Blessed are the Kickstarters… Zander the Great (1925), Edward Lorusso with Ben Model

Even with the vast majority of silent films lost, there continue to be new discoveries or at least new re-emergences and re-evaluations. Edward Lorusso wrote in his excellent book, The Silent Films of Marion Davies published in 2017 that this film was “largely forgotten” and was only extant outside of the archives on a grainy grey-market VHS copy from Videolibrary. Mr Lorusso was clearly not going to let that lie and proceeded to set up a funding campaign via Kickstarter, his 17^th and 8^th for Marion which duly brought in double the backing after being funded in just four hours.

 

He was thus able to create a new scan of the 35mm print from the Marion Davies Collection in the Library of Congress which is not only in very good condition but also contains the original tints making this one of the loveliest looking digital offerings. Ben Model provides an expertly improvised organ score and the plan is to release the film more widely through his company, Undercrank Productions. So, even if you missed this project, you’ll be able to see what is yet another truly entertaining Davies’ film at some point.

 

Directed by George W. Hill from a script by Lillie Hayward with Editorial Direction from Frances Marion, Zander represented something like a return to “normalcy” as Lorusso wrote, with epic costume drama left behind for a western with a strong moral core. This was the actresses first “Hollywood” film for MGM and allows her to show off her impressive and under-rated range, from comedic Pickford style kidding around as an orphan at the start, to the more dramatic episodes out West, romance and comedy hair cuts that have to be seen to be believed… especially relevant in this age of “Lockdown Haircuts”, if only more of us thought to use a bowl to guide the scissors!

Marion in motion

Marion kicks off in full Mary-mode as Mamie Smith a spirited orphan who has far too much energy to follow the rules of her orphanage in Weeweedin, New Jersey, nor the terrifying Matron (Emily Fitzroy keeping a glacial, straight face almost throughout). Exhibitors Trade Review noted that Marion’s appearance and interpretation were “strongly reminiscent” of Pickford and whilst that’s true, boy does she carry it off well. The same paper was also complimentary about Hill who was apparently the replacement for one Clarence Badger who producer and Davies’ partner and career counsellor, William Randolph Hearst, who also burned his footage before bringing in the replacement. Quite what Hearst wanted for Marion is open to interpretation… there’s no way this was going to be a great drama but perhaps he was simply trying to get the best for his friend?

 

Another reviewer, “A.S.” in Photoplay, described this opening section as a “turning point” in Davies’ career and a performance that will “place her in the rank of the Gishes, the Pickfords and Colleen Moore.” She’s certainly a whirlwind with her ponytails, freckles and sheer “bounce”. The perpetual motion Marion is also supported by some smart stunt work with a man in a dress carrying her huge laundry basket and riding her motorbike in dangerous fashion but not quick enough to defeat the modern freeze-frame; a tribute to the quality of the transfer.

 

Rescued by Hedda Hopper

Mamie goes too far and is badly beaten by the sadistic Matron before being rescued by the kindly Mr. Pepper (Richard Carle) before being shipped out from the orphanage to stay with a single mother Mrs. Caldwell (Hedda Hopper), and her small child Alexander whom Mamie calls Zander (who grows up to be played by Master Jack Huff). The house and surrounds look like something out of a fairy tale, especially in the gorgeous lilac tints and there’s some smart business involving a proposal from a local lad which is rejected in silhouette by a fully grown Mamie who wants to marry only for love.

 

Talking of which, Mrs Caldwell has been waiting years for her husband who has gone off to Mexico in search of his fortune and as the years pass she grows frailer as her hopes fade. She gets ill and when he finally writes to callously brush her off, Mamie pretends he’s arranging to meet her after establishing himself in Singletree, Arizona (there’s only one tree, do you see?). As she dies, Mamie promises to take her son to find his father there.

 

Now the film hits its stride as Mamie and Zander evade the attempts of the old orphanage to take in the boy and make their way out West in a battered Ford with both of Zander’s pet rabbits… this is a good film if you like Lagomorpha as, by the time they arrive, the two have become rather more, proving that old jokes really are pretty, pretty old.

