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109-583: The San Luis Obispo International Film Festival was founded by Mary A. Harris, a local attorney who was inspired to bring a film festival to San Luis Obispo after attending festivals in Telluride and Los Angeles. The inaugural Festival was launched in 1993 with the support of a special grant from the City of San Luis Obispo, along with the key involvement of Jim Dee and the Palm Theatre. The Festival began with

218-470: A 20-year period, Davies had never been anything but the star and, except for uncredited cameo appearances , had always received top billing. In her memoirs, Davies claimed that she and publishing mogul William Randolph Hearst began their sexual relationship when she was a teenage chorus girl. Although they lived together for the next three decades in opulent homes across Southern California and Europe, they never married, as Hearst's wife refused to grant him

327-609: A Japanese geisha and a virginal bride. While the photos were being taken, Davies realized Hearst secretly was present in the darkness of the photography studio. Terrified, she fled to the dressing room and locked the door. However, Hearst abruptly departed without introducing himself. After months passed, they saw each other again in Palm Beach, Florida, but Hearst's wife Millicent Hearst was present. They did not become intimate until sometime later. After making her screen debut in 1916, and modelling gowns by Lady Duff-Gordon in

436-491: A New York-based film exhibitor First National . In a bid to compete with the increasingly dominant Hollywood studios, First National advanced Vidor funding to build a small film production facility in Santa Monica, California , dubbed Vidor Village . King Vidor issued a founding statement entitled "Creed and Pledge" that set forth moral anodynes for film-making, inspired by his Christian Science sympathies. I believe in

545-437: A chauffeur). As a low-level office clerk at Universal , he was fired for trying to present his own scripts under the pseudonym "Charles K. Wallis", but soon was rehired by the studio as a writer of shorts . Beginning in 1915, Vidor served as screenwriter and director on a series of shorts about the rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents by social reformer Judge Willis Brown . Written and produced by Brown, Vidor filmed ten of

654-475: A dental examination in February 1959, a growth was discovered on her jaw. Not long afterwards, Davies was diagnosed with cancer. Davies made her last public appearance on January 10, 1960, on an NBC television special titled Hedda Hopper's Hollywood . During this same period, Joseph P. Kennedy rented Davies' mansion and worked from behind the scenes to secure his son John F. Kennedy 's nomination during

763-525: A divorce. At one point, Hearst reportedly came close to marrying Davies, but decided his wife's settlement demands were too high. Although he was a notorious philanderer, Hearst was extremely jealous and possessive of Davies, even though he was married throughout their relationship. Lita Grey , Charlie Chaplin's second wife, wrote four decades later that Davies confided to her about her relationship with Hearst. Grey quoted Davies as saying: God, I'd give everything I have to marry that silly old man. Not for

872-626: A fashion newsreel, Davies appeared in Runaway Romany (1917), her first feature film. Davies wrote the film, which was directed by her brother-in-law, producer George W. Lederer . She continued to alternate between stage and screen until 1920 when she made her last revue appearance in Ed Wynn's Carnival . In 1918, Hearst formed Cosmopolitan Pictures and asked Davies to sign a $ 500-per-week exclusive contract with his studio. After she signed, 21-year-old Davies and 58-year-old Hearst began

981-658: A few films stand out. Wild Oranges (1924), from a story by Joseph Hergesheimer , is notable as a harbinger of his best work in the sound era. The natural features of the coastal regions of Georgia are endowed with sinister and homicidal potential, where a fugitive arrives to terrorize rural residents. As such, the film exhibits Vidor's trademark use of nature to symbolize aspects of the human conflict. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's cast of rising movie stars included soon-to-be matinee idol John Gilbert . Vidor directed him in His Hour (1924), based on an Elinor Glyn "febrile romance", and

1090-444: A film documentarian. His first movie was based on footage taken of a local hurricane (not to be confused with the 1900 Galveston hurricane). He sold footage from a Houston army parade to a newsreel outfit (titled The Grand Military Parade ) and made his first fictional movie, a semi-docucomedy concerning a local automobile race, In Tow (1913). Vidor, in a partnership with vaudevillian and movie entrepreneur Edward Sedgwick formed

1199-641: A focus on classic and restored films, with Harris as the Executive Director, and Cathy Peacock as Artistic Director. Veteran film director George Sidney was the first recipient of the King Vidor Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Art of Filmmaking, and Sidney became an enthusiastic booster for the event. In recognition of his contributions to film, as well as his involvement with the Festival,

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1308-409: A fundamental effect on Vidor's attitude toward film-making." Under pressure "as the studio system began to harden into place", the 26-year-old Vidor began to craft his films to conform to prevailing standards of the period. His 1920 film The Family Honor exemplifies this shift towards romantic comedies and away from the ideals that had informed The Jack Knife Man . Vidor's The Sky Pilot (1921)

1417-560: A gifted actress and comedienne to whom Hearst's patronage did more harm than good. In his final years, Welles attempted to correct the widespread misconceptions the film had created about Davies' popularity and talents as an actress. Marion Cecilia Douras was born on January 3, 1897, in Brooklyn , the youngest of five children born to Bernard J. Douras, a lawyer and judge in New York City and Rose Reilly. Her father performed

1526-538: A long period of illness, Hearst died on August 14, 1951, age 88. In his will, he provided handsomely for Davies, leaving her 170,000 shares of Hearst Corporation stock, and 30,000 he had put in a trust fund he established for her in 1950. This gave her a controlling interest in the company for a short time, until she chose to relinquish the stock voluntarily to the corporation on October 30, 1951 by selling it to Mrs. Millicent Hearst for one dollar. She retained her original 30,000 shares and an advisory role with

