Fade Out – Marion Davies

FADE OUT

Episode 20 - Marion Davies's EVER SINCE EVE with special guest author Lara Gabrielle.

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11 responses to “Fade Out – Marion Davies

  1. TCM has Marion Davies as their Star of the Month on Tuesday nights. Chronologically, so I’m filling up on light comedies with her given malapropisms. I will be back to see you Tuesday for your hamburger today!

  2. Fantastic episode and great guest!

    Incredibly, I have never seen anything with Davies in it so I am happy for the TCM spotlight.

    And interesting about the ‘friendship’ with Mank.

    As always, a satisfying meal of an episode!

    1. Thanks for listening Anj.

      Yeah, I was genuinely shocked when I read in Lara’s book that Marion and Herman Mankiewicz did not know each other AT ALL. Like, the whole legend that they were friends and that’s what led to the stuff in KANE is all made up. Amazing.

  3. Fascinating episode about a star I honestly knew nothing about. That’s one thing I really enjoy about the Fade Out series. You and your guests do a great job of painting a picture of the subject, even if I have no frame of reference at all (in this case, beyond Citizen Kane).

    1. Thanks Chris! That’s why I write such long intros, to at least give everyone a context of who we’ll be talking about. Especially essential for someone like Marion Davies whose films, like I mentioned, are mostly unavailable on streaming.

      I think you’ll be more familiar with next month’s final film, if maybe not the subject.

  4. Another great podcast! I’m looking forward to getting Lara’s book.

    It’s funny, Marion Davies is one of those old Hollywood stars you just assume you know much about…I know I did…but until listening to this, I hadn’t realized that so much of what I thought I knew was either distorted from the truth, or else just plain wrong.

    And Rob, like you, I went for years not realizing that Hearst’s Cosmopolitan produced THE THIN MAN for MGM (even though it says it right there in the opening credits), until I read a blog a couple of years back about the film, which stated that Marion very much wanted to play Nora Charles, but that Hearst nixed that for two reasons: first, he thought that comedy was beneath her, and he wanted her to be a great dramatic actress. And also, Marion was an alcoholic (or at least too much of a heavy drinker for his taste), and he didn’t want her doing a film that, he felt, glorified drinking. It’s a pity, though…if Davies had played Nora in the film series, she might be as well-remembered today as Myrna Loy.

    1. Thanks for listening Gene!

      I wouldn’t trade the Powell/Loy combo for anything, but I could totally see Marion Davies as Nora. She and Powell had worked together previously, as well.

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  5. Rob, I listened, even though I didn’t initially remember the historical significance of Marion Davies, and it was great! Terrific work by you and Ms. Gabrielle.

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