As the Silent Era Ends
A young lady from Georgia (Marion Davies) goes to Hollywood in the hopes of becoming an actress.
"Show People" offers an entertaining inside look at 1920s Hollywood and reflects on the actual acting career of starlet Marion Davies. Though one of the great comic talents of her day, featured in many of the decade's successful comedies, such as "Tillie the Toiler" (1927), she too often appeared in extravagant, costly period romance films at the behest of her newspaper tycoon lover William Randolph Hearst, who supposedly enjoyed seeing his mistress in fancy costume.
This is a great semi-fictional look at 1920s Hollywood, with some great cameos. I especially love the encounter with Charlie Chaplin, because I can relate to the Davies character. It took me many years to be able to recognize him when not in his tramp disguise, and I suspect this is what prompted the scene -- how was one to know what he looked like (or sounded like) at the time without the mustache?
"Show People" offers an entertaining inside look at 1920s Hollywood and reflects on the actual acting career of starlet Marion Davies. Though one of the great comic talents of her day, featured in many of the decade's successful comedies, such as "Tillie the Toiler" (1927), she too often appeared in extravagant, costly period romance films at the behest of her newspaper tycoon lover William Randolph Hearst, who supposedly enjoyed seeing his mistress in fancy costume.
This is a great semi-fictional look at 1920s Hollywood, with some great cameos. I especially love the encounter with Charlie Chaplin, because I can relate to the Davies character. It took me many years to be able to recognize him when not in his tramp disguise, and I suspect this is what prompted the scene -- how was one to know what he looked like (or sounded like) at the time without the mustache?
- gavin6942
- Jul 10, 2016