Olive Borden was briefly a spectacularly beautiful (and sexy) leading lady in the late silent era. The arrival of talkies proved that she wasn't much of an actress after all, and -- as her beauty faded -- her star plummeted quickly. She spends much of 'Pajamas' in night clothes (hence the title). I would have liked this movie better if Olive Borden had worn the skimpy negligee she wore in 'The Monkey Talks'.
This is a very uncertain film, which seems to want to be a cross between Clara Bow's 'Man Trap', Elinor Glyn's 'Three Weeks' and a comedy, but doesn't quite come up to the level of any of those.
Borden plays Angela Wade, a spoilt heiress (is there any other sort?) who decides that handsome pilot John Weston (Lawrence Gray) will be her next conquest, but he isn't having any. She tricks him into taking off in a small aeroplane with her. She distracts Weston into losing control of his joystick (boom, boom!), and the 'plane goes into a nosedive. The two of them bail out in the middle of the wilderness.
I viewed an incomplete and damaged nitrate print of this movie, so I missed a few undoubtedly gripping plot points. For some reason, while the two of them are stranded in the woods, Angela is kitted out in tailored silk pyjamas. I could be wrong, but I think she made them out of the parachute silk: if so, she must be an amazing seamstress. Anyhow, Angela straight away sets out to vamp Weston. After all, he's stranded in the wilderness with a gorgeous woman: surely nature will take its course? To his credit, Weston isn't interested in pitching woo (nor catching it): he's more concerned about building a shelter out of the aircraft wreckage, and finding food for both of them.
The action cuts back and forth between these castaways and a search party led by Angela's father. Even though I saw only a few pieces of this movie (which is why I shan't rate it), I saw enough to be confident that it wasn't very good even in its entirety. On the positive side, this film features some spectacular outdoor photography, and Olive Borden is very pleasant to look at. That's about it.
