Cebalord Very best movie i ever watch

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

JohnHowardReid Marion Davies (Peggy Pepper), William Haines (Billy Boone), Dell Henderson (Pepper), Paul Ralli (Andre), Polly Moran (maid), Tenen Holtz (casting director), Harry Gribbon (comedy director), Sidney Bracey (dramatic director), Albert Conti (producer), Rolfe Sedan (portrait photographer), Bert Roach (man in casting agency), Kalla Pasha (comic chef), Dorothy Vernon, Lillian Lawrence (comedy players at farewell banquet), Renee Adoree, George K. Arthur, William S. Hart, Douglas Fairbanks, Aileen Pringle, Mae Murray, Louella Parsons, Leatrice Joy, Rod La Rocque, Dorothy Sebastian, Claire Windsor, Karl Dane, Norma Talmadge, Estelle Taylor (themselves at luncheon), Coy Watson (messenger boy), Charles Chaplin (autograph seeker), Lew Cody, Elinor Glynn (themselves at High Art), Ray Cooke (director's assistant), Pat Harmon (gateman), John Gilbert, King Vidor (themselves).Director: KING VIDOR. Screenplay: Wanda Tuchock (continuity), Agnes Christine Johnson and Laurence Stallings (treatment). Titles: Ralph Spence. Photography: John Arnold. Film editor: Hugh Wynn. Art director: Cedric Gibbons. Wardrobe: Henrietta Frazer. Assistant director: Will Sheldon. Music score: William Axt. "Crossroads" (song) by William Axt and David Mendoza. Producers: Marion Davies, King Vidor. Executive producer: William Randolph Hearst. A Cosmopolitan Production. Copyright 20 October 1928 by M-G-M Distributing. New York opening at the Capitol: 11 November 1928. 7,453 feet. 82 minutes. SYNOPSIS: A hayseed from Georgia attempts to crash into the movies— and succeeds!COMMENT: I've never laughed so much in all my life! True, the movie does tend to run out of puff a bit right near the finale, but a cameo by boyish director King Vidor himself saves the day. The basic story which suits Miss Davies right down to the ground, was obviously inspired by the star herself. Although Marion was a superlative comedienne who had just the right comic touch to get laughs even from the stalest and most well-used situations, her mentor, William Randolph Hearst, preferred to see her in dramatic roles. Thus throughout her real-life career there was a constant conflict between what she actually wanted to do (and what she knew she was best at) and what Mr. Hearst wanted her to play. (Hearst's money of course financed Cosmopolitan Pictures). Fortunately, she managed to get her own way in a few hilarious vehicles like this one. It has a great score too!

henway5-1 We'll never really know if the influence of newspaper, real estate and mining tycoon William Randolph Hearst helped the love of his life in her ambitions, or effectively put the kibosh on the career of Marion Davies. Marion, herself, laid out her dilemma in her as-told-to memoir "The Times We Had," claiming that Hearst's heavy-handed promotion of her didn't exactly endear her to the public, and that it created expectations of her so high that it would lead to disappointment. (That book of recollections also confirmed the belief of some that Hearst controlled every aspect of her films, even dialog and direction.) And so there will always be the question: would Marion Davies have won more respect among critics and appreciation of the public without her benefactor constantly horning in? Marion was not particularly deft in drama, but in the area of comedy, there is no question she was one of cinema's most adroit, effortless and effective comediennes. A perfect example is "Show People." Here, Marion gets to do what she does best: poke fun at her contemporaries (in particular, Mae Murray of the bee-stung lips), Hollywood, film-making, and herself. The story is simple. Lovely, perky blond Peggy Pepper of Georgia arrives in Hollywood with dreams of being a great dramatic actress. She meets a Mack Sennett-type comedy clown named Billy Boone, who gets her a job throwing pies and taking blasts of seltzer "on the chin" in popular comic shorts. This leads to Peggy Pepper's ascension to over-acted, schmaltzy "high art" films, in which her new billing is Patricia Pepoire. And with her new status as a serious dramatic actress come aspirations (delusions, perhaps) of royalty. Here, Marion really socks it to silent superstar Mae Murray as well as her real-life friend Gloria Swanson, in razor-sharp parody. In a co-starring but secondary role is William Haines as Peggy's helper and love interest. Haines is wonderful as the typical over-the-top baggy-pants movie comic of that wonderful silent era. Mostly forgotten now, Haines was enormously popular at the time (1928), handsome, likable and athletic, but would soon be a casualty of both the switch to talkies, as well as personal discord with MGM boss Louis B. Mayer. Those viewers who are unfamiliar with Davies' work will get an true sample of her worth, and Davies fans who haven't seen "Show People" will get confirmation that aside from being beautiful, she was, when given excellent scripts and direction, one of filmdom's most talented comediennes, Hearst or no Hearst.

