Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies

A very good documentary about Marion Davies produced by Timeline Films and the UCLA Film and Television Archive, distributed separately on TCM and on Milestone Film & Video. The first topic to be answered is the question surrounding Citizen Kane, which has done great harm to the legacy of this great classic actress. Next, a cohort of historians, scholars, and otherwise allied individuals examine the career and life of one of MGM's first great stars. The original Ziegfeld Girl has successfully played mostly leading roles for 20 years, produced films, and several times films based on her scripts have also been made. For many years she was the partner of media mogul W. R. Hearst. She wore cute Mary Pickford-style curls, starred successfully in modern screwball comedies, was the first Patsy, but Hearst liked her best in expensive costume dramas. However, audiences loved her parodies of contemporary celebrities and roles in disguise. Generationally, Marion was replaced by Norma Shearer and Norma by Joan Crawford... and life went on in Hollywood. Ideally, to accompany the documentary I recommend opening Davies' memoirs, published posthumously as "The Times We Had." (21/04/2019)