The Patsy

... He directed this film and "Show People", IMHO her two best silent films, and they both are such because they show off her talent for mimicry. She and Vidor practically invent the screwball heroine here.

Patsy (Marion Davies) is the youngest of two sisters. The older sister Grace, is doted upon by her mother, Ma Harrington (Marie Dressler), who always blames Patsy for every argument the sisters have. Pa Harrington takes up for Patsy, mainly because of the unfairness of the situation when Grace and Ma team up against her, but also because he and Patsy have a special rapport.

The family seems to be nouveau riche, because their habits, particularly at mealtime are strictly working class. However, they are mentioned as going to the Yacht Club dance, which is mentioned as being rather exclusive.

I wouldn't say Grace is prettier than Patsy, but she is more glamorous in a roaring 20s kind of way, and knows how to apply her feminine wiles to get her way. Grace is dating a rather dull businessman, Tony Hunter, who always wants to show Grace the blueprints for his business plans. Grace seems interested, but the guy she actually finds exciting is rich playboy Billy Caldwell (Lawrence Gray). Grace says she intends to marry Tony, dull as dishwater or not, but you get the feeling that is because Tony is husband material and a good provider, and that she probably intends to cotinue to play the field after marriage with guys like Billy. And that's too bad because younger sister Patsy really loves Tony, but he doesn't seem to notice Patsy is alive when Grace is in the room. Complications ensue.

The story is really no great shakes as far as originality goes. The entertainment is almost exclusively in Marion Davies and her comedic pantomime and especially when she impersonates silent actresses Mae Murray of the "bee stung lips", Lillian Gish of "The Scarlet Letter", and finally Pola Negri. That last impersonation almost scares a very drunk Billy Caldwell to death.

Marie Dressler got a comeback of sorts here as the hypochondriac mother. However she would have to wait for sound to come in to fully catapult to fame.

Davies stars as the put upon sister in this delightful comedy with a soul. The first screwball comedienne, Davies reinvented herself in 1928 in this and her other comic gem, Show People. Davies then launched into sound with Marianne (also excellent). Freed from the stagy costume dramas Hearst loved, Davies found her own voice in these late silent comedies. Davies stars here with Marie Dressler (in a comeback vehicle) as well as Lawrence Gray, Jane Winton, Dell Henderson and the rather dull Orville Caldwell. The family bickering is fun, with Dame Marie lording it over the household and favoring the beautiful daughter (Winton) to make a good marriage.

When Davies, as the Patsy, decides to "get some personality," the house comes down in laughter. As stated elsewhere here, her impressions of Mae Murray, Lillian Gish, and Pola Negri are dead on funny and amazingly accurate. You have GOT to see Marion Davies transform herself into Lillian Gish! Amazing. Her impressions of Murray and Negri are hilarious. Davies was well known for her acid impressions of Hollywood's grand ladies. One wonders what this trio of stars thought about Davies' take on them.

Fun all the way and interesting to see handsome Lawrence Gray in a secondary role as the rich playboy. He was Davies' singing co-star in Marianne in 1929, her starring talkie debut. You gotta see this and Show People.......

This film shows Marion Davies to her best advantage - not merely the beautiful girlfriend of William Randolph Hearst who got into the movies due to his pull, as I'd always assumed before viewing this film. She is truly hilarious and touching in this, and shows a great talent for mimicry. My only complaint is the music - a man named Vivek Maddala did the music for the 2003 re-release and I find it completely inappropriate to the film. I know silent-film scores quite well and this one just doesn't cut it, as far as I'm concerned. It didn't fit the mood of the movie at all - I've seen this movie at a repertory theater and the score used then (by who, I don't know) was vastly superior and lent much to my enjoyment of the film. Overall, however, this movie is worth seeing.

I had never seen Marion Davies in a movie until now.What a treat.Such a pretty,talented,funny,expressive ability she had.Charisma with a capital "C",a doll for sure.No wonder Hearst loved her so.Marie Dressler I have seen before,and she usually is the dominant mother,head of the household.She is stern, but comes through as caring in the end.I love everything about silents,the quirky,shaky movements,the old phones,the hairdo's and clothes.This movie transported me back in time to the twenties.I also liked marion's sister jane in this movie.She had a sexuality and charm that was rather advanced.Very flirtatious and fickle.Loved the scene where marion show's off different hats and those faces,priceless.

Judging by most other reviews on this site I'm not going out on much of a limb when I say The Patsy is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. I don't mean just funniest silent films. I mean funniest movies, period.

The plot is simple enough: younger sister (Marion Davies) moons over older sister's boyfriend. That's all anybody needs to know.

After that, it's one hilarious set piece after another. Dinner at the yacht club. Davies spouting gibberish out of a book of inane aphorisms. Davies mimicking her Hollywood contemporaries.

The intertitles are sharply funny. The physical comedy is pure gold.

Yes, Davies has charm and comedic gifts that have been overshadowed by her portrayal on the ponderously dull Citizen Kane. If you can't fall in love with her here, you're colder than New Hampshire granite.

As for Marie Dressler, what a force. It's not an exaggeration to say she might have been the funniest film actress of all time. I'm not sure she even needed dialogue to be funny. On the other hand, if you're familiar with her speaking voice from having watched one of her talkies (e.g., Min and Bill) it makes this performance that much better.

Unless you have some kind of disease that prevents you from watching silent movies, I unreservedly recommend The Patsy.