unaccompanied by men might be seated if they were deemed to be “ladies,” thus the dining room was reserved for respectable women. Rather than banning unexceptionable ladies so as to avoid proximity to socially compromised women (lest the former feel “uncomfortable”), restaurants would admit only women of impeccable credentials. Of course, even within its own dubious terms this policy presented difficulties. When pressed by reporters, in the aftermath of the Hoffman House incident, to define “ladies” the managers of the Waldorf, Delmonico’s, and other fine restaurants could come up only with tautological formulations — a lady was a woman who looked and carried herself like a lady.
So there were many exceptions, loopholes, blind eyes, etc. - some (still image) early 20th c. documentation of men and women in restaurants / cafes together from the Library of Congress: 1, 2, 3.
There are quite a few examples in silent films - e.g. the couples dining together in Harold Lloyd's "The Flirt" (see the crowd that turns against the waiter) and Chaplin's "The Immigrant", both from 1917.
posted by ryanshepard at 11:32 AM on March 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
Restaurants’ justifications for their policies of discrimination were contradictory. On the one hand, the Hoffman House defense implied that unescorted women of dubious character were lurking on the premises, and that respectable ladies needed to be isolated from them. Elsewhere, however, women unaccompanied by men might be seated if they were deemed to be “ladies,” thus the dining room was reserved for respectable women. Rather than banning unexceptionable ladies so as to avoid proximity to socially compromised women (lest the former feel “uncomfortable”), restaurants would admit only women of impeccable credentials. Of course, even within its own dubious terms this policy presented difficulties. When pressed by reporters, in the aftermath of the Hoffman House incident, to define “ladies” the managers of the Waldorf, Delmonico’s, and other fine restaurants could come up only with tautological formulations — a lady was a woman who looked and carried herself like a lady.
So there were many exceptions, loopholes, blind eyes, etc. - some (still image) early 20th c. documentation of men and women in restaurants / cafes together from the Library of Congress: 1, 2, 3.
There are quite a few examples in silent films - e.g. the couples dining together in Harold Lloyd's "The Flirt" (see the crowd that turns against the waiter) and Chaplin's "The Immigrant", both from 1917.
posted by ryanshepard at 11:32 AM on March 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
I think there's a scene in The Wings of a Dove?
Howard's End def has a scene with two couples dining together.
posted by low_horrible_immoral at 11:33 AM on March 7, 2019
Howard's End def has a scene with two couples dining together.
posted by low_horrible_immoral at 11:33 AM on March 7, 2019
The Age of Innocence (1880 ish) has a long dinner scene that is basically food porn.
posted by pangolin party at 12:15 PM on March 7, 2019
posted by pangolin party at 12:15 PM on March 7, 2019
The recent netflix tv series "The Alienist" has several scenes of men and women dining together, set in Victorian NYC.
posted by deadtrouble at 12:26 PM on March 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by deadtrouble at 12:26 PM on March 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm sure your friend is aware of it but just in case - Babette's Feast is set in nineteenth century Denmark and doesn't fulfill all of the criteria but might be of interest anyway.
posted by humph at 1:31 PM on March 7, 2019
posted by humph at 1:31 PM on March 7, 2019
Oh and British drama The Duchess of Duke Street is spot on.
posted by humph at 1:33 PM on March 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by humph at 1:33 PM on March 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
Life With Father (1947, set in 1880) has a pivotal scene where the cheapskate father is put upon to take out-of-town female guests to Delmonico's. It's in the public domain.
posted by basalganglia at 1:45 PM on March 7, 2019
posted by basalganglia at 1:45 PM on March 7, 2019
Gigi has several scenes which revolve around men and women dining together in public, and the whole idea constitutes a fairly significant plot point.
posted by Diagonalize at 2:18 PM on March 7, 2019
posted by Diagonalize at 2:18 PM on March 7, 2019
In Dr. Zhivago, Lara and Komarovsky dine out. That was pre WWI Russia.
posted by Fukiyama at 3:10 PM on March 7, 2019
posted by Fukiyama at 3:10 PM on March 7, 2019
The Age of Innocence (1880 ish) has a long dinner scene that is basically food porn.
Eating in a private home wouldn't have constituted "dining in public" even if half the couple's social circle was there.
A Room with a View shows men and women eating together at a table d'hote in Florence.
Easy Living (1937), slightly after your period, depicts men and women eating side by side at an Automat.
Brideshead Revisited shows men and women eating and drinking together at a disreputable nightclub in the early 1920s.
posted by praemunire at 8:13 PM on March 7, 2019
Eating in a private home wouldn't have constituted "dining in public" even if half the couple's social circle was there.
A Room with a View shows men and women eating together at a table d'hote in Florence.
Easy Living (1937), slightly after your period, depicts men and women eating side by side at an Automat.
Brideshead Revisited shows men and women eating and drinking together at a disreputable nightclub in the early 1920s.
posted by praemunire at 8:13 PM on March 7, 2019
« Older Project, File, Data management tools | Is there a term for empathy minus sharing feelings... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:03 AM on March 7, 2019 [1 favorite]