El pavo real

Imagine you're a moviegoer in 1930. Imagine you're also a Mae Murray fan. Never the most lauded actress, critics sneer at her affected posing, her dance numbers, her elaborate (and sometimes scanty) outfits, the sheer campiness of her films. However, you adore her in films like THE MERRY WIDOW, grand productions where she danced a steamy waltz with heartthrob John Gilbert and lounged about in elaborate gowns. Perhaps you can remember back to her early film career, when she was making light Cinderella-style comedies like THE DELICIOUS LITTLE DEVIL with Rudy Valentino.

Now imagine Murray-- a star you associate with glamor and dance-- trapped in a static, very talk-heavy film in which everyone involved is more concerned with where to position their mouths so the microphone will catch each over-enunciated, badly written bit of dialogue. Murray-- in her forties-- is playing an ingenue half her age, and barely conjuring any chemistry with the two wet blankets we're supposed to believe are madly in love with her. Bored and remembering the fluid camera of those pre-sound days, you appreciate fleeting elements of Murray's performance that recall her dance background-- the way she gracefully spins into a lover's arms, the way she walks across a room like she owns the place. But none of this can save PEACOCK ALLEY and you struggle not to nod off.

As for the film, it has a very old fashioned plot that didn't seem so old fashioned back in the day. Claire is in love with a rich guy but he just won't commit. Eventually, she tires of waiting and marries some guy who seems like a nice guy. But when her honor is called into question, this loser guy is no where to be found...and Claire seems all alone. What's to happen with her?

According to IMDb, the star of this film, Mae Murray, attempted to sue Tiffany Studios for the failure of this movie. Well, after seeing it I would agree that PART of the problem with the film is the lousy writing and dull direction. However, to blame the studio alone is silly, as SHE was clearly the worst thing about "Peacock Alley"! Murray's acting is poor, her character talks way too much and she looks pretty wretched. Having her shoulder this film was the biggest mistake.

Be aware this is the second version (early talkie) of a silent picture, although the DVD cover is from the silent one. They both feature the same story played by the same actress (Mae Murray), but in quite different circumstances. The first was made in 1921 and released next year, directed by her then-husband Robert Z. Leonard and with a luxurious look. This silent version is supposedly lost. Some photographs exist showing the peacock gown featured in this DVD cover, which pertains NOT to this picture.

Miss Murray was an ex-Ziegfeld girl famous in the 1910s and 20s for the way she staged her dances and for her make-up (she was known as "the girl with the bee-stung lips", her star faded and is said to have been the inspiration for Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard). She partnered in Tiffany Productions, responsible for the two versions.

The story offered here has its main point of interest in Miss Murray's character having or having not been unfaithful to her brand-new husband; a secondary point for some may be to see Jason Robards Sr. Playing this role. There could be another one in a Spanish early Technicolor dancing sequence (Tiffanny also made Mamba trying to compete with newly assembled MGM), stills of which also exist, but this has been plainly DELETED, leaving a noticeable gap leading to an abrupt and rather unbelievable ending. Aside from these, I can see no other qualities. The story is outfashioned even for its time (but probably not for 1922) and it resents a total lack of rythm, "running" at a tedious pace. The image quality is poor. The sound equals it. Miss Murray looks unatractive and cheap. Even so, judge for yourself, as it may be the only chance to have an idea of this picture.

Peacock Alley is the name some hotels name their lounges or restaurants, like the Waldorf at N. Y. or the Willard Hotel in Washington. If you look at the pictures, it might have been this one the inspiration for the first sequences.

By the way, if anyone knows of an available copy of the 1921-2 silent version I'd be glad to know it (UCLA/LoC are said to own some fragments).

ATTENTION ! For those wanting to watch the missing TECHNICOLOR dance sequence, go to the link at the External Links section.

