C'est une gamine charmante

I had never seen Marion Davies in a movie until now.What a treat.Such a pretty,talented,funny,expressive ability she had.Charisma with a capital "C",a doll for sure.No wonder Hearst loved her so.Marie Dressler I have seen before,and she usually is the dominant mother,head of the household.She is stern, but comes through as caring in the end.I love everything about silents,the quirky,shaky movements,the old phones,the hairdo's and clothes.This movie transported me back in time to the twenties.I also liked marion's sister jane in this movie.She had a sexuality and charm that was rather advanced.Very flirtatious and fickle.Loved the scene where marion show's off different hats and those faces,priceless.

A kooky younger daughter becomes THE PATSY of a social-climbing family when she falls in love with her older sister's beau.

The delightful Marion Davies gets to exhibit her considerable comedic skills in this very enjoyable silent film from MGM. Often dismissed as merely the pretty mistress of one of the nation's most powerful men, William Randolph Hearst, Davies was actually a very skilled actress. Better known for her stodgy costume dramas, director King Vidor invited her to star in THE PATSY after seeing her personality & talents unbridled whilst a guest at the fabulous home she shared with Hearst at San Simeon. Watching Marion moon over the man she secretly loves, acquire a very peculiar new personality, or attempt a riotous seduction of a notorious Lothario, is to see a very fine artist at her best.

Davies has her work cut out for her: playing her mother is the formidable Marie Dressler, who steals every scene with galumphing grace. With her large shapeless body and a face that probably scared dogs and small children, the marvelous Marie puts her genius for physical comedy into high gear as she grimaces, glares, pouts & flounces her way across the screen. This film is actually credited with saving her life: according to Hollywood legend the out-of-work Dressler was eating her last meal before committing suicide when she was spotted in the restaurant by Alan Dwan and offered the role of Davies' Ma. The rest is history--within a couple of years Dressler would be the movies' most popular star, a status she would hold until her untimely death in 1934.

Dell Henderson plays Davies' lovable, but thoroughly henpecked, father. Glamorous Jane Winton has the role of her spoiled older sister. Orville Caldwell is the earnest fellow Davies adores. Lawrence Gray is hilarious as the lively playboy who gets a late-night visit from Davies he'll never forget.

The three contemporaries which Davies mimics with such precision during the seduction scene are Mae Murray, Lillian Gish (amazing) and Gloria Swanson.

Vivek Maddala has contributed a perky score for the film's restoration.

A hillarious movie from director King Vidor, with Marion Davies AND Marie Dresler! As the perpetually feuding mother and daughter, Dresler and Davies are not only side-splittingly funny, they are actually quite touching. The rest of the film delivers on all these levels as well.

If anybody believes that Susan Alexander Kane was an actual representation of Marion Davies, they aught to watch this film. Marion is a delight to watch, always full of warmth and energy, always beautiful and charming, and constantly surprising. Take for instance a scene in which she spies on her sister and the sister's boyfriend. Marion, or Pat rather, walks back and forth through the doorway, changing hats and characters, stopping at one point to remark "When in Bagdad, do as the Bagdaddies do!" Or there's the scene where she barges into an intended conquest's house and finds him in a state of drunken delirium. In an (unsuccessful) attempt to rouse him (or at least his attention), she goes about the room impersonating a series of popular film stars. First she's Mae Murray, then Lillian Gish, then Pola Negri. Gloria Swanson's Chaplin imitation is no match for the brilliance of this scene.

Viewed with a modern audience, this film transcends the generations. Though so much has changed in the many years since it's conception, so much is still the same. The Patsy is one of the greatest silent comedies, and one of the best comedies to boot, and one of the best silents, that I think I have ever seen.

This film shows Marion Davies to her best advantage - not merely the beautiful girlfriend of William Randolph Hearst who got into the movies due to his pull, as I'd always assumed before viewing this film. She is truly hilarious and touching in this, and shows a great talent for mimicry. My only complaint is the music - a man named Vivek Maddala did the music for the 2003 re-release and I find it completely inappropriate to the film. I know silent-film scores quite well and this one just doesn't cut it, as far as I'm concerned. It didn't fit the mood of the movie at all - I've seen this movie at a repertory theater and the score used then (by who, I don't know) was vastly superior and lent much to my enjoyment of the film. Overall, however, this movie is worth seeing.

Judging by most other reviews on this site I'm not going out on much of a limb when I say The Patsy is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. I don't mean just funniest silent films. I mean funniest movies, period.

The plot is simple enough: younger sister (Marion Davies) moons over older sister's boyfriend. That's all anybody needs to know.

After that, it's one hilarious set piece after another. Dinner at the yacht club. Davies spouting gibberish out of a book of inane aphorisms. Davies mimicking her Hollywood contemporaries.

The intertitles are sharply funny. The physical comedy is pure gold.

Yes, Davies has charm and comedic gifts that have been overshadowed by her portrayal on the ponderously dull Citizen Kane. If you can't fall in love with her here, you're colder than New Hampshire granite.

As for Marie Dressler, what a force. It's not an exaggeration to say she might have been the funniest film actress of all time. I'm not sure she even needed dialogue to be funny. On the other hand, if you're familiar with her speaking voice from having watched one of her talkies (e.g., Min and Bill) it makes this performance that much better.

Unless you have some kind of disease that prevents you from watching silent movies, I unreservedly recommend The Patsy.