Tea at Trianon: Mank and Marion

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Mank and Marion

From Refinery29:

Over the next two decades, Davies starred in over 40 movies, positioning her as one of Hollywood’s most famous silent stars. In 1918, Hearst founded Cosmopolitan Pictures, launching Davies as a star of the silver screen. In reality though, her film debut had actually already taken place. In 1917, Marion starred in Runaway Romany, a film she wrote herself, directed by her brother-in-law, George W. Lederer.
Best-known for her comedic roles, she was often hindered by Hearst’s overbearing hand in her career. Convinced she should be playing more serious parts, he tried to use his influence to make it so. But the more he tried to bully studios into hiring her, the fewer jobs she actually got. We see some of that in Mank — listen closely to the dialogue and you’ll catch the drama over Hearst trying to get producer Irving Thalberg, then Mayer’s right-hand man, to cast Marion as Marie Antoinette in MGM’s 1938 movie about the doomed queen. Instead, Thalberg cast his own wife, actress Norma Shearer.

Had Davies had more of a say in her own career, she might have mirrored Seyfried, who is now transitioning from her early career in campy staples like Mean Girls, Mamma Mia, and a slew of fluffy romantic comedies, into acclaimed dramatic roles in awards contenders like First Reformed and now, Mank.

Though Marion only appears a few times throughout Mank, each instance is memorable, in part because of Seyfried’s charismatic screen presence, but also because of the context in which we see her: at the center of a gloriously lavish party. Hearst and Davies were famous for their extravagant entertaining. Among their guests were Hollywood royalty, such as Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, politicians, and national heroes like Amelia Earhart. (Read more.)