quiet_curiosity (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
quiet_curiosity) wrote2009-01-03 06:27 pm
quiet_curiosity) wrote2009-01-03 06:27 pm
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Show People (1928)
Many of the words uttered about Marion Davies could probably be filed under the heading "No Talent Whore and other Things I Learned from Citizen Kane." It isn't necessarily fair and overlooks her scores of devoted friends, her generally agreed upon good humor and heart, or that Welles is on record that Susan Alexander was not a Davies clone. But everyone loves a scandal and a person cannot live down their personal scandal once a person becomes a part of one. Davies' long term affair with publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst colored perceptions of Davies as much in her day as in ours - and not just in the most obvious ways. Many of Davies films were expensive costume dramas. This wasn't so much because she enjoyed them as it was that Hearst enjoyed her in them and he promoted the hell out of 'em once they were in the can. The public didn't take to the over-promotion and Davies' career suffered because of it.
Davies' career has been re-examined in the decades since her death and she has received significantly more acclaim from audiences and critics alike. But the praise isn't usually delved out to the costume dramas; it goes to her comedies. Davies was a natural comedienne with a gift for impressions (check out her impressions of Mae Murray, Lillian Gish, and Pola Negri from The Patsy) and general acts of goofiness. One of the best loved of those comedies is Show People.
Summary: Peggy Pepper heads out to Hollywood in the hopes of becoming a serious dramatic actress. After a disastrous meeting at the casting office, Peggy runs into Billy Boone, a comedy actor, who claims that he can help her break into film. While that break wasn't exactly what Peggy had in mind, she agrees to "take it on the chin" until something more to her liking comes along. But when it does, can she leave her old friends behind? Does she have to sell her soul to receive the accolades?
1) Davies is really a lot of fun here. She's very zany and willing to do nearly anything for the laugh. She readily pokes fun at herself and the sort of films she was normally accustomed to doing. It seems to me that she would have made a great screwball heroine (akin to Carol Lombard) but that genre hit it stride too late for her to potentially hitch on.
2) William Haines annoyed me at first but I quickly grew accustomed to him and eventually learned to love him as the slapstick pro. He and Davies are great together but they generally come off more as close friends than potential lovers.
3) Show People is a Hollywood satire and it generally pokes at its objects of ridicule with a soft stick. Peggy and her hick father aren't too demeaned and the undercranked, Keystone style comedies are obviously replicated out of love. Many internet sites and reviews will allude to the film possibly using Gloria Swanson's "from comedy to high drama" career as a guide. That's quite possible and Davies does strike more than a few Swanson-esqe poses during her big interview at the top.
4) Cameos Galore! The best: Probably Chaplin as the autograph seeker that Peggy doesn't recognize. Though I knew that he was a short man, he seemed particularly wee out of his tramp costume. I blame the hat! Also good: Davies cameo as herself on Peggy's first day of work at High Art Studios. Her reaction to herself is priceless.
While I haven't said much, the picture certainly left a big favorable impression. Show People isn't currently on DVD but was released on VHS. Do yourself a favor and check it out!
Davies' career has been re-examined in the decades since her death and she has received significantly more acclaim from audiences and critics alike. But the praise isn't usually delved out to the costume dramas; it goes to her comedies. Davies was a natural comedienne with a gift for impressions (check out her impressions of Mae Murray, Lillian Gish, and Pola Negri from The Patsy) and general acts of goofiness. One of the best loved of those comedies is Show People.
Summary: Peggy Pepper heads out to Hollywood in the hopes of becoming a serious dramatic actress. After a disastrous meeting at the casting office, Peggy runs into Billy Boone, a comedy actor, who claims that he can help her break into film. While that break wasn't exactly what Peggy had in mind, she agrees to "take it on the chin" until something more to her liking comes along. But when it does, can she leave her old friends behind? Does she have to sell her soul to receive the accolades?
1) Davies is really a lot of fun here. She's very zany and willing to do nearly anything for the laugh. She readily pokes fun at herself and the sort of films she was normally accustomed to doing. It seems to me that she would have made a great screwball heroine (akin to Carol Lombard) but that genre hit it stride too late for her to potentially hitch on.
2) William Haines annoyed me at first but I quickly grew accustomed to him and eventually learned to love him as the slapstick pro. He and Davies are great together but they generally come off more as close friends than potential lovers.
3) Show People is a Hollywood satire and it generally pokes at its objects of ridicule with a soft stick. Peggy and her hick father aren't too demeaned and the undercranked, Keystone style comedies are obviously replicated out of love. Many internet sites and reviews will allude to the film possibly using Gloria Swanson's "from comedy to high drama" career as a guide. That's quite possible and Davies does strike more than a few Swanson-esqe poses during her big interview at the top.
4) Cameos Galore! The best: Probably Chaplin as the autograph seeker that Peggy doesn't recognize. Though I knew that he was a short man, he seemed particularly wee out of his tramp costume. I blame the hat! Also good: Davies cameo as herself on Peggy's first day of work at High Art Studios. Her reaction to herself is priceless.
While I haven't said much, the picture certainly left a big favorable impression. Show People isn't currently on DVD but was released on VHS. Do yourself a favor and check it out!