THE PATSY

(1928, King Vidor) In Vidor’s unsung comedy, flapper Cinderella Marion Davies (“Filmland’s Funniest Female” – Punch) is bullied by dragon-like mom Marie Dressler, and takes on a self-help “personality development,” wickedly imitating Mae Murray, Pola Negri and Lillian Gish along the way. Print courtesy Library of Congress.

REVIEWS

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"Utterly delightful! The film’s unpretentious charm is a surefire bet even for those new to silent cinema."
– Cullen Gallagher, Our Town Downtown

"A tour de farce, in which Miss Davies performs devastating parodies of Lillian GIsh, Mae Murray, and Pola Negri... Establishes Vidor's almost unequalled versatility and his flair for romantic comedy."
– Charles Silver

"Wonderfully good-humored."
– Pauline Kael

“From its first moments, The Patsy has a wonderfully satiric bent – the kind of picture that finds an overbearing matriarch intent on social climbing, spitting one-liners like ‘Don’t you know it’s bad manners to be polite to a waiter?’ and it’s great fun. But it’s impossible to write about it without expounding on the spritely comic charms of its star, Marion Davies, who exudes a breezy underdog appeal here. While even some of the most hypnotic silent film performances are deeply mannered, Davies comes across as au naturel.”
– Victoria Large, Not Coming to a Theater Near You