Blondie (Davies) and her friend Lottie (Dove) want out of the hardscrabble tenement life. Lottie is willing to become mistress to a man (Montgomery) in order to have a nice apartment and fine clothes in addition to a job in the Follies. Both Davies and Dove, in addition to being good friends in real life, were also both Ziegfield Follies girls, so art imitates life in that way. Also, as we all know, Davies was the long-time mistress of William Randolph Hearst, whose fiddling with this movie is quite apparent. In addition to cutting Dove's part neatly to shreds to focus more on Davies, the character Blondie starts out as fun-loving, adorable, generous, as Davies reportedly was, but then gets bogged down in Dickensian martyrdom, which does not behoove the film or Marion the actress.
Lottie and Blondie both want Bob Montgomery, despite the fact that he has treated Lottie cavalierly, and Blondie decided to settle for the shipping magnate (sounds familiar, doesn't it?) They come to blows over him, get jealous of each other in the Follies, and both decide not to see him anymore. But their friendship is compromised nonetheless.
The first half of this film is rompishly good fun, with Blondie the cut-up appearing to reflect a lot of the real-life Marion. Too had Hearst insisted on putting her in so many dreary costume dramas; she was truly a gifted comedienne and would have done smashingly in the screwball comedies yet to come. Alas, Hearst wanted his Marion to be beautiful and dignified on screen, thus robbing us all of her witty comedic style. The second half of this movie bogs down in sentimental boo-hooetry, with Blondie bravely gimping along with her crutches like Tiny Tim (the Dickens character, not the Tiptoe-Through-The-Tulips dude.) Montgomery's character becomes unselfish, presumably from love for Blondie, and does the noble thing as our characters ride metaphorically off into the sunset. Blech.
Watch the first half and skip the rest. The minute Blondie goes flying off the end of the whip on the Follies stage is a good time to shut it off. You've seen the best. I won't even go into the awkward, unfunny, incomprehensible inclusion of Jimmy Durante in a party scene. But that's later in the movie, so you're likely to miss it once Blondie lands on her backside in the orchestra pit.
I also enjoyed ZaSu Pitts as Blondie's sister and James Gleason as her long-suffering "Pa." Again, once these characters exit stage left, the rest of the movie slides downhill. Anyway, it's a funky little precode and enjoy that first half!
Lottie and Blondie both want Bob Montgomery, despite the fact that he has treated Lottie cavalierly, and Blondie decided to settle for the shipping magnate (sounds familiar, doesn't it?) They come to blows over him, get jealous of each other in the Follies, and both decide not to see him anymore. But their friendship is compromised nonetheless.
The first half of this film is rompishly good fun, with Blondie the cut-up appearing to reflect a lot of the real-life Marion. Too had Hearst insisted on putting her in so many dreary costume dramas; she was truly a gifted comedienne and would have done smashingly in the screwball comedies yet to come. Alas, Hearst wanted his Marion to be beautiful and dignified on screen, thus robbing us all of her witty comedic style. The second half of this movie bogs down in sentimental boo-hooetry, with Blondie bravely gimping along with her crutches like Tiny Tim (the Dickens character, not the Tiptoe-Through-The-Tulips dude.) Montgomery's character becomes unselfish, presumably from love for Blondie, and does the noble thing as our characters ride metaphorically off into the sunset. Blech.
Watch the first half and skip the rest. The minute Blondie goes flying off the end of the whip on the Follies stage is a good time to shut it off. You've seen the best. I won't even go into the awkward, unfunny, incomprehensible inclusion of Jimmy Durante in a party scene. But that's later in the movie, so you're likely to miss it once Blondie lands on her backside in the orchestra pit.
I also enjoyed ZaSu Pitts as Blondie's sister and James Gleason as her long-suffering "Pa." Again, once these characters exit stage left, the rest of the movie slides downhill. Anyway, it's a funky little precode and enjoy that first half!