I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT MARION DAVIES SUFFERED FROM A TERRIBLE CASE OF BEING MISUNDERSTOOD WHILE WEARING VERY GOOD HATS.
THIS HAPPENS TO WOMEN A LOT, ESPECIALLY FUNNY WOMEN, AND ESPECIALLY WOMEN WHO LOVE SOMEONE POWERFUL. HISTORY TENDS TO FLATTEN THEM INTO FOOTNOTES - GIRLFRIEND, MUSE, KEPT WOMAN - AS IF HUMOR, INTELLIGENCE, AND AGENCY EVAPORATE THE MOMENT A MAN WITH MONEY ENTERS THE FRAME.
MARION DAVIES DESERVES BETTER LIGHTING.
SHE WAS AN INFLUENTIAL AMERICAN ACTRESS AND FILM PRODUCER DURING HOLLYWOOD’S SILENT AND EARLY SOUND ERAS, WHICH MEANS SHE ARRIVED AT EXACTLY THE MOMENT WHEN MOVIES WERE FIGURING OUT WHAT THEY WERE, AND SHE HELPED SHAPE THE ANSWER. SHE APPEARED IN FILMS FROM THE 1920S THROUGH THE MID-1930S AND BECAME A MAJOR STAR - NOT BECAUSE SHE WAS TRAGIC OR ETHEREAL, BUT BECAUSE SHE WAS FUNNY. ACTUALLY FUNNY. PHYSICAL, EXPRESSIVE, TIMING-PERFECT, FUNNY. THE KIND OF FUNNY THAT DOESN’T AGE BECAUSE IT NEVER RELIED ON BEING DECORATIVE.
OF COURSE, THE STORY EVERYONE REMEMBERS INVOLVES WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST, THE MEDIA MOGUL WITH NEWSPAPERS, CASTLES, OPINIONS, AND AN ENTHUSIASM FOR PROMOTION. HE LOVED MARION DAVIES AND PROMOTED HER CAREER RELENTLESSLY, SOMETIMES DISASTROUSLY, OFTEN MISGUIDEDLY, AND ALWAYS LOUDLY.
THIS HAD LED MANY PEOPLE TO ASSUME SHE WAS MANUFACTURED RATHER THAN TALENTED, WHICH IS ONE OF THE OLDEST TRICKS IN THE BOOK: IF A WOMAN IS HELPED, SHE MUST NOT BE CAPABLE.
THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH IS THAT MARION DAVIES WAS AT HER BEST WHEN SHE WAS ALLOWED TO DO COMEDY - AND SHE WAS VERY GOOD AT IT. CRITICS AT THE TIME KNEW THIS. AUDIENCES KNEW THIS. SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY, THE NARRATIVE FORGOT.
SHE ALSO HAD STYLE. REAL STYLE. NOT THE KIND THAT FOLLOWS TRENDS, BUT THE KIND THAT BECOMES A SHORTHAND. WIDE-BRIMMED HATS. PERIOD-APPROPRIATE MAKEUP THAT MADE HER LOOK LIKE SHE BELONGED TO ANOTHER ERA ENTIRELY, WHICH, IN A WAY, SHE DID. SHE LOOKED LIKE SOMEONE WHO HAD WANDERED INTO HOLLYWOOD FROM A BETTER-WRITTEN CENTURY AND DECIDED TO STAY.
BUT WHAT I FIND MOST COMPELLING ABOUT MARION DAVIES ISN’T JUST WHAT SHE DID ON SCREEN - IT’S WHAT SHE DID OFF IT.
SHE WAS NOT ONLY AN ACTRESS AND PROLIFIC SEAMSTRESS, BUT ALSO A PRODUCER, SCREENWRITER, AND PHILANTHROPIST, WHICH MEANT SHE UNDERSTOOD POWER, MONEY, AND RESPONSIBILITY, EVEN IF THE HEADLINES NEVER QUITE CAUGHT UP. LONG AFTER THE APPLAUSE FADED, SHE DIRECTED HER ENERGY TOWARD GIVING THINGS AWAY.
HER MOST ENDURING CONTRIBUTION MAY BE ONE SHE NEVER PERFORMED IN: HER CHARITABLE WORK, PARTICULARLY HER SIGNIFICANT DONATION TO ESTABLISH A CHILDREN’S CLINIC AT UCLA. THAT CLINIC WOULD EVENTUALLY BECOME WHAT WE NOW KNOW AS UCLA MATTEL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL, A PLACE THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GLAMOUR AND EVERYTHING TO DO WITH CARE.
NO COSTUMES. NO CLOSE-UPS. JUST HELP.
I LIKE TO THINK THIS IS THE REAL PUNCHLINE TO MARION DAVIES’ LIFE STORY: THAT THE WOMAN SO OFTEN REMEMBERED FOR WHO SHE LOVED SHOULD ALSO BE REMEMBERED FOR WHO SHE HELPED.
HOLLYWOOD LOVES A MYTH, ESPECIALLY ONE WITH A MANSION. BUT MARION DAVIES WAS MORE THAN A SUPPORTING CHARACTER IN SOMEONE ELSE’S EPIC. SHE WAS A WORKING ACTRESS IN A BRUTAL INDUSTRY, A COMEDIC TALENT AHEAD OF HER TIME, A WOMAN WITH TASTE, GENEROSITY, AND AN UNDERSTANDING THAT SUCCESS ISN’T SIMPLY SOMETHING YOU KEEP - IT’S SOMETHING YOU REDISTRIBUTE.
AND THOSE HATS? THOSE WERE NEVER A DISTRACTION.
THEY WERE A DECLARATION.
MARION DAVIES KNEW EXACTLY WHO SHE WAS. HISTORY JUST TOOK A LITTLE LONGER TO CATCH UP.
