For today I have a film from the end of the silent era starring Marion Davies whom I found so hilarious in "The Patsy".
It's "Show People" from 1928.
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| Public domain via Wikipedia |
Ladies and gentlemen - the plot (with spoilers)!
"To hopeful hundreds there is a golden spot on the map called — Hollywood."
One of those hundreds is Miss Peggy Pepper from Georgia who is taken to Hollywood by her father, Colonel Pepper.
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| Overwhelmed by Hollywood |
At the casting office, Peggy demonstrates her acting abilities, but it's not easy to actually be cast in a movie. Then, however, she and her father meet Billy Boone in the commissary who tells her to show up at his set.
What she doesn't know is that Billy does slapstick comedy while she aspires to be a dramatic actress. After she gets spritzed in the face with seltzer in her first scene, she breaks into tears, but Billy convinces her to go through with it by reminding her of what a thrill it's going to be for her to see herself in a theater.
Indeed Peggy becomes an instant success, and after making more films with Billy, she gets a contract by the High Arts Studio (the name says it all) which means she leaves the comedy troupe and Billy.
After her screen test, her new co-star Andre, who lets her know that he's really the Comte d'Avignon tells her she needs to change her personality and get new friends to become a star.
So Peggy Pepper turns into Patricia Pepoire and lets stardom get to her head.
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| Marion Davies's hilarious impersonation of Mae Murray which we have already seen in "The Patsy". |
One day she and Billy's comedy troupe have a shoot at the same location. Billy is happy to see her and tries to joke around with her, but she hurts him by calling him a cheap clown and running off.
Soon after, Peggy is fetched out of a studio luncheon. The producer shows her a bundle of telegrams all saying that the audience is not interested in "Miss Pepoire" anymore. He warns her that he wants to see the old Peggy again, but she's so full herself that she tells Andre producers don't recognize art when they see it.
Sometime later, it's the day of Peggy's and Andre's wedding.
Billy sneaks into the house with the delivery people and begs Peggy not to marry, but remember the old days instead.
To bring her to her senses, he spritzes her with Seltzer like in their first scene together. Peggy is so mad that she grabs a custard pie, but instead of Billy she hits Andre who's just opening the door in the face with it.
She starts crying and Billy walks out, but looking at Andre she can't help but laugh. Realizing that Billy is the only "real person" in her life (I think she's forgetting her father here), she calls off the wedding.
Peggy has a plan. She convinces her director King Vidor (playing himself) to cast Billy in a war movie without letting him know that she's in it.
Of course, Billy is surprised to see Peggy, but when she tells him he can't get out now because the camera's rolling already, he sweeps her into his arms. As the kiss written for the scene doesn't end, Vidor and the crew quietly leave the two alone on the set.
In short, that was FUN.
It's said the movie was influenced by the story of Gloria Swanson who went from comedy to big drama, but also by a novel (later turned into a play and (lost) movie) called "Merton of the Movies" in which a young man tries to make it in Hollywood.
I absolutely love Marion Davies in this. She goes through all stereotypes and tropes, makes the funniest faces, but is also appropriately dramatic for the times.
As mentioned in my blog post about "The Patsy", Davies was the mistress of William Randolph Hearst who wanted to see her in epic dramas, what a pity with her being such a wonderful comedian.
There's the scene in the casting office when the innocent and clueless Southern Belle is asked for photos and enthusiastically shows off her baby photo. On being asked if she can act, she presents her various moods, from meditation to joy.
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| This is of course "passion", what else? Her father is proud of Peggy's acting skills. |
That was a real thing, by the way.
Here are the moods of "The Biograph Girl" Florence Lawrence who is regarded as the first film star according to some sources.
I also like William Haines as Billy. He's charming and funny, but you can also feel his pain about Peggy treating him the way she did.
In one scene he's calling her to invite her for dinner with him and her father who also says that even he doesn't see much of her anymore. It's something I can really relate to.
Yet he's so proud of her and her career and doesn't give up on trying to make her see that people want the old Peggy back.
Actually I like everyone, Peggy's lovable father (Dell Henderson who also played her father in "The Patsy"), the crazy comedy director who can't even control himself in the theater, the director at the "High Arts Studio" who does everything to make Peggy laugh or cry (a wonderful scene, and by the way, did you know there were actually so-called mood musicians on the set for that purpose, there's one great story here?), Andre as the "Comte" who really used to be a waiter at a spaghetti house, and Miss Pepoire's crazy maid.
I shouldn't miss to mention, however, that the film was full of cameos by important film people of the time.
There's for example Charlie Chaplin asking for Peggy's autograph after her first big movie. Peggy, annoyed by him being so insistent, asks Billy "Who is that little guy?". There are way more at the studio luncheon, for example Douglas Fairbanks.
Actually we even get a cameo from Davies herself, but ...
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| Peggy is not impressed with Marion. |
While the movie has no spoken dialog, it has a music track which works very well.
I had so much fun that the 82 minutes went by like a breeze. This movie is so going into my favorites!
Sources:
1. Fritzi Kramer: Show People (1928) - A Silent Film. On: Movies Silently, June 29, 2013
2. Thomas Doherty: FROM THE ARCHIVES: Show People. On: Cineaste, Fall 2012