 

Harrison Ford is also really good in this film

Mamie seeks refuge in a huge house – a very expressive set design – where she encounters two old hands, “Good News” (Harry Watson) and “Texas” (Harry Myers) who are going to be good for some slapstick whilst also being apart of a gang liquor smugglers. The gang’s leader, of Dan Murchison (Harrison Ford no, not that one… how many times Paul!?) takes an instant disinterest in Mamie until she takes her hat off and is revealed as a woman as beautiful as Marion Davies! A fourth horseman is revealed as Juan Fernández (Holbrook Blinn).

 

Dan’s all for kicking Mamie out until there’s a lightning raid by the local Sheriff, played by Hobart Bosworth who, as all those who’ve seen Behind the Door know, can give bad guys one hell of a beating! Mamie’s the domestic cover they need and there’s more as Dan reveals his real name… yes, he’s Zander’s long lost father and he means to change course.

 

Or. Does he? The bad guys are all relative and there’s a gang leader in the desert called Black Bart (George Siegmann) who’s just as keen as the law enforcement officers to end Dan’s trade in hootch. There’s a lot of moral issues piling up and you can be sure they’ll all be resolved one way or another in a breath taking finish featuring some smashing locations and Marion choking on gusts of sand whipped up under Randolph Heart’s specific instruction: he wanted her to be seen to suffer just as much as Lillian Gish on the ice in Way Down East… and it looks like she did. Amongst her impressive array of competencies seems to be physical resilience; no one can doubt that as troopers go, Marion was real!

 

That's acting, Rudolph!

So it came to pass that Zander the Great is no longer forgotten or grainy and grey, it’s part of our growing appreciation of Marion Davies the star and even if it’s not exactly a classic it is very much a film made by a genuinely classic star… For that Mr Larusso is owed a debt of gratitude by all of us who find the actress charming and highly skilled. Marion is being rehabilitated and I’ve no doubt that Mr Hurst would be pleased to know how much she is still truly loved.

 

The commercial release will be out in early 2022 and you'll be able to order direct from the Undercrank Productions site as this film joins Beauty’s Worth, The Bride’s Play, Little Old New York and the excellent When Knighthood Was in Flower, which was a Ben Model Kickstarter, on the roster. When the going gets tough the tough get Kickstartng and we can only be grateful for the enthusiasm, expertise and passion of both gentlemen!

 

There’s also a fascinating post on Ed’s website, Silent Room discussing the relationship between Chaplin and Davies as well as the former’s stunt work in this film. There’s no evidence of the lion taming scene apart from references in Davies and other biographies and the cue card proves it had gone by the final cut… all signs of wanting to avoid the opprobrium of Citizen Hearst or just a casualty of the widespread changes made by the magnet? Who knows… there are plenty of mysteries left in silent film as PH has so eloquently stated in her recent post about Le Giornate in Pordenone.

 

Forward into the past it shall be then… as always!

 

St Patricia… Little Old New York (1923), with Morgan Cooke, The Barbican

As Jeanine Basinger has written, from a historical perspective, no one has it worse than Marion Davies; “…she was a big success in silent movies, and popular with audiences… but nobody believes it.” Whilst this is partly, as Basinger says, the curse of Citizen Kane, William Randolph Hearst was not Charles Foster Kane and nor was he the one doing the acting on screen. Right from the get-go Marion made films for Hearst and he was seen by contemporary reviewers as controlling her career.

Thankfully we get the chance to see for ourselves how good Marion Davies was not just in comedies such as The Patsy and the sublime Show People but increasingly in the kind of historical romantic dramas her wealthy lover liked to see her in and which were box office successes. When Knighthood was in Flower (1922), recently released on BluRay, was an enjoyable romp uplifted by the tonally-varied exuberance of Davies’ performance and was one of the biggest films of that year. Today we watched another smash which ended up the seventh highest grosser of the year.

