One of the greatest comedies ever made by one of the greatest directors of the 20th century and starring probably the greatest comedienne of that century.
That's a lot of superlatives to live up to but every one of them is justified. The great power of this comedy is that as well as being absolutely hilarious it manages at the same time, as all great comedies do, to wring the heartstrings. I really do wish that more people would overcome their aversion to silents and to B&W in order that they might have the chance to enjoy this film, although it is their loss if they cannot.
Marion Davies is magnificent. She invests the character with such sweetness (although she is never never saccharine). And her comic technique is superb. Her whole performance is a master-class in the art of comedy. Watching her in this and her other comedy classics (Show People, Not So Dumb, Five and Ten) you have to wonder again at Orson Welles' depth of hatred and resentment towards William Randolph Hearst that he could caricature Davies in Citizen Kane as a no-talent dumb blonde. His film is a classic of course but I can never watch it without real anger at the injustice to Davies.
The other players all do their parts well, especially Marie Dressler, for whom this was something of a comeback. I also liked the performance of Dell Henderson playing Patsy's Pa. (He also played Davies' father in Show People.) To sum up this is one of my favorite films. Another reviewer mentioned that they always watched it when they were melancholy to cheer them up and I find it has the same effect on me. I'm not a great believer but I always imagine King Vidor and Marion Davies reunited in Heaven forever young and making endless classic comedies which cause the skies to reverberate with the sound of angelic laughter and sound to those on Earth below as thunder.
That's a lot of superlatives to live up to but every one of them is justified. The great power of this comedy is that as well as being absolutely hilarious it manages at the same time, as all great comedies do, to wring the heartstrings. I really do wish that more people would overcome their aversion to silents and to B&W in order that they might have the chance to enjoy this film, although it is their loss if they cannot.
Marion Davies is magnificent. She invests the character with such sweetness (although she is never never saccharine). And her comic technique is superb. Her whole performance is a master-class in the art of comedy. Watching her in this and her other comedy classics (Show People, Not So Dumb, Five and Ten) you have to wonder again at Orson Welles' depth of hatred and resentment towards William Randolph Hearst that he could caricature Davies in Citizen Kane as a no-talent dumb blonde. His film is a classic of course but I can never watch it without real anger at the injustice to Davies.
The other players all do their parts well, especially Marie Dressler, for whom this was something of a comeback. I also liked the performance of Dell Henderson playing Patsy's Pa. (He also played Davies' father in Show People.) To sum up this is one of my favorite films. Another reviewer mentioned that they always watched it when they were melancholy to cheer them up and I find it has the same effect on me. I'm not a great believer but I always imagine King Vidor and Marion Davies reunited in Heaven forever young and making endless classic comedies which cause the skies to reverberate with the sound of angelic laughter and sound to those on Earth below as thunder.