Madame Du Barry

In her last movie, Norma Talmadge takes on the role of the famous lover of the King of France. Raised a poor girl, she wants nice things, and finds a shot at them by marrying the right sort of nobleman. She is ready to throw it all away for Conrad Nagel. Indeed, they are about to run to a little cottage in the country when the King, William Farnum shows up, throws the riches of France at her feet, and sends Nagel to prison. As my godmother used to say "What's a girl to do?"

Nagel escapes from prison and becomes the leader of the mob. I'd go on, but even the movie doesn't take itself seriously. In fact there's a long title at the start explaining that it's merely an entertainment.

If you're looking for the spectacles that Miss Talmadge frequently starred in, it's here. Sam Taylor directs the visuals expertly, and the cast is quite splendid, with Hobart Bosworth, Alison Skipworth, Edwin Maxwell, and Henry Kolker making the transition to sound handily. It's Miss Talmadge who's the problem. Listening to her, I sometimes thought I was listening to Ethel Merman: same accents, same sort of voice, same sort of overdone speaking that could easily fill a theater without amplification. Perhaps that's why I thought some of the sequences were intended to be comic rather than serious. On consideration that seems unlikely, and unfair. Miss Merman was touring in vaudeville at this time, and would make her first movie in 1930. She would not become known as the great singing stage performer for some time. Contemporary audiences would not hear Miss Talmadge and think she sounded like Miss Merman. They would hear Miss Merman and think she sounded like Miss Talmadge.

However, no matter who sounded like whom, it was clear that Miss Talmadge's voice did not match the image of a great dramatic star, she was losing her youthful beauty, and also her husband, producer and industry power Joseph Schenck. This movie was clearly a good try at transferring Miss Talmadge's stardom from the silent to the talking screen. It didn't work.