We all pretty much know that Marion Davies will always be known as the "kept" girl of William Randolph Hearst but for a fleeting time she had a basic acting career...and not even Hearst's oodles of money could have made her big.
To be fair, Davies was actually a fairly good comedienne. Try Cain and Mabel and see. In this she gets to show off both sides...Comedy and Drama...but in the end this film is just pretty ordinary.
The plot itself is a pretty interesting premise. The northern Spy network during the Civil War decides to try out a young actress as a spy in a Southern area. She decides to dress in black face and play a light skinned black slave girl. Her partner in this caper is a seasoned actress who has done a few jobs for the network and they both are sent to the South to steal enemy troop placements. They succeed but Davies falls in love with a Southern Spy master played by Gary Cooper.
Your not gonna be real surprised by anything in this old and dated film but the real treat is seeing the Mills Brothers sing. They have a couple of amazing numbers in this. Seeing Marion Davies playing black-face isn't too huge a deal but she does her best. Gary Cooper is as wooden as he always was.
Watching this you'll see why Ms. Davies decided to skip acting altogether and let her sugar daddy take care of her. Knowing what we all know now, it was a wise move.
To be fair, Davies was actually a fairly good comedienne. Try Cain and Mabel and see. In this she gets to show off both sides...Comedy and Drama...but in the end this film is just pretty ordinary.
The plot itself is a pretty interesting premise. The northern Spy network during the Civil War decides to try out a young actress as a spy in a Southern area. She decides to dress in black face and play a light skinned black slave girl. Her partner in this caper is a seasoned actress who has done a few jobs for the network and they both are sent to the South to steal enemy troop placements. They succeed but Davies falls in love with a Southern Spy master played by Gary Cooper.
Your not gonna be real surprised by anything in this old and dated film but the real treat is seeing the Mills Brothers sing. They have a couple of amazing numbers in this. Seeing Marion Davies playing black-face isn't too huge a deal but she does her best. Gary Cooper is as wooden as he always was.
Watching this you'll see why Ms. Davies decided to skip acting altogether and let her sugar daddy take care of her. Knowing what we all know now, it was a wise move.