Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies

Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies (2001)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Highly entertaining documentary that tries to tell the real story of Marion Davies. The film starts off showing clips from CITIZEN KANE, which many feel the "Susan Alexander" from that film is the real Davies. In later interviews Orson Welles would say the only thing he regretted with CITIZEN KANE was that Davies' reputation took a hit. Since Davies left Hollywood rather early, it was this reputation that followed her decade after decade. Everyone knew her for the relationship with William Randolph Hearst rather than her acting in such gems as SHOW PEOPLE, THE PATSY and GOING Hollywood. Davies would grow up on the stage, become a comedy star in the silent era and make the transition to sound only to give it all up to take care of the elder Hearst. The documentary paints her as a very talented woman and tries to stay away from too much gossip, although the William Ince murder is discussed briefly and Davies also comments on it from a 1951 audio interview. Actress Virginia Madsen, who played Davies in a movie, gives a lot of nice comments and various historians, including Kevin Brownlow, comments on the now somewhat forgotten actress. The documentary does a very good job at giving an overview of her career and makes one want to check out her work, which is what a great documentary on someone should do. Charlize Theron narrates.

This is a very good documentary of a remarkable person. I believe that Marion would have been flattered by the honesty and poise of Virginia Madsen, Charlize Theron and others.

Marion has sadly been remembered as the inspiration for Susan Alexander Kane from Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane". That character, who had no talent and no mind of her own, and whose singing career is propped up by newspaper mogul Charles Foster Kane's obsession that she had the potential to become a great opera singer, eventually breaks down under the strain and attempts suicide. Welles might have had a much more successful career than even he had if his film had not been appearing to pick on Marion Davies, because that was one thing William Randolph Hearst could not abide. He didn't care what people wrote or thought about him, but he basically started a war with RKO over this presentation of his lady fair, and it's probably one reason "How Green Was My Valley" won best picture of 1941, and not Kane.

The documentary talks about Davies from her birth, discusses her background, and how her mother encouraged all of her daughters to go for money and not romance in men, because she believed that romance would eventually die out anyway. That might have been how Davies' relationship with Hearst started, but she stayed with him for 34 years, even after all hope of marriage to him had faded because his first wife liked the social standing of being Mrs. Hearst and her price for divorce was too high, after Marion ironically saved Hearst financially during the 1930's by writing him a check for one million dollars. How was she rewarded in the end? When Hearst died Marion had been heavily sedated and was sleeping. When she awoke, Hearst's body was gone and all signs that Hearst had ever lived in Marion's house had disappeared courtesy of his sons.

This documentary goes very much into her film career too, not just the personal story. Marion made her first film in 1917, and was one of the few actresses who successfully made the transition to sound. She even overcame a stammer, which was something I didn't know before. Hearst was making films in the 1910's, years before he met Marion, but IMHO Hearst, for all of the talents that he genuinely saw in the woman, is probably one of the reasons her film career never really took off. He was always insisting that she star in period pieces and odd productions that just did not play to her strengths. Part of the problem was that for over a decade she was associated with MGM, which did drama very well but was never good at comedies, which was Marion's forte. And when MGM did drama during the age of Irving Thalberg, it was usually his wife Norma Shearer who got the best parts. If you want to see Marion's very best work look at "The Patsy" and "Show People", two very good late silent period comedies that MGM got right in spite of itself.

Marion once told a story about William Randolph Hearst saving a stranded mouse that ventured into the house by capturing it, feeding it cheese, digging it a little hole outside, which he covered in leaves and a corner of Marion's chaise blanket which he cut up for the purpose of keeping the mouse safe and warm. I'm thinking that his karmic reward for this single act of kindness was not wealth, power or prestige but Marion Davies- she was the gift of grace and sunlight in his life.

Documentary flattering actress Marion Davies (1897-1961), who is credited with having started the "screwball" comedy genre, and is called, "arguably, the best female comedienne on the screen," by film historian Kevin Brownlow. Much time is spent going over the association of Ms. Davies with the "Susan Alexander" character in Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" (1941). The similarity is that Welles' "Kane" is based on newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, whom Davies served as friend and lover.

Mr. Hearst began, in 1917, his effort to turn Davies into the "Greatest actress in the world." There were years of poorly received, but richly produced motion pictures. Davies showed a flair for comedy, but was continuously put in inappropriate roles; apparently, Hearst wanted her to be a combination of Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish. Ironically, Davies would satirically impersonate those actresses, and others. Hearst's efforts to promote Davies were assisted by his newspaper empire. Charlize Theron is a good narrator.

With columnist Louella Parsons leading the charge, Hearst papers were mandated to deliver positive, daily reports on Davies. When there was no real "news" concerning the actress, she was reported to have simply grown lovelier with the passing day. The studio she worked for also received great publicity; and, this was particularly helpful in building MGM into the world's most successful movie studio. At MGM, in well-produced comedies, Davies became a genuinely successful "box office" star during the late 1920s.

Lost in all the publicity is that Davies' ultimate success was due to years of work. Presented by Turner Classic Movies (TCM), "The True Story of Marion Davies" emphasizes the actress as a comedienne, with very supportive film clips. Davies sexual liaisons, speech problems, and alcoholism are covered. Virginia Madsen, a Davies admirer, appears to explain her portrayal of the famous "mistress" in "The Hearst and Davies Affair" (1985). A real highlight is hearing Davies' own reflections on her life, from a 1951 taped interview; it would have been nice to hear more of this, from Davies.

