Did the Talkies Doom Norma Talmadge?

Kiki, DuBarry, and the Case of the Brooklyn Patois

The Siren recently watched Kiki, an absolutely delightful comedy from 1926 that starred Norma Talmadge as an inept wannabe showgirl (she can sing, but after that, the party’s over). A relaxed, funny Ronald Colman plays the showbiz impresario who's the object of her affection; Gertrude Astor is the snooty star who stands in plucky, orphaned, dead-broke K…