La reine des girls

Marion Davies was a very, very unusual actress. Many folks haven't taken her seriously because it has been common knowledge that her lover, William Randolph Hearst, basically bought her a film career. Whether or not she would have become a star without him is a great unknown. However, at least the sorts of movies she made would have been very, very different had he not personally bought her way into Hollywood. In comedies, Marion was great--and her film "Show People" is among the greatest silent comedies ever. However, in the 1930s, Hearst insisted in financing her in dramas--the sort of film where Marion simply was out of her element. While "Blondie of the Follies" isn't a terrible film, the weakest element is probably Marion--because it was not the sort of light comedy at which she excelled. And, in the film's serious moments, she really wasn't up to the task.

The film is, believe it or not, sort of like a cleaned up version of "Showgirls"! It begins with Lurleen (Billie Dove) leaving her working class neighborhood to become a burlesque star--a rather shocking sort of career back in the day. However, he friend Blondie (Davies) remains her friend and idolizes Lurleen. Now this is a weak point in the plot, as throughout the film, Lurleen is a nasty piece of work--and you wonder almost from the beginning how much Blondie will take from Lurleen until she realizes her friend is a jerk. This nasty side of Lurleen rears its ugly head when a rich 'friend'* of Lurleen, Larry (Robert Montgomery), becomes infatuated with Blondie. Lurleen makes it clear that Larry is off limits and like a good friend, Blondie avoids him throughout the film. This is THE major theme of the film. And, when Blondie herself becomes a big burlesque star, she is torn because although beloved and successful, she still is without her Larry. There is plenty more--and you should see the film, since it is enjoyable and pleasant.

The general plot isn't bad and through much of the film, Marion actually carries it off well. However, and this is a serious problem, towards the end, her acting is rather bad. She is SUPPOSED to be a woman who is behaving like she is happy when she is dying inside--but she comes off poorly because of her delivery of her lines. She rushes through the scenes and seemed out of her element. To put it bluntly, she just isn't convincing. These serious moments simply didn't work. Perhaps the director should have re-shot the scenes or given her better direction. Or, perhaps Hearst's meddling is responsible and the director actually didn't have control of the production (a common problem in her later films). All I know is that I cringed in the scenes following Blondie's big accident late in the film.

Regardless of its shortcomings, the film is entertaining and worth seeing. It's just sad that she didn't make more comedies--they were exceptional.

*The morality of "Blondie of the Follies" was very much what you'd find in many Pre-Code films. While it's never explicitly stated, it seems pretty obvious that Lurleen was a paid mistress or high-priced prostitute. So, when Blondie's family is upset with her choosing the stage, this might be a lot of the reason for their reaction.

The hardscrabble tenement streets shriek of Warner Brothers (though the movie moves from them soon enough), and the slanginess and very pre-Code suggestiveness of pretty young things kept in lavish Deco apartments is rather hard-boiled for the Ars Gratia Artis studio, too. And it's a strange brew, halfway between enjoyable, rude comedy and sentimental soap opera, with the likable Davies and the hard-staring Dove slugging it out for the affections of Robert Montgomery in his leading-man-opposite-MGM-leading-lady days. He's a drunk and a playboy, but also, we are led to believe, a decent and sacrificing guy. The friendship between Davies and Dove is convincing and touching (though it takes some unconvincingly abrupt turns), and Anita Loos could write girl-talk dialog with the best of them. There are also a couple of father-daughter scenes between Davies and the always wonderful James Gleason that will just break your heart. But the movie does keep skirting credibility (could the exquisite Davies and Zasu Pitts really spring from the same gene pool?), and Davies' Act Three laugh-clown-laugh, smile-through-tears demeanor is close to self-parody. Most jarring of all is dragging in Jimmy Durante for five minutes of hideously unfunny special material, including a strained sendup of "Grand Hotel" (also directed by Edmund Goulding) that serves mainly to remind one of Davies' limitations. A fun flick all in all, but when it came to hard-boiled dames and backstage melo, MGM wasn't really at the forefront.

The title leads you to expect a breezy showbiz romp, but it actually segues unpredictably back & forth throughout between comedy and drama. The production is lavishly mounted - if in places disjointed - and Marion Davies is backed by a top supporting cast, while throughout proving herself entirely worthy of having such an elaborate edifice constructed around her. Once again we see Marion in drag, Marion the mimic (parodying Garbo in director Edmund Goulding's previous film 'Grand Hotel') and also Marion nimbly nipping about on crutches.

One wonders what those in the know would have then made of Marion's creepy sugar daddy in the film, played by Douglass Dumbrille, forever shrugging his shoulders and remarking "I like blondes", as he unctuously makes his move on her.

One of Marion Davies' best performances in this snappy comedy/drama. Davies plays Blondie, a good girl who becomes a success in the follies despite her best friend's effort. Billie Dove (a big silent star in her best talkie role) is excellent as the friend. Robert Montgomery, Zasu Pitts, Sidney Toler, Douglas Dumbrille, and Jimmy Durante co-star. But this is Davies's film from beginning to end. She is totally wonderful, funny, touching, and gorgeous. Again and again I state that Marion Davies was major talent, a great star, and one of Hollywood's great beauties. She's also one of the finest comic actresses EVER! Watch this film and you'll see that Davies was an A-list star, one who deserves to be rediscovered. Blondie of the Follies may be a minor film, but it's well done, entertaining, and boasts terrific performances by Marion Davies and Billie Dove.

Blondie of the Follies (1932)

*** (out of 4)

Marion Davies plays slum girl Blondie McClune who finally gets out of her dump thanks in large part to he friend Lottie (Billie Dove) who has made it big on Broadway. The two have a falling out when Larry (Robert Montgomery) falls for Blondie but she has more problems as her high life slowly starts to crumble down. I was really shocked at how good this film was because, to be honest, this story isn't all that original and it's one we had seen countless time in the brief time that talkies had come into play. What really makes this film worth watching are the downright marvelous performances and various pre-code elements. The pre-code elements are pretty straight-forward in their sexual innuendo and the film doesn't shy away from Dove's rather large breasts and she's constantly dressed in skimpy little outfits that allows her to jiggle around if you catch what I mean. Even Davies has a brief scene where she's wet and you can see through her top. Even without these elements the film still works because both women are terrific in their roles. Apparently the story here is very close to that of Davies real life and perhaps that's why she dug into the character so much. She's not playing that Davies persona here but instead she really delivers a full character on all levels. Dove is brilliant as well because her sexuality really jumps off the screen and she makes her character very memorable. It was sad to read she retired from Hollywood after this movie apparently because Hearst cut most of her scenes here fearing she'd take the movie away from Davies. Montgomery makes for a great leading mad her and James Gleason is also very good as the concerned father. Even Zasu Pitts is very good here as the sister. She handles the drama quite well and this is coming from someone who really doesn't care for his comedy side. Then we have the fourth-billed Jimmy Durante who shows up for what's basically a cameo but it turns out to be one of the highlights of the film. He shows up and does a little skit on why men shouldn't take women to see GRAND HOTEL because of John Barrymore's great looks. This sly bit of publicity for MGM is a nice little tough as Durante plays Barrymore with Davies doing an impersonation of Greta Garbo. Again, the story itself isn't all that original but that's the only problem with this gem that should be a lot better known than it actually is.