Larry41OnEbay-2 SHOW PEOPLE, premiered November 11th of 1928, it was a Cosmopolitan Production, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. I saw the "Restored Long Version" at the Library of Congress and per Dick May at Warners: "We have found some shots in various elements that were not in the existing MGM negative or the original negative. These have now been put back where they belong. Nothing important but it gets closer to the original." SHOW PEOPLE was directed by King Vidor and written by Agnes Christine Johnston and Laurence Stallings with titles by Ralph Spence, and it's based on a story by Wanda Tuchock and the play POLLY PREFFERED by Guy Bolton.SHOW PEOPLE is a starring vehicle for actress Marion Davies and actor William Haines and includes notable cameo appearances by many of the great film stars of the day, including Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, William S. Hart, and John Gilbert. Director Vidor also appears in a cameo as himself. The film is a comedic satire of the early days of movie making in Hollywood loosely based on the career of Gloria Swanson, who began her career in comedy, switched to costume dramas and married a titled foreigner just before this film was written. Many consider it Davies' best role.Marion Davies was a Broadway dancer in the 1916 edition of Ziegfeld Follies, when William Randolph Hearst discovered her and became so enchanted that for eight weeks he never missed a performance, reserving two seats per show (one seat for his hat). Soon after, Davies appeared in only Hearst-produced movies, a professional association which spilled over into her private life; she became Hearst's mistress.On the IMDb they list over 25 of her 48 films averaging an 8 out of 10 stars or higher. Davies retired from the screen in 1937 and continued as the popular hostess of San Simeon, Hearst's gigantic estate on the California coast until Hearst died in 1951. Davies was much loved by her friends and by Hollywood in general; alas, most people today "know" Davies only through the character of "Susan Alexander" in Orson Welles' thinly disguised chronicle of William Randolph Hearst's life, CITIZEN KANE. In 1962 a year after she died, CITIZEN KANE was rediscovered and declared a masterpiece. It is also a work of fiction.Film buffs are heart-broken that poor Marion's reputation suffered from that movies portrayal of the "opera singer" without talent. In truth, Marion was very successful in films, especially comedies.Co-star William Haines was born January 1st of 1900 in Stanton, VA. Entering films in 1922, Haines rose to stardom at MGM as the star of several breezy comedy-dramas, in which he usually played a smart-aleck braggart who was forced to eat humble pie sometime before the fadeout. One of Haines' most popular films was TELL IT TO THE MARINES with Lon Chaney. His favorite leading ladies included Joan Crawford and Marion Davies. Haines' popularity diminished in the early 1930s, due to the emergence of younger cocksure types like James Cagney. He later became a famous interior decorator to the stars and books on him and his celebrity home décor designs are still popular & expensive! Director King Vidor made his reputation on pictures such as the antiwar drama THE BIG PARADE and later THE CROWD (my favorite silent drama) that displayed a remarkably sophisticated social conscience as well as an innovative directorial technique that placed it at the pinnacle of silent-era cinema. Of his talkies there is the boxing drama, THE CHAMP, starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper. Ironically, the most widely seen and known film today that Vidor worked on was the OVER THE RAINBOW song and early sepia-toned scenes in: THE WIZARD OF OZ. Later he directed the adventure film NORTHWEST PASSAGE starring Spencer Tracy.Vidor had a cute anecdote about pitching his SHOW PEOPLE story to Louis B. Mayer, MGM wonder-kid Irving Thalberg and Hearst when he started talking about the necessity for a pie-throwing scene (which Hearst was against anything that might embarrass or humiliate Davies) when Vidor noticed a newspaper sticking out of Hearst pocket, the headline read, "Hearst Wants Coolidge To Serve Second Term." Hearst would be on the set most days conducting his newspaper empire at a desk behind the camera with two secretaries manning the phones… and when they wanted to shoot a slap-stick scene they wanted to get rid of Hearst so Davies arranged to have an editor call him away so they could film the scene. She even asked Buster Keaton to show her how to back thru a door as if saying goodbye to friends as if it were funny… he told her DON'T ANTICIPATE! You'll know the scene I'm speaking about when you see it.Among the locations used in the film are MGM's back-lot and the old Mack Sennett "Keystone" studios, where such comedy greats as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton & Harold Lloyd all worked early in their careers.In the movie, after the premiere of her first film she will be approached outside the theater by a fan wanting an autograph. She does not recognize him and you may not either as Charlie Chaplin is not in costume or wearing his little black mustache. It's an inside joke as they were best friends and there were even rumors that they were lovers as explored in the 2001 film by Peter Bogdanovich, THE CAT'S MEOW starring Kirsten Dunst as Davies.A little later when she's invited to HIGH ART studio she sees a fancy car pull up and a movie star gets out… it's Marion Davies playing herself! The musicians who play "mood music" for Peggy Pepper during filming did the same thing in real life for actress Marion Davies.The well known faces back then appearing in the banquet scene include: Renée Adorée, Rod La Rocque, Mae Murray, John Gilbert, Norma Talmadge, Douglas Fairbanks, Marion Davies, and William S. Hart. All superstars 80 years ago!