1635-614: A persistent stutter . Her career progressed, nonetheless, and she made a number of films during the early sound era, including Marianne (1929), The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929), The Florodora Girl (1930), The Bachelor Father (1931), Five and Ten (1931) with Leslie Howard , Polly of the Circus (1932) with Clark Gable, Blondie of the Follies (1932), Peg o' My Heart (1933), Going Hollywood (1933) with Bing Crosby , and Operator 13 (1934) with Gary Cooper . During

1744-511: A public scandal. Hearst later joined Davies in Europe. Lake claimed she was born in a Catholic hospital outside Paris between 1919 and 1923 and was then given to Davies' sister Rose, whose own child had died in infancy, and passed off as Rose and her husband George Van Cleve's daughter. Lake stated that Hearst paid for her schooling and both Davies and Hearst spent considerable time with her. Davies purportedly told Lake of her true parentage when she

1853-536: A relative of the second wife of noted frontiersman and politician Davy Crockett . The "King" in King Vidor is no sobriquet, but his given name in honor of his mother's favorite brother, King Wallis. At the age of six, Vidor witnessed the devastation of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 . Based on that formative experience, he published a historical memoir of the disaster titled "Southern Storm" for

1962-500: A religious convent near Tours, France , Davies was uninterested in her academic studies and very unhappy as a child supervised by Catholic nuns. Her family was close friends with architect Stanford White , and Davies grew up learning about the Evelyn Nesbit sex scandal . Davies struggled with her stutter as a child, and convinced her mother to let her leave school early due to the torment of her classmates and teachers. As

2071-419: A romantic attachment between director and star. The final product proved cinematically "lifeless". Pleased with Peg o' My Heart box-office receipts, Mayer matched Vidor and Taylor again, resulting in a second feature film success, Happiness (1923) also written by Manners, with Taylor playing a charming Pollyanna -like character. The film would mark Vidor's final collaboration with the couple. Next, Vidor

2180-528: A sense of humor." Throughout her later years, Davies was "noted for her kindness" and renowned for her generosity to charities. During the 1920s, she had become interested in children's charities, donating over $ 1 million. In 1952, she donated $ 1.9 million to establish a children's clinic at UCLA , which was named for her. The clinic's name was changed to the Mattel Children's Hospital in 1998. Davies also fought childhood diseases through

2289-605: A sexual liaison with fellow-guest Charlie Chaplin, and that Hearst mistook Ince for Chaplin and shot him out of jealousy. Chaplin's valet allegedly witnessed Ince being carried from Hearst's yacht and claimed that Ince's head was "bleeding from a bullet wound". Screenwriter Elinor Glyn , a fellow guest at the party, claimed "everyone aboard the yacht had been sworn to secrecy, which would hardly have seemed necessary if poor Ince had died of natural causes". Years later, Chaplin's wife Lita Grey repeated claims that Chaplin had sexually pursued Marion Davies aboard Hearst's yacht and that

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2398-477: A sexual relationship with blonde chorus girl Maybelle Swor. According to Davies' friend and confidant Louise Brooks, Davies was particularly incensed by Hearst's indiscreet relations with Swor. Davies became irate when Hearst's newspapers began openly promoting Swor's career in a nearly identical fashion to their earlier promotion of hers. By the late 1930s, in the wake of the Great Depression , Hearst

2507-529: A sexual relationship. Using his vast newspaper empire and Hearst Metrotone Newsreels , Hearst decided to promote Davies on an enormous scale. His newsreels touted her social activities, and a reporter from the Los Angeles Examiner was assigned the full-time job of recounting Davies' daily exploits in print. Hearst expended an estimated $ 7 million on promoting Davies' career (equivalent to $ 148,361,111 in 2023). Soon after, Hearst—who

2616-722: A standard motif in Vidor films. Impressed with this Vidor sequence, producer Thomas H. Ince helped to finance the picture. In 1922, Vidor produced and directed films that served as vehicles for his spouse, Florence Vidor, notable only for their "artificiality". These works conformed to the comedies of manners and romantic melodramas that were typical of his contemporary, Cecil B. DeMille at Famous Players–Lasky studios. Later, Vidor admitted to being overawed by DeMille's talents. Florence Vidor, in her later career, frequently starred in DeMille productions. Vidor's next picture, Conquering

2725-477: A teenager, Marion left school to pursue a career as a showgirl . When her sister Reine adopted the stage name of Davies after seeing a real estate billboard advertisement, Marion followed suit. Davies worked as a chorus line dancer starting with Chin-Chin , a 1914 musical starring David C. Montgomery and Fred Stone , at the old Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia. She made her Broadway debut starring in

2834-412: A three-year romance on the set of The Sky Pilot that became "a Hollywood legend". The couple would resume their relationship after 40 years (in 1963), remaining close until Vidor's death in 1982. Love Never Dies (1921) is a "rural love story" with a spectacular disaster scene depicting a locomotive and box cars derailing and plunging into a river below. The dramatic presentation of rivers served as

