Somerville Theatre to salute silent screen icon Marion Davies on Sunday, September 24

On September 10, 2023, in Latest News, by The Somerville Times

Marion Davies gets ready to fire the ultimate comic ammunition in ‘Show People’ (1928), a classic silent comedy to be screened with live music on Sunday, September 24 at 2:00 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville.

She was among Hollywood’s top box office stars of the 1920s. But for many fans, her best-known role was longtime companion of media tycoon William Randolph Hearst.

She was Marion Davies, an actress (and later philanthropist) whose pioneering professional and personal journey was as remarkable as any role she played during a highly successful film career.

Davies’s full life story is told for the first time in a new comprehensive biography, Captain of Her Soul: The Life of Marion Davies by author Lara Gabrielle. Published by University of California Press in 2022, the book was the result of a decade of research and writing.

Gabrielle will introduce a screening of Marion Davies’ hit MGM silent comedy Show People (1928) on Sunday, September 24 at 2:00 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, Mass.

Admission is $16 person/$12 seniors/children. Tickets are available at the door or online at www.somervilletheatre.com.

The screening will feature live music by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis.

Gabrielle will speak about Davies’ multi-faceted life, which included significant work in the fields of entertainment, business, and charity. She will also sign copies of her new Davies biography, Captain of Her Soul, which will be available through Porter Square Books of Cambridge, MA.

In writing the biography, Gabrielle removed layers of rumor and mistruth that have clung to the actress, who grappled with a stutter and rarely gave interviews.

The story of Davies’ life has long been overshadowed by her relationship with legendary press baron William Randolph Hearst.

Many movie buffs believe that the character of Susan Alexander in Orson Welles’ landmark film Citizen Kane (1941) was based on Davies, an assumption that has distorted Davies’s reputation for decades. Gabrielle addresses and clarifies this idea in Captain of Her Soul, bringing Davies back into view as she truly was.

1928: American leading man William Haines (1900 – 1973) stars with Marion Davies (1897 – 1961) and legendary British comedian Charles Chaplin (1889 – 1977) in the film “Show People,” directed by King Vidor for MGM. Chaplin appeared without make-up as himself for the extra’s fee of $7.50.

“There’s a common misconception that Marion Davies allowed Hearst to manipulate her work and her image,” Gabrielle explains. “But in fact, Marion overhauled her whole persona when she felt it wasn’t working for her, and became one of the greatest comedians of the silent era, entirely on her own. She was an independent, hard-working, exceptionally intelligent woman whose generosity knew no bounds. It’s been an immense honor to tell her true life story.”

According to the publisher, the book “reveals a woman who navigated disability and social stigma to rise to the top of a young Hollywood dominated by powerful men.”

“The title of my book is Captain of Her Soul,” says Gabrielle, “and that comes from a quote that Marion Davies said about herself. She took charge of her own career, negotiated her own contracts, and lived her life, her way.”

Show People, directed by King Vidor, shows Davies at the height of her 1920s popularity as a screen icon. The light-hearted story follows Peggy Pepper (Marion Davies), a beauty queen from small-town Georgia who hopes to break into the movies as a dramatic actress. William Haines plays Billy Boone, lead actor at a slapstick comedy studio where Pepper lands her first opportunity.
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circa 1928: Actors Marion Davies and Dell Henderson in their Wild West costumes blend right in with the eclectic mix of fellow diners at the MGM staff commissary, which include a dwarf clown, a native American Indian and a couple of policemen. They are on break from the film ‘Show People’, directed by King Vidor for MGM.

Can a young actress yearning for drama survive the indignity of pies in the face? When her big chance finally comes, will it mean sacrificing her growing friendship with Billy? Will low comedy win out over high drama?

In pursuing those questions, Show People pokes fun at Hollywood phoniness and the culture of celebrity worship that had emerged by the 1920s.

‘Show People’ also offers rare behind-the-scenes glimpses of movie-making at the very end of the silent period, when studios were rushing to prepare for sound.

“They knew an era was ending, and Show People is kind of a Valentine to the whole silent film experience,” said Rapsis, who will accompany the screening. “It’s a love letter to the movie business.”

Show People features cameos by dozens of major stars of the period, including Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., William S. Hart, and John Gilbert.

In 2003, Show People was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Gabrielle’s appearance and screening are part of the Somerville Theatre’s Silents Please series, which aims to recreate the silent film experience, with 35mm prints projected on the big screen, live music, and with a live audience. All these elements are essential to seeing silent films the way they were intended, Rapsis said.”At their best, silent films were a communal experience very different from today’s movies – one in which the presence of a large audience intensifies everyone’s reactions,” Rapsis said.Show People (1928), a classic silent comedy starring Marion Davies and William Haines, will be shown on Sunday, September 24 at 2:00 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, MA.

The screening will be introduced by Lara Gabrielle, author of Captain of Her Soul: The Life of Marion Davies. (2022, University of California Press) Gabrielle will sign copies of the book, which will be on sale via Porter Square Books of Cambridge, Mass.The screening will feature live music by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis.

Admission is adults $16; seniors/children $12. Tickets are available at the door or in advance at www.somervilletheatre.com.

For more info, call (617) 625-5700. For more info on the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.
For more information about Captain of Her Soul: The Life of Marion Davies and author Marion Davies, visit www.mariondaviesbook.com.

Lara Gabrielle, author of ‘Captain of Her Soul: The Life of Marion Davies” will introduce a screening of ‘Show People’ (1928). a classic Davies film, on Sunday, September 24 at 2:00 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, MA.

About Lara Gabrielle: Lara Gabrielle is a biographer and researcher, whose work on Marion Davies has been featured in Alta, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Missouri Review, The Wall Street Journal, and on PBS’s American Experience. Gabrielle has spoken at film festivals and retrospectives worldwide, and is acknowledged as the leading authority on Davies’s life and legacy, serving as a consultant on Marion Davies for books, dissertations, and film projects. Gabrielle’s biography, Captain of Her Soul: The Life of Marion Davies, has been included on many top book lists for 2022. She lives in Oakland, California.
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Author: Captain of Her Soul: The Life of Marion Davies
http://www.mariondaviesbook.com

“Author Gabrielle has given us a gift: an honest biography of a woman whose life and career have long been misunderstood. In short, this is the book Marion Davies has always deserved.”

—Leonard Maltin, film critic and historian