"Show People" is one of the classic comedies of the silent era, but for some reason, it's not available on Netflix. What a waste! Peggy Pepper (Davies) is a country girl with dreams of becoming a Hollywood starlet, and she and her father Colonel Pepper (Henderson) make a grand entrance into the biz. Though Peggy
hopes to be a dramatic actress, she ends up getting stuck being a slapstick comedienne, something she really doesn't want. She doesn't like it at first, but when she begins a relationship with her co-star Billy Boone (Haines), everything goes better. A few months later however, she gets her wish and becomes a dramatic actress and changes her name to Patricia Pepoire, and that strains what she has with Billy. But sure enough, they get back together. "Show People" is one of the many movies that newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst had his mistress Marion Davies star in. Most of them are forgotten today, but this is always the one people talked about. Surely isn't hasn't aged to great (what was thought to be side-splitting in the '20's now seems rom-comish now), but there's something so magnetic about the actors and the plot. They achieve many things that silent movies didn't always grasp, and they make it a sil. mov that is really worth watching. Many of the comedic instances are pretty darn funny, and Davis and Haines pull them off effortlessly, as do the stars that come in for a cameo all the time. "Show People" is a very memorable comedy from the silent era that is very watchable. If I were you, I would cross your fingers that it's playing on TCM.
August 19, 2011
