''The Patsy'' is a 1928 American silent

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

King Vidor King Wallis Vidor (; February 8, 1894 – November 1, 1982) was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose 67-year film-making career successfully spanned the silent and sound eras. His works are distinguished by a vivid, ...

, co-produced by and starring

Marion Davies Marion Davies (born Marion Cecilia Douras; January 3, 1897 – September 22, 1961) was an American actress, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. Educated in a religious convent, Davies fled the school to pursue a career as a chorus girl ...

for

Cosmopolitan Productions Cosmopolitan Productions, also often referred to as Cosmopolitan Pictures, was an American film company based in New York City from 1918 to 1923 and Hollywood until 1938. History Newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst formed Cosmopolitan in co ...

, and released by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

. It was based on a play of the same name by

Barry Conners Barry Conners (1883–1933) was an American actor, screenwriter and playwright.Solomon p.331 An established writer for the stage, he was employed in Hollywood during the final few years of life during the early sound era. Selected filmography * ...

, and served as

Marie Dressler Marie Dressler (born Leila Marie Koerber, November 9, 1868 – July 28, 1934) was a Canadian stage and screen actress, comedian, and early silent film and Depression-era film star. In 1914, she was in the first full-length film comedy. Sh ...

's comeback film after a long slump in her film career. Davies played the dowdy and downtrodden Patricia, the younger daughter in a household ruled by an imperious mother (Dressler) and selfish sister (

Jane Winton Jane Winton (October 10, 1905 – September 22, 1959) was an American film actress, dancer, opera soprano, writer, and painter. Early years Winton was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1905. The deaths of her father when she was four yea ...

Cast

as Patricia Harrington *

Orville Caldwell Orville Caldwell (February 8, 1896–September 24, 1967) was an American actor of the stage and screen and a politician later in life. Film Caldwell appeared in 21 films between 1923 and 1938, but was inactive for 7 years starting in 1928 duri ...

as Tony Anderson *

as Ma Harrington *

Lawrence Gray Lawrence Gray (July 28, 1898 – February 2, 1970) was an American actor of the 1920s and 1930s. Biography Born in San Francisco in 1898, Gray served during World War I in the U. S. Navy and gained a commission. After the war he began i ...

as Billy Caldwell *

Dell Henderson George Delbert "Dell" Henderson (July 5, 1877 – December 2, 1956) was a Canadian-American actor, director, and writer. He began his long and prolific film career in the early days of silent film. Biography Born in the Southwestern Ontario cit ...

as Pa Harrington *

as Grace Harrington

Production

''The Patsy'' saw

starring in her 27th film. This was Davies' first film of three with director

and the only time she appeared with

Release and legacy

The film received good reviews, and was a box office hit. Hearst and MGM subsequently assigned Vidor to begin working on another vehicle for Davies. ''The Patsy'' also served as a comeback vehicle for Dressler. In February 2020, the film was shown at the

70th Berlin International Film Festival The 70th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 20 February to 1 March 2020. It was the first under the leadership of new Berlin Film Festival heads, business administration director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director ...

, as part of a retrospective dedicated to King Vidor's career.

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Patsy, The 1928 comedy-drama films 1928 films American black-and-white films American comedy-drama films American silent feature films Films directed by King Vidor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1920s American films Silent comedy-drama films Silent American drama films Silent American comedy films