******* The True Story of Marion Davies (2/14/01) Hugh Munro Neely ~ Marion Davies, William Randolph Hearst, Charlize Theron, Fred Guiles

Finally re-watched this documentary after a 15-year span and enjoyed it though it seems sketchier than I remembered. But for a 2001 production, it mostly gets it right.

It's nice to see Kevin Brownlow and Davies' biographer Fred Lawrence Guiles (who died in June 2000) and others. But I think they spend too much time on the Hearst connection, important as that may be. At some point Davies' film career has to stand on its own merits ... and there are many.

Marion Davies' film career started in 1917 and lasted until 1937. She was a star, always the star, of all her films (with the exception of the all-star Hollywood REVUE OF 1929). Davies was a star when her MGM "rivals" Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Greta Garbo were unknowns and who all started in films as bit players. Indeed, Shearer was an extra in Davies' THE RESTLESS SEX in 1920. Davies starred in 48 feature films, wrote the scenario for her film debut in RUNAWAY ROMANY (1917), and was an active film producer through Cosmopolitan Productions for many years.

While the documentary shows silent-film clips and names titles like BEAUTY'S WORTH, WHEN KNIGHTHOOD WAS IN FLOWER, LITTLE OLD NEW YORK, JANICE MEREDITH, THE RED MILL, QUALITY STREET, THE PATSY, THE CARDBOARD LOVER, and SHOW PEOPLE, I also recognized short clips from GETTING MARY MARRIED, THE RESTLESS SEX, and TILLIE THE TOILER.

Just in the last few years, GETTING MARY MARRIED, THE RESTLESS SEX, ENCHANTMENT, and THE BRIDE'S PLAY have seen limited DVD releases, and ENCHANTMENT has aired on TCM. The incomplete BURIED TREASURE is likely to see a limited DVD release in 2017. These films would have been hard to see in 2001.

The documentary gets it right in showing the breadth of Davies range in films. She is best remembered for her comedies, but she also starred in costume epics and romantic dramas. When talkies came, she added a few musical performances, having been a Ziegfeld show girl and featured player in other Broadway shows of the 1910s.

The documentary also gets it right in discussing Davies' business acumen and extraordinary generosity to studio crewmen and fellow players as well as her civic philanthropies.

The documentary ignores the late 1930s trade papers' reports of Hearst's attempts to set up his production company at other major studios after he and Davies left Warners in 1937. As late as 1939, these deals were in development. Davies never really intended to retire from the screen in 1937.

Quibbles aside, this is a marvelous and much-needed documentary record of a very neglected star. In the late silent era, Marion Davies was one of MGM's top 5 box office stars. And while her MGM rivals' careers lasted into the 1940s or later (Crawford), Davies had a very big jump on them all.

And so a big thanks to all responsible for getting this documentary made. And let's hope more of Davies' MGM copyrighted silents get restored and released on DVD.

"Capturing the Truth: The True Story of Marion Davies" is a pretty good documentary about the screen comedienne and mistress of publishing mogul William Randolph Hearst.

The documentary was made to dispel assumptions that Marion is basis of "Susan Alexander," the drunken no talent opera singer married to Charles Foster Kane in "Citizen Kane." It goes on to tell of the love story between Davies and Hearst, with a 1951 interview of Marion's occasionally supplying interesting audio bytes.

There was definite bias toward Hearst here, saying as much that he was within his rights to attempt to stop the release of "Citizen Kane." In fact he abused his power many times and used it as a weapon.

The good part about this documentary is that it shows Marion the actress and Marion the woman with recounts from friends about her sense of fun, her generosity and her devotion to Hearst. It is a good insight into the woman, into the Hearst marriage, and into the 30 years Hearst and Marion had together.

Marion was talented and hard-working - would she have become a star if she hadn't had Hearst's support - given the right opportunities, probably. If her work seems old-fashioned today, it's because that work is 80 years old.

Film and film acting were in its infancy. If people appeared in the documentary that were peripheral, as one of the posters here said, it's because it was hard to find people still alive who could speak about Marion or Hearst.

As to was she or wasn't she Susan Alexander, perhaps partially, perhaps not. Hearst was obviously too sensitive about the whole project to be rational. Orson Welles said it was a compilation of tycoons, and it probably was to an extent, but there isn't any doubt with Xanadu, the publishing, etc., that it relied heavily on Hearst.

Welles was a 24-year-old boy who came from radio and the New York stage to make "Citizen Kane," and Marion Davis at the time hadn't made a film in 4 years. Certainly it was well known that Hearst put the power of his publishing business behind her - to some people, that may easily have translated into thinking she had no talent. Frankly, I don't think that notion started with Citizen Kane.

What Hearst was most upset about was that Susan Alexander was a drunk, and Marion had a drinking problem. That surely was put into the script to make the character more interesting. There was nothing of Marion's personality in Susan, and people who knew anything about her at all certainly recognized that at the time.

Welles may have taken an idea that was floating around in the ozone and created a whole different scenario with it - modeling it, in fact, on Robert McCormick, a publisher who built the Chicago Opera House to promote his untalented girlfriend as an operatic star. It is sad that it remains a pervasive rumor that Susan is Marion - alas, sometimes rumors have more longevity than fact.