Marion Davies had appeared in some of cinema's most elaborate and expensive silent films. It is, therefore, rather puzzling to see her in this poorly scripted movie for her debut in talkies. The entire first half of the film is devoted to a leering bunch of American soldiers relentlessly pursuing Davies for sexual favors and her efforts to repulse them. This part of the film is a one trick pony that drags on for far too long.
The film only begins to roll when the American soldier with whom Davies has become smitten is carted off to the guard house. After she successfully pleads with the American general for the young soldier's release, it again slows down for a barrage of songs all bunched together. In between, Davies gives a hilarious, Chaplinesque impersonation of a French lieutenant. It is a poorly paced film featuring an utterly charming, talented actress who has a real natural presence - especially for the era. This makes her acting seem ahead of its time. She is undeniably the first screwball comedienne - again, long before anybody had ever heard the term.
Marion Davies does something in this film that I can remember no other American actress' doing. She adopts a heavy French accent for the entire film, and for a large portion of it she speaks and SINGS in what seems to me to be nearly flawless French! A couple of years later, she would similarly adopt an authentic Irish brogue for the title role in Peg O My Heart, perhaps her best remembered film - and one I highly recommend. She clearly had a remarkable ear for accents.
Watch this film for an incredible performance by one of America's great actresses and Hollywood's most compassionate humanitarians. It greatly saddens me that her films have not been and are not now shown with much greater regularity. They (and she) are unfairly neglected.
The film only begins to roll when the American soldier with whom Davies has become smitten is carted off to the guard house. After she successfully pleads with the American general for the young soldier's release, it again slows down for a barrage of songs all bunched together. In between, Davies gives a hilarious, Chaplinesque impersonation of a French lieutenant. It is a poorly paced film featuring an utterly charming, talented actress who has a real natural presence - especially for the era. This makes her acting seem ahead of its time. She is undeniably the first screwball comedienne - again, long before anybody had ever heard the term.
Marion Davies does something in this film that I can remember no other American actress' doing. She adopts a heavy French accent for the entire film, and for a large portion of it she speaks and SINGS in what seems to me to be nearly flawless French! A couple of years later, she would similarly adopt an authentic Irish brogue for the title role in Peg O My Heart, perhaps her best remembered film - and one I highly recommend. She clearly had a remarkable ear for accents.
Watch this film for an incredible performance by one of America's great actresses and Hollywood's most compassionate humanitarians. It greatly saddens me that her films have not been and are not now shown with much greater regularity. They (and she) are unfairly neglected.