2943-999: A tribute to an industry professional who has made a notable artistic contribution to the motion picture industry. The list below shows the winners of the King Vidor Award for every year except 2003 and 2005, in which the festival did not take place. 2023 – Rick Carter 2022 – Dale Dickey 2020 – Lawrence Kasdan 2019 - Alfred Molina 2018 - Pam Grier 2017 - Josh Brolin 2016 - Ann-Margret 2015 - Peter Bogdanovich 2014 - Jeff Bridges 2013 - John Hawkes 2012 - Sir Richard Taylor 2011 - Greg Kinnear 2010 - Alan Arkin 2009 - Malcolm McDowell 2008 - Peter Fonda 2007 - Norman Jewison and James Cromwell 2006 - Morgan Freeman 2004 - Eva Marie Saint 2002 - Elmer Bernstein 2001 - Howard Keel 2000 - Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz 1999 - Jim Dee 1998 - Stanley Kramer 1997 - Ernest Borgnine 1996 - Robert Wise 1995 - Edward Dmytryk 1994 - Delbert Mann 1993 - George Sidney In 2012,

3052-412: A violent altercation had occurred. However, there was never any substantive evidence to support these allegations. After Ince's death, District Attorney Chester C. Kempley of San Diego conducted an inquiry and issued a public statement which declared "the death of Thomas H. Ince was caused by heart failure as a result of an attack of acute indigestion". Despite the district attorney's declaration, and

3161-654: A wife who'll never give him a divorce. She knows about me, but it's still understood that when she decides to go to the ranch for a week or a weekend, I've got to vamoose. And he snores, and he can be petty, and has sons about as old as me. But he's kind and he's good to me, and I'd never walk out on him. Despite their well-known jealous attachment to one another, both Davies and Hearst had many sexual liaisons with others while living together in San Simeon and elsewhere. Davies had sexual relationships with fellow actors Charlie Chaplin, Dick Powell , and others, while Hearst had

3270-563: A wolf in sheep's clothing'...He sent me flowers and little gifts, like silver boxes or gloves or candy. I wasn't the only one he sent gifts to, but all the girls thought he was particularly looking at me, and the older ones would say 'Look out'. Hearst purportedly went to the Follies show every night for eight weeks solely to gaze at Davies. Without Davies' knowledge, Hearst clandestinely arranged for an intermediary from Campbell's Studio to invite her to be photographed in ornate costumes such as

3379-460: Is one of the few films from Vidor's output of that period to survive. Gilbert, as the Russian nobleman Prince Gritzko, was so ardently performed as co-star Aileen Pringle 's seducer that one scene was deleted. Vidor's typically "routine" movies of this period include Wine of Youth (1924) and Proud Flesh (1925) emphasize the "time-honored virtues" of familial and matrimonial loyalty, even among

San Luis Obispo International Film Festival - Misplaced Pages Continue

3488-566: Is open to films that were produced, directed, or written by residents of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, or Monterey counties. Awards are given for Best Film Over 30 Minutes and Best Film Under 30 Minutes. The Young Filmmakers of Tomorrow Competition is open to elementary through high school students. There are three age divisions (High School, Middle School, and Primary), with awards in each category for Best Individual Film, Best Group Film, Best SLO County Film, and Best Animated Film. Many entries to this competition come from students who take part in

3597-436: Is ultimately rewarded with the affection of a hard-nosed but soft-hearted widow, played by Lillian Leighton. Redolent with the precepts of the "Creed and Pledge", the film's "relentless realism" did not please the executives at First National. They demanded entertainment that would garner a mass share of box-office receipts so as to fill their theaters. As film critic and biographer John Baxter observed: "[t]his experience had

3706-461: The 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. When Joseph P. Kennedy learned Davies was dying of cancer, he "had three cancer specialists flown out" to examine her. In the spring of 1961, Davies underwent surgery for malignant osteomyelitis . Twelve days after the operation, she fell in her hospital room and broke her leg. Her health failed rapidly over the summer. Davies died of

3815-583: The 6th Moscow International Film Festival . Vidor was born into a well-to-do family in Galveston, Texas , the son of Kate (née Wallis) and Charles Shelton Vidor, a lumber importer and mill owner. His grandfather, Károly Charles Vidor, was a refugee of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 , who settled in Galveston in the early 1850s. Vidor's mother, Kate Wallis, of Scotch-English descent, was

3924-599: The Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. Hearst purportedly used his press influence to have Pepi's death obscured in the news cycle, and Davies arranged a funeral for her niece at a private chapel. After a brief hiatus because of her niece's suicide, Davies starred in Hearts Divided (1936) and Cain and Mabel (1936). Her final film for Warner Brothers was Ever Since Eve (1937). Mirroring earlier events at MGM, Warner Brothers purchased

4033-614: The Peacock Military Academy , located in San Antonio, Texas. As a boy, Vidor engaged in photographing and developing portraits of his relatives with a Box Brownie camera . At the age of sixteen Vidor dropped out of a private high school in Maryland and returned to Galveston to work as a nickelodeon ticket taker and projectionist. As an 18-year-old amateur newsreel cameraman Vidor began to acquire skills as

4142-543: The 1890s, in the manner of D. W. Griffith heroines". Davies herself was more inclined to develop her comic talents alongside her friends Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford at United Artists , but Hearst pointedly discouraged this. He preferred seeing her in expensive historical pictures, but she also appeared in contemporary comedies like Tillie the Toiler , The Fair Co-Ed (both 1927), and especially three directed by King Vidor , Not So Dumb (1930), The Patsy and

4251-515: The 1940s and early 1950s arguably represent his richest output. Among his finest works are Northwest Passage (1940), Comrade X (1940), An American Romance (1944), and Duel in the Sun (1946). His dramatic depictions of the American western landscape endow nature with a sinister force where his characters struggle for survival and redemption. Vidor's earlier films tend to identify with

4360-426: The 1940s, as she and Hearst lived an increasingly isolated existence. Although Hearst and Davies "were still playing the gracious lord and his lady, and the guests were still responding with grateful expressions of joy," nevertheless "the life had gone out of their performances". The two spent most of World War II at Hearst's Northern California estate of Wyntoon until returning to San Simeon in 1945. After

