Marion Davies (1) (1897–1961)
Forfatter af The Times We Had: Life with William Randolph Hearst
For andre forfattere med navnet Marion Davies, se skeln forfatterne siden.
Om forfatteren
Image credit: Marion Davies (1897-1961)
Portrait by Hamilton King for the
June 1920 cover of "Theatre Magazine"
(Randy Bryan Bigham Collection)
Portrait by Hamilton King for the
June 1920 cover of "Theatre Magazine"
(Randy Bryan Bigham Collection)
Værker af Marion Davies
Associated Works
Janice Meredith [1924 film] — Actor — 1 eksemplar
Satte nøgleord på
Almen Viden
- Juridisk navn
- Douras, Marion Cecilia
- Fødselsdato
- 1897-01-03
- Dødsdag
- 1961-09-22
- Begravelsessted
- Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Køn
- female
- Nationalitet
- USA
- Fødested
- Brooklyn, New York, USA
- Dødssted
- Hollywood, California, USA
- Erhverv
- actor
philanthropist
film producer
screenwriter - Priser og hædersbevisninger
- Hollywood Walk of Fame
Medlemmer
Anmeldelser
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Associated Authors
Statistikker
- Værker
- 1
- Also by
- 3
- Medlemmer
- 223
- Popularitet
- #100,550
- Vurdering
- 3.6
- Anmeldelser
- 4
- ISBN
- 12
I didn’t rate it five stars because, at times, we hear so much about other people that Marion’s takes a back seat in her own autobiography. I hoped to read more about her acting career as opposed to Hearst’s newspapers and what he spends his money on.
This might be through her lack of self-belief. She frequently belittles her acting ability, her beauty, and so on, so maybe she felt her story would benefit if she concentrated on her travels and the people around her.
The pre-fame years are interesting. Shame she didn’t go more in-depth here, but then her memory was her only form of research. This is an important point. This isn’t a typical life story where facts are checked, people are interviewed, etc. Nor does it feature a strict chronology and exact dates are scarce. In fact, the first line is false – Marion states she was born in 1905 when she was really born on 3 January 1897! So, we have us an unreliable narrator.
Thankfully, whenever Marion states something that's not true (intentionally or unintentionally), the editor interjects and explains the correct circumstances. Likewise, he adds details whenever Marion is vague about an event or mentions a name without expanding on who the person is/was. Sometimes the editor includes too much detail, though, such as adding an extensive history about someone or some event that isn't vital to that person's/event's impact on Marion's life story.
The narrative reads like someone sitting at their home telling friends about what they’ve done during different phases of their life. It’s taken from recordings Marion made, making this the most conversational autobiography I’ve ever read. As someone who loves Marion Davies, this gives a great insight to what it would have been like to meet and talk with this beautiful classic actress.
Reading other reviews, I see some people have low opinions of Marion after reading this book. I can see where they’re coming from with some of Marion’s comments, like wishing she’d met Hitler, but this hardly means she approved of the man’s evil doings. Some people are fascinated by “sinners”, but it doesn’t make them one too. She did a lot of good in her life, such as donating to animal charities, plus she was kind-hearted and approachable.
Although this is not constructed like a regular autobiography or biography, other writers have covered Marion’s life story the “proper” way. I’ve yet to sample any, but they’re on my to-read list. So, if you want to read a standard history about Marion, try one of those. Only tackle this if you don’t mind something unconventional or if, like me, you’re a big fan of Marion.
I admit, normally I wouldn’t read a non-linear life story with insufficient research and an unreliable narrator, but “The Times We Had” felt like Marion was talking to me, which was great.
I couple of quotes I liked:
On Marion’s dying dog Gandhi, which she alone believed would recover:
“Gandhi had crapped again, and they saw it. I wish they hadn’t. Everybody gets diarrhea, and it doesn’t mean you’re going to die. If it did, I’d have been dead ten years ago.”
On why Charlie Chaplin never attended anyone’s parties:
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with him, except that he’s a little cracked.”
Another quote, which I forgot to note down, regards Marion being late to one of Mary Pickford's (another of my favourite classic actresses) parties, held in honour of the King of Siam (I think it was Siam). On arriving, Marion is greeted at the door by Mary and a butler. She apologises to Mary for being late, hands the butler her coat, then dashes inside. Going in, she notices a disapproving look on Mary's face and assumes this was owing to her late arrival; however, she later finds out Mary's black look was because the man Marion assumed to be a butler was really the King of Siam.
The cover states that book includes “outrageous photos”. Can’t agree that any of them are outrageous, but many black and white photos are included throughout the book. On the downside, almost every shot is of poor quality, and none are of good quality. This might not be the case if you have the physical book – I borrowed this for free on the Internet Archive’s Open Library and read it online.
Therefore, the photos are scans from a book that may have been an original edition. In short, the black areas are too dark whilst the white areas are too bright. Only a few are relatively clear. As someone who admires Marion for her beauty as well as her acting skills (despite her self-criticism of both attributes!), this was disappointing.
Overall, though, “The Times We Had” is a pleasant and interesting read, and for me fascinating to “hear” Marion’s voice calling from across the years.… (mere)