In 1927 and 1928, as the silent era was coming to an end, Marion Davies turned out seven films, not counting the abandoned FIVE O'CLOCK GIRL. In 1929 she made the talkie plunge in MARIANNE.
In those 7 films Davies played an amazing array of characters in SHOW PEOPLE, THE PATSY, TILLIE THE TOILER, THE RED MILL, THE FAIR CO-ED, THE CARDBOARD LOVER, and QUALITY STREET. Few silent-screen actresses could have produced so many terrific films in a 2-year period. Of these only TILLIE remains hidden away in an archive somewhere; the other six films are available on DVD or VHS.
QUALITY STREET is based on a play by James M. Barrie and was remade as a talkie for Katharine Hepburn in 1937. This silent version is terrific in its costumes, sets, and of course in Marion Davies in the dual roles of Phoebe and Livvy. Phoebe is about to be engaged to Conrad Nagel when he suddenly goes off to the Napoleonic Wars. Years later he returns to find Phoebe an old maid. Furious that he should find her old, she masquerades as her made-up niece Livvy and captures his romantic attentions.
Essentially playing three characters, Davies is just wonderful as the hopeful young Phoebe, the plain and worn-out Phoebe who runs a school, and the kittenish Livvy. Nagel is solid as the suitor. Helen Jerome Eddy plays Susan, Kate Price is Patty. Flora Finch, Margaret Seddon, and Marcelle Corday play the busybodies.
Davies proves once again that she was a fine actress and a super comedienne. She's a delight here and dominates every scene she's in. During this period she ranked among the top FIVE box office stars (with Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, William Haines, and Norma Shearer) for MGM but still the urban legends persist about her unpopularity and lack of talent. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Davies has a remarkable dramatic scene after she learns that Brown is taken with Livvy and has forgotten her, seeing that she is an old maid. She discards the Livvy dress and make-up and, staring into a mirror, dons her "old maid" clothes, neatly tucking her hair into her plain bonnet. In essence, she is accepting her fate as an old maid. Her sadness is palpable. It's a moving moment from a great actress.
