A Divina Glória

Page Miss Glory (1935)

*** (out of 4)

When William Randolph Hearst took his girlfriend Marion Davies and production company Cosmopolitan from MGM to Warner, he bought the best talent on the lot and ended up delivering one of the better films of his career. In the film, wannabe money makers (Pat O'Brien, Frank McHugh) decide to get some quick cash by forging a picture to win a contest for the best looking woman in America. They end up winning but to their horror the press starts to eat up the story of "Dawn Glory". When a reporter (Lyle Talbot) begins to get close to their scheme, they discover that the motel chambermaid (Davies) actually looks like the girl in the photo. This mistaken identity farce begins to lose a lot of steam during the final half hour but with this amazing cast there's really no going wrong here. This certainly isn't a classic movie or one that needs to be studied in film schools but if you're a fan of Davies or the wonderful supporting cast then you're in for a treat. Not only do we get Davies, O'Brien, McHugh and Talbot but we also have Dick Powell, Mary Astor, Allen Jenkins and Patsy Kelly. Kelly and Jenkins are pretty much underwritten characters but the rest get to do all their tricks and end up turning over plenty of laughs for the viewer. The most shocking thing is that Davies doesn't have the most to do in the film as she remains a supporting player throughout. This is just fine because when she is on the screen she really tears it up and she's the best as the dimwitted chambermaid who never really catches on to what's going on. O'Brien is his usual fast paced self and he works wonderfully well with McHugh, which shouldn't be too shocking since both men played perfectly well as the sidekicks to James Cagney in various Warner films. Astor nearly steals the film with another strong performance and Talbot delivers the good as well. People are always going to debate on whether Davies was a talented actress or just the mistress to the most powerful man in America but I think this film proves she could be good if given the right material and support around here. Again, this isn't a masterpiece but there's enough here for film buffs to really eat up.

"PAGE MISS GLORY" A pleasant surprise viewing, we stumbled over this movie this morning on TCM (Turner Classic Movies). Our Satellite Service (DISH) provided its very brief introduction; noting that Marion Davies was in the Cast, we stayed on and viewed the entire show.

I was raised in a family that did not admire Marion Davies nor, for that matter, W.R. (William Randolph Hearst). In fact, our family took its orders from the Legion of Decency listings; watching a condemned film could book you a ticket to H*E*L*L. Thus, I was amply supplied with bias and prejudice against the STAR of this movie. SURPRISE! Hey, I think she is acting! Just this week, I had read about the Production Code that governed what we the public could see - for example, the principals in a bedroom scene needed to keep at least one foot on the floor at all times. The article discussed the effect of the code upon how women were to be portrayed - before 1934, when the Code went into effect, women could be "sultry", "naughty", or whatever. After, however, the woman had to be relegated to unimportant and uninspiring roles; a rule, per the article, that led to popular male roles and the rise of male stars.

MARION DAVIES was relatively unknown to me for the aforesaid reasons - for once, my "Videohound" was mute on the movie but did show that she had two other movies released on Video.

So, we watched. We were seeing a CODE movie. A Cinderella story, she played an overly dumb blonde hotel room maid who (unwittingly)influenced a couple of promoters' efforts to create a pinup of the "the perfect" candidate for a beauty contest. The pinup is a composite of attractive parts of attractive women. Guess who looked like the imaginary pinup? We enjoyed the movie from start to finish and got a lot of good laughs - you would enjoy it. The only problem I had was the role played by Mary Astor - perhaps her sympathetic support lent stature to the movie but Astor's female role acted depressed and confused - not too dangerous to the men's silly schemes.

I was sure that W.R. had meddled with the whole thing until I looked up "Page Miss Glory" in IMDb. From there, came most of the facts quoted above. It turns out that Davies' accomplishments included Movie Scripts and she produced a dozen movies. In all she acted in 48 movies from 1917 to 1937. Since "Page Miss Glory" was her 45th, it is a mature effort.

With a great cast and nice idea, 'Page Miss Glory' sparked my interest straight away. It was further interesting seeing silent film star Marion Davies, whose films took a while to be re-discovered and even in her day her personal life and relationships tended to overshadow her career (or at least thought to be), in a talkie role that was one of her last.

'Page Miss Glory' was a decent film if not a great one. It is not one that will appeal to everybody, and hasn't done, very understandably. The same, as in not appealing to everybody, can be said for Davies herself, not hard to see why again. Won't consider myself a fan of her but she has her charms. There are however a fair amount of good things while with elements that are easy to criticise.

Davies does carry the film very well, showing herself to be a charmer, a good comedienne and the ability to command the screen. The cast in fact are the reason to see the film. Dashing Dick Powell, razor sharp Pat O'Brien (very funny too) and equally funny Allen Jenkins are the standouts in support. Patsy Kelly and Barton MacLane are also good.

Further good things are a snappy script that has its fair share of hugely enjoyable moments and a lively pace. The film is never dull, is competently directed and has some decent production values. The title song is a lovely one.

Less good is the rather thin story, in terms of the basics, that does try to do too much at points, some of it and the characters don't serve much point.

Was also disappointed that Mary Astor had too little to do and Joseph Cawthorn and Al Shean are on the annoying side.

Overall, decent but not quite enough glory. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Like "Front Page Woman," this is a comedy I'd never heard of and only discovered because of TCM. Fast paced dialogue played with relentless Looney Tunes energy make this a sharp spoof of media manipulation and public gullibility that holds up well nearly 70 years later. Marion Davies inhabits her slow witted small town girl thrust into the limelight. Dick Powell parodies himself as the Hero of the Air who falls in love with her picture and proposes before they've ever met. Pat O'Brien and Frank McHugh share a wonderful rapport as the con artists behind it all. Only Mary Astor seems wasted as she has little to do though she does it with elan. Treads similar territory to `Nothing Sacred' or more recent offerings like `Simone' and `Wag the Dog.' Highly recommended.

While my first impression of the movie was that it was corny, I soon saw the excessive exaggeration made for a fun movie. The country girl was the ultimate hick, the hero was the absolute best flier in the world, and Barton MacLane was at his evil best.

Enjoyed it.