4469-483: The 20-film series, a project in which Vidor declared he had "deeply believed". A single reel from Bud's Recruit is known to survive, the earliest extant footage from Vidor's film directing career. In 1918, at the age of 24, Vidor directed his first Hollywood feature, The Turn in the Road (1919), a film presentation of a Christian Science evangelical tract sponsored by a group of doctors and dentists affiliated as

San Luis Obispo International Film Festival - Misplaced Pages Continue

4578-533: The Beautiful People of the day fought for invitations. Xanadu was a lonely fortress, and Susan was quite right to escape from it. The mistress was never one of Hearst's possessions: he was always her suitor, and she was the precious treasure of his heart for more than 30 years, until his last breath of life. Theirs is truly a love story. Love is not the subject of Citizen Kane . Welles told filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich that Samuel Insull 's construction of

4687-750: The Festival’s independent film competition was named in his honor. Wendy Eidson became the festival director in 2007 to 2020 and is now led by Executive Director, Skye McLennan. The George Sidney Independent Film Competition was introduced in 1996, in honor of the first recipient of the festival's King Vidor Memorial Award. Accepted films compete in several categories: Best Full-length Narrative Film, Best Full-length Documentary, Best Short Film, Best College Student Film. Audience Awards are also offered for Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Short Film, and Best in Fest. The Central Coast Filmmakers Showcase

4796-626: The Hotex Motion Picture Company in 1914 ("HO" for Houston, "TEX" for Texas) to produce low-budget one- or two-reelers. The enterprise garnered a national press release in Moving Picture World announcing its formation. Only still photos survive from these comedy-adventures, for which Hotex failed to collect any royalties. In 1915, newlyweds Vidor and actress Florence Arto Vidor along with business partner Sedgwick, moved to California in search of employment in

4905-547: The Magnificent , both released in 1926. In La Bohème , a film of "great and enduring merit", leading lady Lillian Gish exerted considerable control over the film's production. Bardelys the Magnificent, a picaresque swashbuckler mimicked the films of Douglas Fairbanks . Vidor would spoof the movie on his own Show People (1928) with comedienne Marion Davies . Marion Davies Marion Davies (born Marion Cecilia Douras ; January 3, 1897 – September 22, 1961)

5014-666: The Marion Davies Foundation. In the summer of 1956, after many decades of heavy drinking, Davies had a minor cerebral stroke and was admitted to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital . After the stroke, her Hollywood friends noted that "much of her old spirit and fire were gone". She quipped to columnist Hedda Hopper that "we blondes seem to be falling apart". She would never fully regain her health. During this time, many of her friends died, including Louis B. Mayer and Norma Talmadge . Their deaths convinced Davies that she would soon pass as well. Three years later, during

5123-554: The May 1935 issue of Esquire magazine. In an interview with the Directors Guild of America (DGA) in 1980 Vidor recalled the horrors of the hurricane's effects: All the wooden structures of the town were flattened ... [t]he streets were piled high with dead people, and I took the first tugboat out. On the boat I went up into the bow and saw that the bay was filled with dead bodies, horses, animals, people, everything. Near

5232-548: The Thalbergs, Hearst reacted angrily by pulling his newspaper support for MGM and moving Davies and Cosmopolitan Pictures' distribution to Warner Brothers . Davies' first film at Warner Brothers was Page Miss Glory (1935). During this period, a personal tragedy occurred in Davies' own life with the death of her vivacious 25-year-old niece, Pepi Lederer . Pepi had been a permanent resident at San Simeon for many years. She

5341-478: The Woman , was an unabashed imitation of DeMille's outstanding drama Male and Female (1919), starring Gloria Swanson . Vidor followed up with Woman, Wake Up and The Real Adventure (both 1922) and each depicting a female struggling successfully to assert herself in a male dominated world. As such, these may be considered as early examples of feminist-oriented cinema, but with entirely conventional endings. By

5450-609: The Youth Filmmaking Workshops held by the festival each summer. The King Vidor Award for Excellence in Filmmaking has been presented annually since the festival began in 1993. The award is named for director King Vidor , who holds the record in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest career as a film director. He directed sixty-four films over his 67-year career. The award is presented as

5559-414: The allegation that Lake was the daughter of Davies and Hearst, a spokesman for Hearst Castle commented that, "It's a very old rumor and a rumor is all it ever was." In November 1924, Davies was among those revelers aboard Hearst's steam yacht Oneida for a weekend party that culminated in the death of film producer Thomas Ince . Ince purportedly suffered an attack of acute indigestion while aboard

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5668-435: The backstage-in-Hollywood saga Show People (both 1928). The Patsy contains her imitations, which she usually did for friends, of silent stars Lillian Gish , Mae Murray and Pola Negri . Vidor saw Davies as a comedic actress instead of the dramatic actress that Hearst wanted her to be. He noticed she was the life of parties and incorporated that into his films. The coming of sound made Davies nervous because she had

5777-475: The blonde young singer he tried to turn into a diva, although she had no voice, was in reality Miss Davies". Consequently, a retroactive myth soon developed that Davies was "not a great actress and the films she made were not among the more impressive or profitable releases". By the time of her prolonged death from cancer, press obituaries erroneously depicted Davies to have been an extremely mediocre and unpopular actress during her lifetime. However, contrary to

