The Patsy

If any has ever doubted that Marion Davies couldn't act or hold her own against the biggest names of the time need go no further than this film. Her talent along with the always wonderful Marie Dressler made a good film a great film!

Her crowning moment is her dead on impressions. Especially her Lillian Gish. Her comic timing along with her beauty is a win win situation.

A must see for Marion Davies fans.

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.

Marion Davies is a bundle of energy and this film has a lot of cute moments, many of which are forerunners of later screwball and romantic comedies. The story has her running around trying to get her big sister's boyfriend to notice her instead. She moons over him somewhat dementedly, which made the film take a while to grow on me, but it got there. Meanwhile, her sister (Jane Winton) looks to upgrade from the boyfriend (Orville Caldwell) to a more affluent man from the yacht club (Lawrence Gray), cracking the door open a bit for her.

It's an interesting family dynamic; Davies' character is bullied by her sister and not favored by her mother (Marie Dressler), but has a special relationship with her father (Dell Henderson). Her parents fall into the old trope of overbearing wife and henpecked husband, you know, that is until he's had enough. However, watching their relationship and the two sisters spar with little comments and gestures throughout the film is endearing. "If it wasn't for you, our family tree would die," says Davies. "What do you mean by that?," her sister asks. "You're the sap!" she answers. Director King Vidor opens with a clever overhead shot of the family all eating soup in sync with one another, and later has them scrambling around to get ready for an evening out, with the ladies jostling for position in front of the mirror. It's in these manic moments and Davies' hopeless love that the film has its charm. Vidor keeps things light, even though some of the little ways the characters manipulate one another venture from relative innocence (pretending someone else is interested to stoke jealousy) to what might otherwise be decidedly unfunny (faking the scene of an assault, and threatening divorce).

I didn't find any of the comedic elements to be laugh out loud funny, but I was often amused. At one point Davies gets a book on anecdotes (in order to "develop a personality"), and then begins rattling off one-liners (e.g. "A caterpillar is nothing but an upholstered worm.") They're quirky and offbeat, and more interesting for their window into the 1920's than anything else. To bother her sister who is with a man, she parades across a doorway wearing a succession of silly hats. However, easily the biggest highlight was her impressions of Mae Murray, Lillian Gish, and Pola Negri, which are fantastic. Each of them is preceded by a photo of the actress, and then we see Davies developing the impression, starting with expressions with her mouth, and then adding from there. It's a pretty simple little film, but watch it for moments like that.

... 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.

TCM will be showing this gem on April, 29th 2007. So be sure not to miss it!

This little silent film is very dear to my heart. When ever I am feeling down or crying over some problems at school; I always pop in The Patsy. It never fails to erase all the sorrows from my heart and I feel as good as new. This film is the perfect medicine.

The story is simple enough: Marion Davies plays Patricia Harrington who lives in an average, modest house with her normal everyday family. She crushes really bad on her sister's boyfriend Tony (Orville Caldwell) and she will stop at nothing to get him. Along with Pat's quest for her man, there is another side to the plot. Pat is sadly mistreated by her mother (Marie Dressler) who seems to prefer her sister (Jane Winton). Even though Pat has the sure love of her wonderful and sensitive father (Dell Henderson) she craves for her mother's love as well. So, as always, Pat picks a hilarious and clever way to finally get her mother's attention....

The Patsy's print looks brilliant and it has a flawless soundtrack by Vivek Maddala. His score for this film is even better than his score for Wild Oranges. Lots of the title cards are really funny and witty - I have so much fun reading them!

If you want to introduce somebody to silent films, show them this one, especially if they're a lady. Everybody loves comedy, the print is in good shape, the story is still common today, and there are no "over-the-top" acting styles that have turned people off silent films before in the past.