Polly of the Circus

A small town is aghast when "Queen of the Air" aerialist Marion Davies (as Pauline "Polly" Brown) arrives with her circus. Promotional posters depicting Ms. Davies in costume are considered too revealing, and concerned citizens cover her legs. During Davies' trapeze act, a heckler shouts, "Hey Polly, where's your pants?" This causes Davies grief and she goes to recover at the nearby home of athletic minister Clark Gable (as John Hartley). You should be able to figure out what happens next...

This is a re-make of "Polly of the Circus" (1917), which starred Mae Marsh and was the first Samuel Goldwyn production...

In the original, Ms. Marsh was a rider who wore a dress; although it was cut above the knees, nobody complained. Marsh went back to the circus to be with ailing "Toby" (the equivalent of this version's "Beef"). The attempts to modernize the story are not successful. Davies and Gable (still not settled on the right pluck for his eyebrows) look good together, but are not convincing in their roles. Watch out for the duster (Raymond Hatton) and the usher (Ray Milland). The too few circus scenes are edited well.

***** Polly of the Circus (2/27/32) Alfred Santell ~ Marion Davies, Clark Gable, Raymond Hatton, C. Aubrey Smith

After a bad fall from the trapeze, POLLY OF THE CIRCUS recuperates in the home of a handsome young clergyman.

Marion Davies uses her considerable talent to enliven this piece of inconsequential fluff, making it an enjoyable time waster. As the mistress of one of the country's most powerful men, she could have easily demanded a solemn spectacle to spotlight her skills. But her ego did not run in that direction and, as always, she's a delight to watch--even though the film itself (which she also produced) is exceedingly silly.

MGM&'s newest young leading man, Clark Gable, is quietly effective as the rector who wins Davies' heart. Cast somewhat against type, he gives an earnest portrayal of a man devoted to God above almost anything else. The macho mannerisms which later became such a dominate part of his screen roles are largely missing here. And it’s obvious that he never forgets that he's the co-star -- Marion Davies is the one who gets to shine.

Wonderful old Sir C. Aubrey Smith lends his grave dignity to the role of Gable's uncle, the bishop. Elderly Raymond Hatton steals a couple of scenes as the rectory's self-righteous, alcoholic servant. David Landau is effective as the goodhearted circus manager. Comic actress Maude Eburne appears all too briefly as Davies’ Irish nurse--but the viewer is treated to Davies' impersonation of her.

Movie mavens will recognize an unbilled Ray Milland as a church usher.

Although obviously using actual trapeze artists as stunt doubles, the aerial sequences under the circus big top are still nerve-wracking to watch.

Marion Davies and her famous sugar daddy William Randolph Hearst selected a curious item for this film. Polly Of The Circus was a Broadway play in the first decade of the last century which must have been quite a sight. Looking at the original stage cast included a family of acrobats for this circus story. This was many years before Rodgers&Hart produced the ultimate circus show extravaganza, Jumbo.

The play was authored by Margaret Mayo and it premiered on New Year's Eve and ran 160 performances in 1908. Nine years later a film version was done starring Mae Marsh. The story is about a circus trapeze artist whose legs are on prominent display in the poster advertising offending the moral sensibilities of the church folks. The setting is Oneonta, New York and the local bishop of the Episcopal church (and I'm guessing by the vestments the domination)is headquartered there and played by C. Aubrey Smith.

Smith has a young nephew starting out in his church and he's played by Clark Gable. Gable's no more believable here as a minister than he was as a Salvation Army Worker opposite Joan Crawford in Laughing Sinners. But Gable was cast for sex appeal not saintliness.

Davies takes a fall off the trapeze and Gable takes her to his and Smith's house to mend. Of course they fall for each other and a nasty house servant played by Raymond Hatton spreads some vicious gossip. Smith has to listen to it and it derails Gable's promising career in the church.

I imagine Polly Of The Circus was probably something W.R. Hearst saw back in 1908 on stage and liked it and kept in mind for Marion Davies when he started seeing her. It's a quaint old fashioned play, the stuff that Hearst liked for Davies. It was old fashioned in 1932 and certainly is in 2009.

Polly of the Circus (1932)

** (out of 4)

Disappointing and way too corny romance between a bad girl trapeze artist (Marion Davies) and a preacher (Clark Gable). After an accident while working, Davies is forced to stay at the home of Gable and soon the two fall in love but the church objects to their relationship. This is an extremely disappointing film from MGM who certainly had better luck in their other 1932 film to be set in the circus and that of course would be Tod Browning's FREAKS. It's interesting to note that none of the circus performers from that film can be seen here. With that out of the way, this film here offers very little in terms of originality as it follows the same guidelines of countless other pre-code stories from the era. We know that opposites are going to attract. We know the church will object. We know this issue will cause problems in the relationship. We know what this is going to do and so on and so forth. The movie starts off rather good as the two stars work well together but it quickly falls apart and ends up being rather boring. Davies has a few strange line deliveries but for the most part she fits the role quite well. She's very believable as this character and brings a lot of life to it but the screenplay doesn't allow her too much as her character is written rather one sided. Gable gives another very impressive, pre-fame performance and I must admit that my respect for him grows each time I see one of these forgotten films on TCM. He manages to bring a lot of passion and fire to the role and delivers some nice work. C. Aubrey Smith is wasted as the Reverend who objects to the romance. Ray Milland can be seen quickly as an usher walking a drunk out of church. Fans of Davies and Gable might want to check this out but I'm sure most will be disappointed with this film that doesn't give the stars much to work with.

Marion Davies and Clark Gable makes movie enjoyable. It's not the best classic movie but if you have nothing to do and have 70 mins to spare you'll like it. It's short and sweet, if it was longer maybe that would of been a problem. Marion Davies always makes a film enjoyable. Movie Historians try to say that the only reason Marion was a movie star was because of her association with William Randolph Hearst, that's not true. Marion always gave good performances, if she didn't maybe I would think that. Marion was good with comedy and drama which she displays in this movie. Marion was a fine comedian, fine actress, great with facial expressions and gestures, and natural. This movie is a Marion Davies production. She was good with coming up with plots and stories and getting great cast. Clark Gable is good in whatever he is. This movie isn't his greatest. But Clark Gable fans would like to see this.