5886-549: The blues away". Eleven weeks and one day after Hearst's death, Davies married sea captain Horace Brown on October 31, 1951, in Las Vegas. Their union was unhappy. Davies filed for divorce twice, but neither was finalized, despite Brown admitting he treated her badly: "I'm a beast," he said. "I took him back. I don't know why," she explained. "I guess because he's standing right beside me, crying. Thank God we all have

5995-592: The civil marriage of socialite Gloria Gould Bishop . She had three older sisters, Ethel, Rose , and Reine . An older brother, Charles, drowned. His name was subsequently given to Davies' nephew, screenwriter Charles Lederer , the son of Davies' sister Reine Davies. The Douras family lived near Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Educated in the Sacred Heart religious convent near the Hudson River and later

6104-522: The comic roles which were her forte. Hearst reportedly tried to persuade MGM production boss Irving Thalberg to cast Davies in the coveted title role of the 1938 historical drama Marie Antoinette , but Thalberg awarded the part to his ambitious wife, Norma Shearer . This rejection followed a previous one where Davies had been denied the female lead in The Barretts of Wimpole Street , which went to Shearer as well. Despite Davies' friendship with

6213-501: The common people in a collective struggle, whereas his later works place individualists at the center of his narratives. He was considered an "actors' director": many of his players received Academy Award nominations or awards, among them Wallace Beery , Robert Donat , Barbara Stanwyck , Jennifer Jones , Anne Shirley , and Lillian Gish . Vidor was nominated five times by the Academy Awards for Best Director. In 1979, he

6322-703: The corporation. She soon invested in property and owned The Desert Inn in Palm Springs and several properties in New York City, including the Squibb Building at Fifth Avenue and 58th Street, the Davies Building at E. 57th Street and the Douras Building at E. 55th Street. Following Hearst's death, most of Davies' coterie of hedonistic friends gradually drifted away, and "she relied upon one or two companion-nurses to keep

6431-464: The decline of her film career during the Great Depression , Davies struggled with alcoholism . She retired from the screen in 1937 to devote herself to an ailing Hearst and charitable work. In Hearst's declining years, Davies remained his steadfast companion until his death in 1951. Eleven weeks after Hearst's death, she married sea captain Horace Brown. Their marriage lasted until Davies' death at 64 from malignant osteomyelitis (bone cancer) of

6540-550: The director had discovered on a Hollywood streetcar. The films Better Times , The Other Half , and Poor Relations , all completed in 1919, also featured future film director David Butler and starred Vidor's then wife Florence Arto Vidor (married in 1915), a rising actor in Hollywood pictures. Vidor ended his association with the Brentwood group in 1920. King Vidor next embarked on a major project in collaboration with

6649-403: The early 1920s favored "literary" texts as the basis for movie screenplays. Parvenu-rich movie executives wished to provide a patina of class or "tone" to an industry often regarded as vulgar and cash-driven. Vidor was content to adapt these "prestigious properties" so securing his reputation as a reliable studio asset. His work during this period did not rise to the level of his later work, but

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6758-406: The early 1920s, Florence Vidor had emerged as a major film star in her own right and wished to pursue her career independent of her spouse. The couple divorced in 1926, and shortly thereafter Florence married violinist Jascha Heifetz . Vidor would soon marry model and future film actress Eleanor Boardman . Vidor Village went bankrupt in 1922 and Vidor, now without a studio, offered his services to

6867-508: The emerging Hollywood movie industry, arriving on the West Coast virtually penniless. Based on a screen test arranged by Texas actress Corinne Griffith and shot by Charles Rosher in Hollywood, Florence Vidor procured a contract with Vitagraph Studios , marking the start of her successful movie career. Vidor obtained minor roles acting at Vitagraph and Inceville studios (the spy drama The Intrigue (1916) survives, in which he plays

6976-596: The end of production for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's The Wizard of Oz , Vidor was called in to direct the remaining scenes set in Kansas. His contributions include the cyclone sequence and the musical number, "Over the Rainbow." Vidor was introduced to Mary Baker Eddy 's Christian Science by his mother at a very early age. Vidor would endow his films with the moral precepts of the faith, a "blend of pragmatic self-help and religious mysticism." Vidor attended grade school at

7085-636: The fact that three physicians and a nurse had attended Ince before he died, the rumors persisted. Consequently, "one can still hear solemn stories in Hollywood today that Ince was murdered" in a jealous dispute over Davies. By 1937, Hearst was $ 126 million in debt (equivalent to $ 2,670,500,000 in 2023). Consequently, when Hearst's Cosmopolitan Pictures folded in 1938, Davies left the film business and retreated to San Simeon. She would later claim in her autobiography that, after many years of work, she had become bored with film acting and decided to devote herself to being Hearst's "companion". However, Davies

7194-620: The fallacy of its line. So long as I direct pictures, I will make only those founded on the principles of right, and I will endeavor to draw upon the inexhaustible source of good for my stories, my guidance and my inspiration. His "manifesto" was carried in Variety magazine's January 1920 issue. The first production from Vidor Village was his The Jack Knife Man (1920), a bleak and bitter story of an orphaned boy raised by an impoverished yet kindly hermit, performed by former stage actor Fred Turner . The recluse achieves financial success and

7303-456: The famous star looked closer to forty than eighteen. At the first sight of Laurette [Vidor] experienced acute relief. She came toward him smiling, and his camera-minded eye saw at once a face all round and animated, essentially youthful. Pumping her hand he burst out impulsively "For Heaven's sake, let's make a test with your own lovely hair!" The process of adapting the stage version to film was nevertheless fraught with difficulties, complicated by

