The Florodora Girl

I must admit that like many others, I too, had never seen a Marion Davies film. She certainly held my attention from the opening, and I'm now a fan for life! The focus of my review, however, is on two technical aspects of this film (not to mention the fabulous costumes by Adrian)! First, I was amazed at the filming of the swing sequence, in which Davies and Gray are filmed - head on - as the movement of their background literally made this viewer rather dizzy. Had it not been filmed in 1930, one would swear the couple was being filmed in front of a blue screen, with the background added later. Nonetheless, it's all real, with something not unlike a monstrous selfie-stick attached to the swing itself! (See photo #16 in the 21 photos accompanying this article to see just how it was shot!) The other phenomenon, of course, is the Technicolor finale. Who knew that such a film existed almost a decade before the more famous "sepia tone-to-color" magic of "The Wizard of Oz," or the other-worldly color filmed segments of " The Women," and "The Picture of Dorian Gray?" Fascinating!

A rich young man woos THE FLORODORA GIRL of his dreams -- but is he sincere?

For nearly 20 years, no other actress in America was the recipient of so much effort to make her a big movie star than Marion Davies. As mistress of the powerful media mogul, William Randolph Hearst, Davies appeared in one lavish film production after another. Hearst's seemingly bottomless pockets spared no expense and Marion lived like a queen both on screen and off. (Their huge California mansion, now called Hearst Castle, crowned a coastal estate of unstinted extravagance, while the saltwater sequence for FLORODORA GIRL was filmed in the waters in front of the enormous Santa Monica beach house Hearst built for her.)

Never one to put on airs, Davies won the hearts of her fans and the other Hollywood stars with her warm generosity and good spirits. On the screen Hearst preferred seeing her in heavy historical romances, but she much more enjoyed light comedy fare which better displayed her talents. Which is exactly what she does in FLORODORA GIRL, getting to sing & dance a little, playing a member of the famed sextet, looking for love with the right boy but not willing to compromise her morals in the search. Davies had been a Ziegfeld Follies Girl before being carried off by Hearst; the film poses a few questions about love and success which must have given Marion something to ponder.

Lawrence Gray, an important MGM musical comedy star at the beginning of the Sound Era, does well in his role as the vivacious society boy who learns a few things about maturity while wooing Davies. He had partnered with Marion before, in Silent & Sound pictures, and they have a good on-screen chemistry.

The supporting cast provide a few laughs: Walter Catlett, Louis John Bartels & Claud Allister as well-heeled stage door Johnnies; Ilka Chase & Vivian Oakland as aging, tough-as-nails Florodora Girls; Jed Prouty as Marion's alcoholic father; and George Chandler as her big-toothed cigar store boyfriend. That's Anita Louise who shows up very briefly as one of Gray's younger sisters.

MGM gave the film a nice feeling of the 1890's with its horseless carriages, puffed sleeve fashions and frequent songs. The early Technicolor with which the film closes is most pleasing to the eye.

I've never seen a Marion Davies movie before. I had heard of her of course. Shacking up with that creep Hearst is skin crawling. She went for the money I guess.

But that aside, she was an excellent comedian actress. I was completely surprised when watching this film that Davies totally takes over your attention. Everyone in this film is a good actor but she lights up the screen in every scene she's in.

Her timing is flawless and her performance seems effortless. I had read that at social gatherings she was the life of the party and that Hearst couldn't take his eyes off of her. This movie kind of illustrates that.

I like to pick out the flaws of actors and movies because Hollywood is so self absorbed. But Davies was something else in this film.

Marion Davies is quite good in her 3rd talkie, THE FLORODORA GIRL, playing one of the 1890s stage sensations. While the other girls are raking in jewelry and marrying wealthy men, Davies can't quite figure out the game and waits for Mr. Right. He appears in the person of society man, Jack Vibart (Lawrence Gray), but he has a terrible reputation as a womanizer and is engaged to a socialite. The girls decide to teach Davies how to play the game to rake in the loot, but she really doesn't want to scam Vibart. Turns out he is a fortune hunter since his family is broke. Can the lovers united? Several plot devices later, there is a happy, 2-strip Technicolor ending, possibly the only color footage Davies appears in.

Nice film, accurate depiction of 1890s America. This film again proves the wonderful comedic talents of Marion Davies and draws from her early days on Broadway as a Ziegfeld Girl and musical star. She's marvelous, and so is Gray.

Good supporting cast with Ilka Chase, Sam Hardy, George Chandler, Jed Prouty, Nance O'Neil, Vivian Oakland, Walter Catlett, Maude Turner Gordon, Anita Louise, and Louis John Bartels.

Best scenes include Davies all dolled up in a makeshift gown from the theater's costume department, crashing a society ball and the color finale, which finally shows the musical routine that had the theater world agog: "Tell Me, Pretty Maiden." Sweet, innocent film, and very well done. Davies and Gray had starred together in the silent classic, THE PATSY, as well as Davies' starring talkie debut in MARIANNE.

The Florodora Girl (1930)

*** (out of 4)

Set during the Gay Nineties, this film stars Marion Davies playing a chorus girl who is being taught how to play the "game" by a couple veterans. The game consists of landing a rich husband and she has one guy (Lawrence Gray) interested but the friends are constantly messing up the relationship. Soon the man finds himself broke and his mother objects to him marrying someone without money. It's funny but I never really considered Davies one of my favorite actresses but after viewing this movie I realized that I had seen the majority of her sound work, which is a lot more than I can say for some of my favorites. What I've come to realize with Davies is that even when the film isn't all that good and even when her performance might not be right, she still manages to come across very charming and fun. Whenever she is on she can be dynamite and that's exactly what she is in this piece, which has to be one of the best, if not the best film she did during the sound era. I was really impressed with how wonderful her performance was here because the comic timing was perfect but so was the more dramatic moments. I thought the first hour was extremely tight and well directed with Davies really going all out. There are countless funny situations and the majority of them work extremely well including one bit where she's on a swing with Gray. There's also a very funny sequence dealing with a "becoming a father" joke. Gray is also very good in his spot as the boyfriend and the rest of the supporting cast are good as well. With that said, there's no doubt that this film belongs to Davies. The final ten-minutes were originally shot in Technicolor but it has faded so bad that the sequence looks orange but I still enjoyed seeing Davies in somewhat color.