"Quality Street" is included as a special feature on the DVD for a biography of Marion Davies entitled "Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies". It's a good film to include, as it's one of Davies' better silent features.
The story is based on a play by J.M. Barrie of "Peter Pan" fame. Although much of the story is enjoyable, blame for the ridiculous plot twist late in the story can be placed on Barrie--more about that later.
The film begins with Dr. Valentine Brown (Conrad Nagel) courting Miss Phoebe (Marion Davies) in about the year 1800 (give or take). They seem quite in love and the neighborhood gossips anticipate talking about the couple's upcoming marriage. However, instead of marrying, Dr. Brown volunteers to fight in the Napoleonic wars. In the film, no mention is made of how long he's off to war. You know it's a long time and the wars lasted, on and off, for almost two decades! According to a summary of the original play, apparently he was gone 10 years. Oddly, during that time, Phoebe never dated but instead decided to become a spinster and open up a school with her sister. However, Dr. Brown does return and finds Phoebe is a rather unattractive woman, as she really doesn't seem interested in making herself presentable. He had planned on marrying her but is so taken aback by her appearance that he soon leaves. However, he does return--and here is where the story gets insanely silly. Phoebe decides to pretend to be her own niece, Livvy, and makes herself beautiful. Brown is quite taken with Livvy but does he still want Phoebe or is he a total louse (as well as STUPID for believing Livvy is not Phoebe considering they look EXACTLY alike!)? See the film and find out how all this works out in the end.
As you can tell from my summary, I really thought the surprise twist was dumb. So how can I STILL give the movie an 8? Well, the production values and acting more than make up for the film's deficiencies. It truly is amazing seeing the MGM set and costumes--they are just gorgeous. And while I am not a huge fan of Marion Davies (and currently her fans have flooded IMDb with 10s for ALL of her films--even her bad ones from the 1930s), I must admit that she was beautiful here and was in good form. Miss Davies WAS very talented in light comedies and when she was in her element, she was unbeatable at this time. Well worth your time and a very enjoyable and sweet silent.
This film was remade a decade later with Katharine Hepburn. Despite being a sound film, it is an awful dud. Stick with the Davies version--it is better in practically every way. Also I noticed one reviewer complained about the intertitle cards--saying the language was stupid with the often use of phrases like 'La sir'. Well, in the version I saw, this phrase was NEVER used. Perhaps they saw a different print--I just know they did NOT talk like that in this film! Also, be aware that the print in this version is far from pristine but is still very watchable.
The story is based on a play by J.M. Barrie of "Peter Pan" fame. Although much of the story is enjoyable, blame for the ridiculous plot twist late in the story can be placed on Barrie--more about that later.
The film begins with Dr. Valentine Brown (Conrad Nagel) courting Miss Phoebe (Marion Davies) in about the year 1800 (give or take). They seem quite in love and the neighborhood gossips anticipate talking about the couple's upcoming marriage. However, instead of marrying, Dr. Brown volunteers to fight in the Napoleonic wars. In the film, no mention is made of how long he's off to war. You know it's a long time and the wars lasted, on and off, for almost two decades! According to a summary of the original play, apparently he was gone 10 years. Oddly, during that time, Phoebe never dated but instead decided to become a spinster and open up a school with her sister. However, Dr. Brown does return and finds Phoebe is a rather unattractive woman, as she really doesn't seem interested in making herself presentable. He had planned on marrying her but is so taken aback by her appearance that he soon leaves. However, he does return--and here is where the story gets insanely silly. Phoebe decides to pretend to be her own niece, Livvy, and makes herself beautiful. Brown is quite taken with Livvy but does he still want Phoebe or is he a total louse (as well as STUPID for believing Livvy is not Phoebe considering they look EXACTLY alike!)? See the film and find out how all this works out in the end.
As you can tell from my summary, I really thought the surprise twist was dumb. So how can I STILL give the movie an 8? Well, the production values and acting more than make up for the film's deficiencies. It truly is amazing seeing the MGM set and costumes--they are just gorgeous. And while I am not a huge fan of Marion Davies (and currently her fans have flooded IMDb with 10s for ALL of her films--even her bad ones from the 1930s), I must admit that she was beautiful here and was in good form. Miss Davies WAS very talented in light comedies and when she was in her element, she was unbeatable at this time. Well worth your time and a very enjoyable and sweet silent.
This film was remade a decade later with Katharine Hepburn. Despite being a sound film, it is an awful dud. Stick with the Davies version--it is better in practically every way. Also I noticed one reviewer complained about the intertitle cards--saying the language was stupid with the often use of phrases like 'La sir'. Well, in the version I saw, this phrase was NEVER used. Perhaps they saw a different print--I just know they did NOT talk like that in this film! Also, be aware that the print in this version is far from pristine but is still very watchable.