What movie did YOU just FINISH watching?
Dec 25, 2020 19:57:52 GMT
spiderwort, kijii, and 1 more like this
Post by teleadm on Dec 25, 2020 19:57:52 GMT
With Mank 2020 out and remembering a thread of movie stars one has never seen, I came to think of Marion Davis, said to have been a good comedian rather than being the dramatic actress her famous lover wanted her to be be. Since I had never seen a movie with her before, I gave it a shot...
Polly of the Circus 1932 directed by Alfred Santell and based on a play by Margaret Mayo. Starring Marion Davis, Clark Gable (without moustache), C. Aubrey Smith, Raymond Hutton, David Landau, Ruth Selwyn, Maude Eburne, Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams and others.
When Polly Fisher (Davis), a circus aerialist, is hurt while performing, she is taken to the house of a nearby minister, John Hartley (Gable). As she recuperates, they fall in love with each other and secretly marry. But when the truth leaks out, John's congregation rebels at having a circus woman as their minister's wife, and he is fired and can't find a job anywhere else. Should she return to the circus for economic reason to make ends meet, or should she take an even more decision...
There are some really good high-wire air footage of actual circus performers here, taken from surprising angles for such an early sound movie. There are also some great pre-code dialogue and a few sharp one liners too. A young Gable is good as a rather open-minded Minister. Davis is okey but not more, better in the lighter humorous parts than in the more melodramatic parts.
It's thankfully short, just under 70 minutes, but it was an interesting watch, and I don't consider it was a waste of time actually watching it.
Polly of the Circus 1932 directed by Alfred Santell and based on a play by Margaret Mayo. Starring Marion Davis, Clark Gable (without moustache), C. Aubrey Smith, Raymond Hutton, David Landau, Ruth Selwyn, Maude Eburne, Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams and others.
When Polly Fisher (Davis), a circus aerialist, is hurt while performing, she is taken to the house of a nearby minister, John Hartley (Gable). As she recuperates, they fall in love with each other and secretly marry. But when the truth leaks out, John's congregation rebels at having a circus woman as their minister's wife, and he is fired and can't find a job anywhere else. Should she return to the circus for economic reason to make ends meet, or should she take an even more decision...
There are some really good high-wire air footage of actual circus performers here, taken from surprising angles for such an early sound movie. There are also some great pre-code dialogue and a few sharp one liners too. A young Gable is good as a rather open-minded Minister. Davis is okey but not more, better in the lighter humorous parts than in the more melodramatic parts.
It's thankfully short, just under 70 minutes, but it was an interesting watch, and I don't consider it was a waste of time actually watching it.