"Marion Davies is at her comedic best in Beverly of Graustark, as she plays an American student impersonating her male cousin to save the family kingdom. Based on the George McCutcheon "Graustark" series, Beverly of Graustark has recently undergone a masterful restoration by the Library of Congress, supported by Ben Model's Undercrank Productions. For the first time in many decades, we are now able to enjoy this film as it was meant to be seen."
"Marion Davies spent her early career in costume dramas, at the behest of her boss at Cosmopolitan Productions (and real-life romantic partner) William Randolph Hearst. But by 1926, she was making her own name as a comedienne, taking charge of her own roles. Hearst was hesitant about Davies in comedy, but he slowly warmed to the idea, due in part to Beverly of Graustark."
"This may come as a surprise to filmgoers who know Davies from her alleged portrayal in Orson Welles's Citizen Kane. The character of Susan Alexander, a drunken, talentless hack who has an affair with Charles Foster Kane, has unjustly marred Davies's reputation for generations. In Beverly of Graustark we see a charming, vivacious actress with talent that leaps off the screen."
Marion Davies stars in Beverly of Graustark as an American student who impersonates her male cousin to save a family kingdom. The film adapts George McCutcheon’s Graustark series and has undergone a careful restoration by the Library of Congress with support from Ben Model’s Undercrank Productions, enabling modern audiences to view the film as intended. Davies transitioned from costume dramas under William Randolph Hearst’s influence to commanding comedic roles by 1926. Beverly of Graustark mixes costume spectacle and physical comedy, with Davies’s tumbling, facial expressiveness, and timing demonstrating her prowess and elevating her reputation as a leading 1920s comedienne.
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