Marion was big box office and the intimacy she still establishes with paying customers explains why.

Today’s screening featured a fine print from the Irish Film Institute and was supported by Culture Ireland as part of GB18: Promoting Irish Arts in Britain. The fact that it was screened the day after a St Patrick’s Day drubbing of the English rugby union side by the team in green was purely co-incidental.

The accompaniment was provided by Galway musician, Morgan Cooke who also introduced the film discussing the work of the prolific director Sidney Olcott, who was Hollywood’s go-to-fella for features of Irish origin. Marion herself was a first generation American with parents both from Eire but y’all know that surely just from the glint in her emerald eyes…

Little Old New York is a sub-Dickensian tale that has many a twist in just under two hours’ running time with a slightly clumsy plot taken from Rida Johnson Young’s play. For it to work, you have to be able to believe that people could accept Marion Davies as a young man… she might be wearing trousers and a bobbed haircut but, what can I say; “dude looks like a lady…” Probably she finishes last in a silent cross-dressing chart featuring Asta Nielsen (Hamlet), Ossi Oswalda (I Don’t Want to be a Man), Mary Pickford (various) and Louise Brooks (Beggars of Life), but you have to go with it.

Yep, totally a boy

Marion plays Patricia O'Day the sister of Patrick (Stephen Carr) who has inherited millions by way of his estranged Uncle’s dying wish to atone for cutting old man John O'Day (J. M. Kerrigan) out of the business they both started in America. John has returned to Ireland whilst his brother has prospered and has nursed a sizeable grudge over this time as he has struggled to look after his own. At the reading of the will, step-son Larry Delevan (Harrison Ford – no, not that one (again)) obviously has high hopes but he can only inherit of Patrick fails to turn up to claim his prize within a year.

That year is just about up and Larry is celebrating with his pals but there’s a knock on the door and in walks John O’Day and his son Patrick who has turned remarkably feminine since we last saw him. We learn later that Paddy had died on the crossing and John, desperate to get his just deserts, persuades Pat to drag up.

Pretty soon Pat is making large eyes as Larry (what could Lubitsch have made of this?!) who just thinks the lad is a bit soft: “Patrick, what did you do in Ireland?!”  asks one character later but the Americans remain fooled.

There’s a sub-plot involving Larry’s investment in a mad invention – a steam-powered paddle steamer invented by Robert Fulton (Courtenay Foote) who did indeed exist and do this thing. Various know-it-alls think it’s crazy but it’s Larry’s shot at making it given that Pat has inherited his inheritance.

Not That One and Such a Fine Comedienne

It all bobs along nicely and really takes off when Larry bets his house (literally) on an unlikely victory for his pal Bully Boy Brewster (Harry Watson) in a boxing match against the ferocious Hoboken Terror (Louis Wolheim).

There’s a good balance of comedy and drama and it has an amiability due in no small part to the star presence of Marion Davies. She’s an extraordinary pretty boy and once she’s back in feminine clothes there are numerous close ups of her tear-stained face that guarantee an emotionally immersed ending.

Morgan took the bold step of asking a mostly English audience to participate by singing along to the song Marion Davies plays on her harp “Do you hear me callin' when the dews are fallin'...” – the rehearsals went well but we were a little quiet when the moment came! Never-the-less, it’s not often you get to join in. In addition to the harp, Morgan played piano and melodica lingering on the many magnificent close-ups of Marion and pummelling the keys during that boxing match.

For those of us who missed the Quiet Man for St Patricks, this was a good old scrap that descends into a free-for-all… before love saves the day.

For me it was another important part of Davies’ career slotting into place. The film was placed fifth in the – non-Hearst - New York Times top ten and Marion was voted fifth in Quigley’s Box Office Stars list; she came second the following year. None of which fits in with the narrative of her only finding her feet with comedy – she was funny all along and even in these historical dramas there was gurning, fighting and dancing. Whether William Randolph approved or not is another matter…