SILVER

Georgian stage actress Peggy Pepper (Marion Davies) sets her sights on Hollywood and finds success as a foil to slapstick comic Billy Boone (William Haines). Still dreaming of becoming a serious actress, she signs up with High Art Studios, which specializes in stuffy costume dramas, and changes her name to "Patricia Pepoire." A chance meeting between Billy's knockabout crew and the pretentious High Art ensemble helps Peggy to see that comedy might be the more honest trade for her. Something of a roman à clef for Davies' own film career, where her producer-lover William Randolph Hearst persisted in casting her in costume dramas despite her ample and evident comedic talent, SHOW PEOPLE rings true as an insider's take on the ways of the silent-movie world. Adding to that authenticity are a bevy of stars playing themselves in candid cameo appearances, including Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Norma Talmadge, John Gilbert, William S. Hart, Mae Murray, Renée Adorée, Eleanor Boardman, Louella Parsons and director King Vidor himself. DIR/PROD King Vidor; SCR Agnes Christine Johnston, Laurence Stallings; PROD Marion Davies, Irving Thalberg. U.S., 1928, b&w, 79 min. Silent with English intertitles. NOT RATED

No AFI Member passes accepted.