7412-487: The festival arranged for a historic screening of Citizen Kane at Hearst Castle . Citizen Kane was loosely based on the life of wealthy publisher William Randolph Hearst , and was considered by Hearst supporters to represent an unfavorable view of the newspaper magnate. Hearst went to great lengths to prevent the film from being shown, and he banned the film from being mentioned in any of his newspapers. Hearst's longtime companion, Marion Davies , claimed that he never saw

7521-418: The fictional Susan Alexander Kane bears no resemblance to Davies: That Susan was Kane's wife and Marion was Hearst's mistress is a difference more important than might be guessed in today's changed climate of opinion. The wife was a puppet and a prisoner; the mistress was never less than a princess. Hearst built more than one castle, and Marion was the hostess in all of them: they were pleasure domes indeed, and

7630-494: The fifty-three-year-old newspaper tycoon , William Randolph Hearst , and became his mistress . Hearst took over management of Davies' career and promoted her as a film actress. Hearst financed Davies’ pictures and promoted her career extensively in his newspapers and Hearst newsreels . He founded Cosmopolitan Pictures to produce her films. By 1924, Davies was the number one female box office star in Hollywood because of

7739-420: The filming of Operator 13 , Hearst repeatedly caused problems on the set and insisted on directing a scene, much to film director Richard Boleslawski 's consternation. At Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Davies was often involved with many aspects of her films and was considered an astute businesswoman. However, her career continued to be hampered by Hearst's insistence that she play dramatic historical parts as opposed to

7848-520: The heyday of the Jazz Age , the couple spent much of their time entertaining and holding extravagant soirees with famous guests, including many Hollywood actors and political figures. Frequent habitues and occasional visitors included Charlie Chaplin , Douglas Fairbanks , Harpo Marx , Clark Gable , Calvin Coolidge , Winston Churchill , Charles Lindbergh , and Amelia Earhart , among others. As

7957-561: The independent Brentwood Film Corporation. Vidor recalls of his first foray into Hollywood film-making: I wrote a script [The Turn in the Road] and sent it around ... and nine doctors put up $ 1,000 each ... and it was a success. That was the beginning. I didn't have time to go to college. Vidor would make three more films for the Brentwood Corporation, all of which featured as yet unknown comedienne Zasu Pitts , who

8066-434: The jaw in 1961. By the time of her death, her popular association with the character of Susan Alexander Kane in the film Citizen Kane (1941) already overshadowed Davies' legacy as a talented actress. The title character's second wife — an untalented singer whom he tries to promote — was widely assumed to be based upon Davies. However, many commentators, including writer-director Orson Welles , defended Davies' record as

8175-424: The liberated Jazz Age flappers. King Vidor's tenure as a studio stringer was at an end. His next feature would transform his career and have a resounding impact on the late silent film era: The Big Parade . "One of his least satisfactory silent films ... The Big Parade does not wear well: the portrait of World War I is softened and sentimentalized out of existence, soldiers portrayed as innocents thrust into

8284-687: The luxury yacht and was escorted off it in San Diego by Hearst's studio manager, Dr. Daniel Goodman. Ince was put on a train bound for Los Angeles. When his condition worsened, he was removed from the train at Del Mar . Dr. T. A. Parker and a nurse, Jesse Howard, provided him with medical attention. Ince allegedly told them he had drunk a strong liquor aboard Hearst's yacht. He was taken to his Hollywood home where he died. Following Ince's death, rumors became widespread that Hearst had caught Ince "pressing unwelcome attentions on Miss Davies and shot him fatally". A variant of this rumor alleged that Davies had

8393-653: The malignant osteomyelitis on September 22, 1961, in Hollywood. Over 200 mourners and many Hollywood celebrities, including her friends Mary Pickford, Harold Lloyd , Charles "Buddy" Rogers , Glenn Ford , Kay Williams , and Johnny Weissmuller attended her funeral at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Hollywood. Davies was buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery . She left an estate estimated at $ 20 million (equivalent to $ 204,000,000 in 2023). According to biographers,

8502-593: The maw of battle, the cannons wreathed in scriptwriter's roses ... The scenes on the Western Front look trivial alongside contemporary photographs: the lice, the rats, and roaches, the urine and blood, the disease, fear, and horror of the true events are altogether lost in this version."—Biographer Charles Higham , in The Art of the American Film (1973). In 1925 Vidor directed The Big Parade , among

8611-433: The money and security—he's given me more than I'll ever need. Not because he's such cozy company, either. Most times, when he starts jawing, he bores me stiff. And certainly not because he's so wonderful behind the barn. Why, I could find a million better lays any Wednesday. No, you know what he gives me, sugar? He gives me the feeling I'm worth something to him. A whole lot of what we have, or don't have, I don't like. He's got

8720-654: The most acclaimed films of the silent era, and a tremendous commercial success. The Big Parade , a war romance starring John Gilbert , established Vidor as one of MGM's top studio directors for the next decade. The film would influence contemporary directors G. W. Pabst in Westfront 1918 and Lewis Milestone in All Quiet on the Western Front , both 1930. Producer Irving Thalberg arranged for Vidor to film two more Gilbert vehicles: La Bohème and Bardelys

8829-582: The motion picture that carries a message to humanity. I believe in the picture that will help humanity to free itself from the shackles of fear and suffering that have so long bound it in chains. I will not knowingly produce a picture that contains anything that I do not believe to be absolutely true to human nature, anything that could injure anyone or anything unclean in thought or action. Nor will I deliberately portray anything to cause fright, suggest fear, glorify mischief, condone cruelty or extenuate malice. I will never picture evil or wrong, except to prove

