One can only speculate if William Randolph Hearst made Marion Davies famous, or actually hindered her success. It's no secret of their lengthy affair and that he had his own production company, Cosmopolitan Productions, which his newspapers used to promote his film company's biggest star, Ms Davies. It's also well documented that he preferred her to appear in miscast period costume dramas, opposed to what she was best at; light romantic comedy.
With her career forever linked with the married Hearst, it's made her true talents as a comedic actor easy to push aside. I certainly had no interest in her work until I repeatedly heard how good "Show People" was. And as much as I enjoyed the movie, I was still swayed by the thought of a career being built by one's rich lover - especially since the powerful lover was the man that destroyed the reputations of both Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Virginia Rappe in order to sell more newspapers.
However, the more films I watched that featured Marion Davies, the more I realized I should give this talented actress a fair chance. I started by giving "Show People" another view. The first time watching, I couldn't help but feel that Constance Talmadge or even Bebe Daniels would have been so much better in the role. However, now, after numerous viewings, Ms Davies without a doubt, owns the character of Peggy Pepper, as well as the much deserved renewed interest in her career.
While many consider Mabel Normand one of the early female role models in film comedy, it's Marion Davies that took the same goofy appeal and refined it, making her truly a comic performer that is hard to not notice. And if one were to ever think her charming work in "Show People" was just a fluke, then they should check out "The Patsy" and they will soon discover that the talent of Marion Davies was real.
Thanks to Undercrank Productions, and the very talented musician, Ben Model, many of the films of Marion Davies are getting new life on DVD. And like when I first discovered the silent work of Lon Chaney, John Gilbert, Greta Garbo and so many others, I now consider viewing a Marion Davies picture equally thrilling. So, if you avoided her films because you thought her career was given to her, think again. She had the talent to not only make it on her own, but could quite possibly have been even more famous without the influence of her rich lover. Her surviving films prove that.
With her career forever linked with the married Hearst, it's made her true talents as a comedic actor easy to push aside. I certainly had no interest in her work until I repeatedly heard how good "Show People" was. And as much as I enjoyed the movie, I was still swayed by the thought of a career being built by one's rich lover - especially since the powerful lover was the man that destroyed the reputations of both Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Virginia Rappe in order to sell more newspapers.
However, the more films I watched that featured Marion Davies, the more I realized I should give this talented actress a fair chance. I started by giving "Show People" another view. The first time watching, I couldn't help but feel that Constance Talmadge or even Bebe Daniels would have been so much better in the role. However, now, after numerous viewings, Ms Davies without a doubt, owns the character of Peggy Pepper, as well as the much deserved renewed interest in her career.
While many consider Mabel Normand one of the early female role models in film comedy, it's Marion Davies that took the same goofy appeal and refined it, making her truly a comic performer that is hard to not notice. And if one were to ever think her charming work in "Show People" was just a fluke, then they should check out "The Patsy" and they will soon discover that the talent of Marion Davies was real.
Thanks to Undercrank Productions, and the very talented musician, Ben Model, many of the films of Marion Davies are getting new life on DVD. And like when I first discovered the silent work of Lon Chaney, John Gilbert, Greta Garbo and so many others, I now consider viewing a Marion Davies picture equally thrilling. So, if you avoided her films because you thought her career was given to her, think again. She had the talent to not only make it on her own, but could quite possibly have been even more famous without the influence of her rich lover. Her surviving films prove that.
Marion gets a bad rap because of CITIZEN KANE's "Susan Alexander." But people must have reasoned that if Welles was supposed to be Hearst then Marion had to be Susan. Many years ago I saw Welles on the Tonight Show where he staunchly maintained that Davies was a hugely talented actress and that he was not satirizing her in KANE. Maybe or maybe not but but the operatic career used as a substitute for MD's film career always intrigued me. Later I read about Hope Hampton whose films were bankrolled by her wealthy husband although she didn't seem to be very popular. Later she left films and had her hubby bankroll her opera career, which was equally unsuccessful. I believe Welles was inspired by HH but then could hardly say so when everyone assumed he targeted MD.
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