Show People (1928)
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77% of users liked it
(466 ratings)
This Marion Davies vehicle was loosely inspired by the career of Gloria Swanson. Davies plays would-be starlet Peggy Pepper, who arrives at the gates of MGM Studios with her dad Colonel Pepper (Dell Henderson) in hopes of becoming a great dramatic actress. Instead, she a scores a hit as an ingenue… More This Marion Davies vehicle was loosely inspired by the career of Gloria Swanson. Davies plays would-be starlet Peggy Pepper, who arrives at the gates of MGM Studios with her dad Colonel Pepper (Dell Henderson) in hopes of becoming a great dramatic actress. Instead, she a scores a hit as an ingenue in the slapstick comedies starring the effervescent Billy Boone (William Haines). As the audience rocks with laughter during the preview of Peggy's first film (no one is more enthusiastic than her director Harry Gribbon), she sits in sullen silence, insisting to Billy that some day she'll invoke tears instead of laughter. This doesn't seem likely, inasmuch as Peggy can't even cry on cue (her director is forced to peel onions outside of camera range to achieve the desired emotion), but the tenacious young actress finally manages to win favor in dramatic roles. Inevitably, this causes a strain on her budding romance with Billy, and the couple slowly drifts apart. Now the unchallenged Queen of the Cinema, Peggy -- billing herself as Patricia Pepoire -- prepares to marry her oily leading man Andre (Paul Ralli), but mischievous Billy disrupts her fancy wedding. She angrily tosses Billy out of the house, realizing only when it's too late that she's still in love with him. But in the final scene, the hero and heroine are accidentally reunited on the set of a WWI picture directed by King Vidor (who also directed Show People). Two versions of Show People are currently available for TV; the "stretch-framed" Kevin Brownlow-David Gill restoration, with a new orchestral score by Carl Davis, and the original MGM release version, outfitted with a lively music and sound-effects track. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- King Vidor
- Written By
- Agnes Christine Johnston, Laurence Stallings
- Genres
- Comedy
- In Theaters
- Nov 11, 1928 Wide
- Studio
- MGM
Critic Reviews
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Jeremy Heilman, MovieMartyr.com
Show People is a classic of its type, certainly more entertaining than The Artist, which recycled the same material to considerably diminished effect.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
What might have been hysterical back in the day, today seems passably cutesy comedy.
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Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan
Interesting Hearst-backed production starring Davies and other big stars of the era.
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Cast
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Marion Davies
as Peggy Pepper
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William Haines
as Billy Boone
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Dell Henderson
as Col. Pepper
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Paul Ralli
as Andre Telefair
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Tenen Holtz
as Casting director
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Harry Gribbon
as Comedy director
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Sidney Bracey
as Dramatic director
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Polly Moran
as Maid
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Renée Adorée
as Herself
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George K. Arthur
as Himself
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Charles Chaplin
as Himself
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Lew Cody
as Special guest appearance
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Albert Conti
as Producer
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Karl Dane
as Himself
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Douglas Fairbanks
as Himself
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John Gilbert
as Himself
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Elinor Glyn
as Herself
- Leatrice Joy
- Rod La Rocque
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Mae Murray
as Special guest appearance
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Louella Parsons
as Special guest appearance
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Aileen Pringle
as Herself
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Dorothy Sebastian
as Herself
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Norma Talmadge
as Herself
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Estelle Taylor
as Herself
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Claire Windsor
as Herself
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William S. Hart
as Special guest appearance
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King Vidor
as Special guest appearance