8938-600: The movie. Ben Mankiewicz , grandson of Herman Mankiewicz, who won an Oscar for co-writing the screenplay, introduced the movie at the Hearst Castle Visitor Center as part of the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival. Seventy-one years after the film’s release, it was shown at Hearst Castle for the first time. The event was preceded by a tribute to Timothy White , known for his celebrity portraits. He

9047-446: The name Marion Davies that they would actually insult me." In her published memoirs The Times We Had , Davies concluded that such over-the-top promotion of her film career likely did more harm than good. Hearst's jealousy also interfered with Davies' career, especially in her earlier films and her stage roles. According to Davies, he often vetoed the casting of attractive leading men and typically would not permit her to be embraced on

9156-536: The next ten years, Davies appeared in 29 films, an average of almost three films a year. One of her best known roles was as Mary Tudor in When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922), directed by Robert G. Vignola , with whom she collaborated on several films. The 1922–23 period may have been her most successful as an actress, with both When Knighthood Was in Flower and Little Old New York ranking among

9265-763: The palatial Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California , overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Upon visiting the sprawling Hearst Castle with its Greek statues and celestial suites, playwright George Bernard Shaw reportedly quipped: "This is what God would have built if he had the money." When not holding court at San Simeon, Hearst and Davies resided at Marion's equally luxurious beach house in Santa Monica , at Hearst's rustic Wyntoon estate in Northern California, and St Donat's Castle in Wales . During

9374-545: The performance. While dancing in the Follies at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City, the teenage Davies was first observed by newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst , who was seated in the front row of the audience. Recalling this first encounter, Davies indicated she was afraid of Hearst initially: [Hearst] always sat in the front row at the Follies . The girls in the show told me who he was. They said 'Look out for him—he's looking at you. He's

9483-425: The popular association with the character of Susan Alexander Kane led to later revisionist portrayals of Davies as a talentless opportunist. In his later years, Orson Welles attempted to correct the widespread misconceptions which Citizen Kane had created about Davies' popularity and talents as an actress. In his foreword to Davies' autobiography, The Times We Had (published posthumously in 1975), Welles wrote that

9592-432: The popularity of When Knighthood Was in Flower and Little Old New York , which were among the biggest box-office hits of their respective years. During the zenith of the Jazz Age , Davies became renowned as the hostess of lavish soirees for Hollywood actors and political elites. However, in 1924, her name became linked with scandal when film producer Thomas Ince died at a party aboard Hearst's yacht. Following

9701-452: The release of Orson Welles 's Citizen Kane (1941) destroyed Davies' reputation. Film audiences mistakenly assumed Davies was the unalloyed inspiration for the character of Susan Alexander in the film, which was based loosely on Hearst's life. Many viewers, including journalists, "assumed that the powerful publisher Charles Kane in the film was Mr. Hearst, the huge castle Xanadu was in reality Mr. Hearst's fabulous estate San Simeon and

9810-429: The retroactive myth that Davies' films were neither popular nor profitable, most of Davies' films made money, and she remained a popular star for most of her career. She was the number one female box office star of 1922–23 because of the enormous popularity of 1922's When Knighthood Was in Flower and 1923's Little Old New York , which ranked among the biggest box-office hits of 1922 and 1923, respectively. Over time,

9919-510: The rights to Robert E. Sherwood 's 1935 play Tovarich for Davies, but the lead role in the 1937 film adaptation was given to Claudette Colbert . Hearst shopped Davies and Cosmopolitan for another year, but no deals were made, and the actress officially retired. In 1943, Davies was offered the role of Mrs. Brown in Claudia , but Hearst dissuaded her from taking a supporting role and tarnishing her starring career. In her 45 feature films, over

10028-691: The screen or in stage plays. In her memoirs, Davies claimed to have repeatedly assailed Hearst's jealous stewardship in vain: "Everyone has to do a little embrace in pictures, just for the audience's sake," she told him. However, Hearst would not relent. Consequently, many of her earlier pictures were regarded as sexless and featured "no kissing at all" even when a kiss was needed for a happy ending. Hearst insisted on personally rewriting Davies' film scripts, and his constant meddling often exasperated film directors such as Lloyd Bacon . Hearst further hindered Davies' career by insisting she star only in costume dramas in which she often played "a doll-sweetheart out of

10137-661: The show at the Globe Theatre on October 20. She also appeared in Nobody Home , Miss Information and Stop, Look and Listen . When not dancing, she modeled for illustrators Harrison Fisher and Howard Chandler Christy . In 1916, Davies was signed as a featured player in the Ziegfeld Follies . However, she encountered difficulties with her career as a Ziegfeld girl , as her persistent stammer prevented her from pronouncing any lines. Consequently, she

10246-428: The silent and sound eras. His works are distinguished by a vivid, humane, and sympathetic depiction of contemporary social issues. Considered an auteur director, Vidor approached multiple genres and allowed the subject matter to determine the style, often pressing the limits of film-making conventions. His most acclaimed and successful film in the silent era was The Big Parade (1925). Vidor's sound films of

10355-607: The top executives in the film industry. Film producer Louis B. Mayer engaged Vidor to direct Broadway actress Laurette Taylor in a film version of her famous juvenile role as Peg O'Connell in Peg o' My Heart , written by her husband J. Hartley Manners . Despite viewing screen tests supplied by director D. W. Griffth, Vidor was anxious that the aging Taylor (born 1884) would not be convincing as her 18-year-old stage character on screen. Biographer Marguerite Courtney describes their first encounter: in [her] frowzy wig and dead white makeup,