"Peacock Alley" is just plain awful. True, the DVD under review is missing its ten-minutes Technicolor sequence in which Mae Murray moves her lips to a voice dubber's rendition of "In My Dreams, You Still Belong To Me", but frankly not even Al Jolson could save this absolutely dreadful non-movie in which the characters just stand around and declaim gosh-awful dialogue for what seems like two hours. As to who give the worst performance? That's easy. Mae Murray. As to who is the most unflatteringly photo-graphed heroine in movie history? That's easy. Mae Murray. Who wears the worst make-up, the worst clothes, the worst hair style? Mae Murray. In fact, very sad to say, Mae Murray looks a total wreck, and as an actress she's a total write-off. True, her co-star, George Barraud, runs Mae close in the bad acting stakes. He seems to be under the delusion that he's on a stage rather than a film set. Maybe Marcel De Sano, fresh from directing Charles Boyer and Huguette Duflos in the French version of "The Trial of Mary Dugan" (1929) at M-G-M, had a limited command of English? In any case, this movie helped to put paid to Mae Murray's career. She had a good role in Lowell Sherman's "Bachelor Apartment" (1931) and then co-starred opposite him in "High Stakes" (also 1931). That was the end of her acting career. In 1949, she re-emerged as a producer in England with "Dick Barton Strikes Back", followed by "Come Dance with Me" and "Shadow of the Past" (both 1950).

It was a very known fact that if people wanted a career in Hollywood, they shouldn't butt heads with MGM's president Louis B. Mayer. Mae Murray proved to be a prime example of what could happen if a person did. The veteran actress listened to the advice of her new husband, David Mdivani. He had assumed the role as her personal manager in 1926, and advised her to walk out of her MGM contract to become independent. One of Hollywood's more popular silent movie actresses who played opposite of Rudolph Valentino, was directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and was known as "The Gardenia of the Screen," Murray soon found out one doesn't get Mayer's blood pressure up without some sort of repercussions. Her acting offers with other major film studios dried up. Murray soon discovered she was being 'graylisted," meaning there was no official announcement for the studios to avoid hiring her, but it was secretly known throughout Hollywood circles not to do so.

Murray's career was in limbo until she connected with her ex, Robert Leonard, owner of the small movie studio Tiffany Pictures. Murray had formed the company with her then husband Leonard in the early 1920s, but her divorce from him required her to divest from the studio. She saw a chance to rejuvenate her film career by starring in her first talkie, Tiffany Pictures' January 1930's "Peacock Alley."

Alas, there would be no Cinderella story here. The movie proved to be a dismal financial failure. Even though Tiffany Pictures constructed elaborate sets for Murray's movie on a low budget, "Peacock Alley" did more damage to the actress' future ambitions than she ever could ever imagine. "Peacock Alley" was a reprise of her successful 1922 silent of the same name. The plot involves her desire to marry wealthy Stoddard Clayton (George Barraud), even though she doesn't love him. Her reasoning: "I'm running away from the doubts and uncertainty and problems of a woman who isn't married." Staying overnight at Clayton's suite, she later finds another option in Jim Bradbury (Jason Robards, Sr.), a Texan from her hometown. They marry, but Jim soon finds out about that overnight stay in Clayton's suite. Fireworks erupt.

"Peacock Alley" was universally critically panned by almost every publication. Typical was Photoplay's scathing assessment of Murray, whose other nickname was "The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips." Describing the movie as "a sorry affair," the critic said Murray's performance was "more affected and more bee-stung of mouth than ever. You'll laugh at the drama and weep over the comedy."

Murray was so upset at the reviews she turned her venom over "Peacock Alley's" failure on Tiffany Pictures. She sued the company for $1,750,000, claiming the studio technical crew's incompetence was on full display throughout the film. She assessed the high damages based on her career facing ruination. This was the first court case in cinema where an actress sued members of a film crew for incompetence. Murray's case ended up not in her favor. After the trial, the actress did appear in two small movie roles the following year, but her on-camera presence failed to generate any further interest.

The man who gave her such bad advice, husband Mdivani, spent most of Murray's money she had earned throughout the years. The two divorced in 1933. To make ends meet, she found a job performing in the 1940s at New York City's Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe nightclub, which was famous for hiring silent film actors for its nostalgic "Gay '90's" shows. The aging Murray, in her mid-50s by this time, was criticized for wearing outfits designed for much younger performers and for applying heavy make-up to hide her deep wrinkles. Murray ended up in poverty, dying in 1965 at the Motion Pictures retirement home in Woodland Hills at 79.

"Peacock Alley" proved to be one of character actor Jason Robards, Sr.'s larger roles. He had a long career in film and on stage, beginning in 1921 and lasting through the late 1950s with his television appearances on NBC's 'Cimarron City.' But his visibility lessened as talkies took hold. He is the father of Jason Robards, Jr., who witnessed his father's struggles as the silent film actor hustled for parts to pay his family's bills.