wmorrow59 "Wisecracker," the biography of actor William Haines, offers a gratifying anecdote about the former star when he was past 70 and long retired from making movies. The old gent was not sentimental, and seldom watched his own films, but in 1972 he was persuaded to attend a Los Angeles museum screening of Show People, the late silent feature in which he co-starred with Marion Davies. Before the screening, Haines was worried that this comedy would provoke the wrong kind of laughter, but he was pleasantly surprised (and no doubt relieved) at how well it held up, and how much the audience enjoyed it, especially the younger viewers. Watch the film today and you can see why: Show People is a delightful Hollywood satire, one that retains its charm because it lampoons its targets with wit and flair, yet without malice. It's still funny, and its satirical points still resonate. Needless to say, the technology of movie-making has changed vastly since the silent days, but the pretensions and follies of the filmmakers themselves haven't changed all that much.Show People also ranks with the very best surviving work of Marion Davies, a first-rate comic performer who deserves a prominent place in the pantheon of great comediennes. Where her career was concerned, however, Davies was both blessed and cursed by the patronage of her paramour, the newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. It's well known that Hearst exerted strong influence over Davies' choice of material, and well known too that, despite her gift for comedy, he initially preferred to see her play dignified heroines in period costume dramas. But by the late '20s, for whatever reason, Marion was permitted to strut her stuff in several exuberant light comedies, including The Red Mill and The Patsy. These films are highly enjoyable, but to my taste, Show People, directed by the great King Vidor, is her most enjoyable showcase. William Haines gives an engaging, likable performance as her boyfriend and co-star Billy Boone, but this is the leading lady's show all the way.Marion plays Southern belle Peggy Pepper, an aspiring actress who storms Hollywood accompanied by her father, determined to become a movie star. (Her dad Colonel Pepper is played by actor/director Dell Henderson, a veteran of Griffith's Biograph dramas who—coincidentally?—resembled Hearst!) One of Marion's funniest bits, often excerpted elsewhere, is her audition at the Comet Studio casting office. While Dad helpfully identifies the emotions she portrays ("Sorrow! . . . Joy!") and drops a handkerchief across her face, Peggy assumes the appropriate expression and posture. She's hired, only to discover that Comet makes low-brow comedies, the kind of comedies where people squirt each other with seltzer, and inept cops tumble over each other racing to the rescue. Of course, Comet is intended as a take-off of Mack Sennett's Keystone, but the real target of the satire becomes clear as the story unfolds. As Peggy Pepper rises in the Hollywood hierarchy she leaves Comet for the more prestigious High Art Studio, assuming the name "Patricia Peppoire" as more befitting her new station in life as a serious actress. At some point it occurs to us, as it surely did to viewers in 1928, that Davies' rival Gloria Swanson started out in Keystone comedies before rising to prominence in dramas for Cecil B. DeMille. And as Miss Peppoire takes herself more and more seriously, giving the high-hat treatment to former colleagues such as lowly comic Billy Boone, Davies' performance takes on an element of wicked parody aimed squarely at Gloria herself. This is especially notable during an interview sequence, when Miss Peppoire's spokesman spouts pretentious nonsense while the star delivers a spot-on impersonation of Swanson. I suppose this was intended as a friendly spoof, but I have to wonder if Swanson maintained a cordial relationship with Davies after this movie was released.In any event, Show People is a delicious treat for buffs, who will relish the parade of star cameos throughout. Charlie Chaplin contributes a nice bit, sans makeup and looking quite distinguished, eagerly seeking Patricia Peppoire's autograph! And, in a show of good sportsmanship, Marion Davies herself contributes a cameo appearance, evening the score for poking fun at Swanson by poking fun at herself. (The joke being that Miss Peppoire finds Miss Davies quite unimpressive.) This is a silent film that may well appeal to viewers not especially attuned to silents, that is, those who appreciate movies about the movie business. Show People surely belongs in the company of such classics as Sunset Boulevard and Singin' in the Rain, among Hollywood's most expertly produced, invigorating exercises in self-examination.