10464-634: The top three box-office hits of those years. She was named the number one female box-office star by theater owners and crowned "Queen of the Screen" at their 1924 Hollywood convention. Other hit silent films included: Beverly of Graustark , The Cardboard Lover , Enchantment , The Bride's Play , Lights of Old Broadway , Zander the Great , The Red Mill , Yolanda , Beauty's Worth , and The Restless Sex . In 1926, Hearst's wife Millicent Hearst moved to New York, and Hearst and Davies moved to

10573-455: The years passed, Hearst's relentless efforts to promote Davies' career purportedly had a detrimental effect. According to Davies, Hearst grandiosely advertised her latest films with "signs all over New York City and pictures in the papers ... I thought it got to be a little too much." Such unceasing publicity irritated the public. "In New York city there were big signs, blocks and blocks of signs," Davies recalled, "and people got so tired of

10682-539: Was a big-budget western-comedy shot on location in the high Sierra Nevada of California. John Bowers stars as the intrepid preacher and Colleen Moore (soon to be famous as the quintessential Hollywood " flapper ") as the girl he loved and rescued from a deadly cattle stampede. The natural landscapes serve as an essential dramatic component in the film, as they would in subsequent Vidor movies. The cost overruns cut into First National profits, and they declined to fund any further Vidor projects. Vidor and Moore would begin

10791-539: Was a closeted lesbian who had sexual relationships with actresses Louise Brooks , Nina Mae McKinney , and others. At some point during the affair between Pepi and Brooks, Hearst became cognizant of Lederer's lesbianism. According to Louise Brooks' memoirs, to avoid a public scandal or to forestall blackmail, Hearst arranged for Pepi to be committed to a mental institution for her drug addiction. In June 1935, mere days after her institutionalization, Pepi committed suicide by leaping to her death from an upper floor window of

10900-450: Was age 11, while Hearst confirmed he was her father on her wedding day at age 17, where both Davies and Hearst gave her away. However, factual evidence casts doubt on these claims. Lake's birth date in 1919 is confirmed by birthday telegrams and photo documentation, and Davies did not go to Europe for the first time until 1922. Davies' film schedule was very busy in 1919, and she shows no sign of pregnancy in any of them. When responding to

11009-407: 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 . As a teenager, she appeared in several Broadway musicals and one film, Runaway Romany (1917). She soon became a featured performer in the Ziegfeld Follies . While performing in the 1916 Follies , the nineteen-year-old Marion met

11118-590: Was awarded an Honorary Academy Award for his "incomparable achievements as a cinematic creator and innovator." Additionally, he won eight national and international film awards during his career, including the Screen Directors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 1957. In 1962, he was head of the jury at the 12th Berlin International Film Festival . In 1969, he was a member of the jury at

11227-498: Was awarded the festival’s Spotlight Award. In 2015 the festival arranged to show Citizen Kane at Hearst Castle again, but this time in the house's own original 50-seat screening room, as a $ 1,000-per-ticket fundraiser, with Ben Mankiewicz as host. King Vidor King Wallis Vidor ( / ˈ v iː d ɔːr / VEE -dor ; February 8, 1894 – November 1, 1982) was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose 67-year film-making career successfully spanned

11336-455: Was entrusted to direct Mayer's top female star Clara Kimball Young in The Woman of Bronze , a 1923 melodrama that resembled the formulaic films he had created with Florence Vidor at Vidor Village. Vidor's yeoman service to Louis B. Mayer secured him entrée into Goldwyn Pictures in 1923, a holding soon to be amalgamated with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Samuel Goldwyn and other film producers of

11445-417: Was intensely ambitious, and she faced the harsh reality at age forty that she could no longer play young heroines, as in her earlier films. Consequently, when drunk at parties in San Simeon, Davies often lamented her retirement and "cursed everyone who felt she had contributed to her ruined career". As the years passed, Davies developed a drinking problem, and her alcoholism grew worse in the late 1930s and

11554-446: Was relegated only to dancing routines. While working for Florenz Ziegfeld , a cavalcade of admirers pursued her sexually. She came to loathe young college men: "The stage-door-Johnnies [ sic ] I didn't like. Especially those who came from Yale ." During one infamous show starring Gaby Deslys , rowdy undergraduates from Yale pelted Davies and other chorus dancers with tomatoes and rotten eggs to show their displeasure with

11663-662: Was still married to Millicent Hearst—moved Davies with her mother and sisters into an elegant Manhattan townhouse at the corner of Riverside Drive and W. 105th Street. Hearst ensured that, "Marion's new abode was nothing less than a palace fit for a movie-queen—especially since the queen would frequently be receiving the press on the premises." Cecilia of the Pink Roses in 1918 was her first film, backed by Hearst. He next secured Cosmopolitan's distribution deals, first with Paramount Pictures , then with Samuel Goldwyn Productions , and with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . During

11772-666: Was suffering financial reversals. After selling many of the contents of St Donat's Castle, Davies sold her jewelry, stocks and bonds and wrote a check for $ 1 million to Hearst to save him from bankruptcy. Since the early 1920s, rumors claimed that Davies and Hearst had a child between 1919 and 1923. In later years, the child was rumored to be Patricia Lake (née Van Cleve), who publicly identified herself as Davies' niece. On October 3, 1993, Lake died of complications from lung cancer in Indian Wells, California . Shortly before her death, her son claimed that Lake revealed she

11881-399: Was the biological daughter of Davies and Hearst. There was never any public comment on her alleged paternity in public, even after Hearst's and Davies' deaths. The claim was published in her newspaper death notice . According to the rumor, Lake was conceived during Hearst's extra-marital affair with Davies and out of wedlock . Hearst sent her to Europe to have the child secretly and avoid

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