Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies

Growing up, all I ever knew about MARION DAVIES was that she was the protégé and mistress of William Randolph Hearst and there were rumors galore that Orson Welles based his CITIZEN KANE on the relationship between the real life newspaper magnate and an untalented actress by the name of Marion Davies.

When finally I did get to see a few films of Marion Davies, I remained unimpressed by her so-called "talent" as a comedienne that others refer to. Only one of her pictures, THE RED MILL, even made a favorable impression on me. The rest were mired in old-fashioned acting techniques and staging that belonged more to the silent period than "talkies". In other words, I never warmed up to Miss Davies as an actress. In sound films, there's certainly nothing special about her speaking voice or her appearance and whatever talent she had seemed minimal to me.

Still curious, I viewed the documentary to get a better overall view of the woman and her career and to see whether I would come away with a better impression. I didn't. They say she was the forerunner of the sort of beautiful, funny comedienne that Carole Lombard was. Well, I'll take Carole any day--both as an actress and comedienne.

I'm still left with the impression that MARION DAVIES was a mediocre screen personality with minimal talent and find it difficult to believe that people are talking about her as if she was a truly dazzling comic talent. I just don't see it that way.

And the documentary itself is a disjointed thing--full of film clips, still photos, audio voice-over of Davies expressing thoughts about herself and her career (bad recordings), and a few remarks by people like RUTH WARRICK and CONSTANCE MOORE that bear no more weight than feathers.

"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.

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 reassessment of Marion Davies will make you long for the chance to see her movies, many of which are difficult to find. In every excerpt Marion Davies shines! A deft performer of the silent era, she had extraordinary range and a brilliant comic talent. She made a successful transition to talkies, but her physical expression proves she was a kind of female Chaplin. Seeing this documentary has changed my whole perspective on the Orson Welles/William Randolph Hearst controversy over "Citizen Kane"--given the depth of this great actress's talent it's no surprise Hearst fought so hard to keep "Kane" from being released. And now I wish I could have been invited to one of the fabled parties at San Simeon--what a blast they must have been with someone with a flair for joyous expression like Davies as hostess!

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