CAPTURED ON FILM: THE TRUE STORY OF MARION DAVIES (2001) B/W & C 60m
narrated by Charlize Theron
From Now Playing, the Turner Classic Movies Viewer's Guide: "Documentary on the details of her life, career, and her relationship with William Randolph Hearst."
John Carman, in his San Francisco Chronicle column dated February 14, 2001, reviews the documentary, and has a couple of problems with it:
"An Actress Best Known as a Mistress
"Yes, but could she act?
"Not only could Marion Davies act, a Turner Classic Movies documentary claims tonight, but she deserved to win an Oscar.
"With that assertion, and a few others, the ground liquefies under the wholly uncritical 'Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies.'
"Too bad, because the program goes far toward resurrecting the reputation of the actress best known as William Randolph Hearst's mistress.
"At its best, it's convincing on the point that Davies bore little resemblance to the drunken harpie Susan Alexander of 'Citizen Kane.'
"That's good; I'd guess that most of us know next to nothing about Davies outside the long shadow of 'Citizen Kane.'
"Orson Welles himself later admitted he's played a 'dirty trick' on Davies. Seeing the real Davies serves to underscore the point.
"She emerges from tonight's documentary as a vivacious beauty who was loyal to Hearst --- in her way --- and who possessed some talent as a screen comedian.
"Never mind that Hearst, who bankrolled and so excessively promoted Davies' career, preferred to see her cast as a dramatic heroine.
"Without attribution or comparison, the program (executive-produced by Hugh Hefner and narrated by Charlize Theron) contends that Davies deserved an Oscar for her 1933 performance in 'Peg o' My Heart.'
"She wasn't nominated. Hefner and his filmmaker colleagues fail to remind us that if Davies had won, Kate Hepburn would have been deprived of her first Oscar, for 'Morning Glory.'
"Let's see. Davies, Hepburn. Hepburn, Davies. Uh, Hepburn. ...
"The documentary also seems fuzzy on the question of Davies' stutter, and whether it inhibited her career once the talkie era arrived.
"It leaves the impression that Davies was concerned about the problem but that the stutter vanished when she acted onscreen. But at least one source book, 'The Film Encyclopedia' by Ephraim Katz, says the stutter led to abbreviated scenes and roles with limited dialogue.
"I don't know who's right; it is true that the ample film clips in 'The True Story of Marion Davies' show an actress capable of rapid-fire dialogue without any apparent problems.
"But it doesn't help the program that it mixes film scholarship --- the estimable Kevin Brownlow considers Davies a 'superb talent' who is owed justice --- with the sloppy Oscar claim and commentary by such 'experts' as actress Virginia Madsen, who played Davies in a movie.
"Davies amassed her own fortune and retired from movies four years before 'Citizen Kane' was released. She died in 1961, a decade after Hearst.
"They had 32 years together. Hearst had been on the verge of divorcing his wife, Millicent, to marry Davies when, according to the program, Millicent suddenly demanded Cosmopolitan Magazine as part of the settlement.
"Hearst declined. The divorce and remarriage were off, and Cosmo remains part of the Hearst media empire. So, now, is this newspaper.
"It'll forever be a matter of speculation whether Davies would have become a star --- maybe a bigger star --- without the overbearing machinery of the Hearst press shoving her down the throats of moviegoers.
"Perhaps the most droll moment in 'The True Story of Marion Davies' is a snippet from the 1930 film 'Floradora Girl,' in which a fellow showgirl says to Davies, 'You've got to work hard to get a rich man.'
"Davies replies, 'You've got to work a darn sight harder if you don't get one.'"