Plot:
Pauline ‘Polly’ Fisher (Marion Davies) and the
company of a circus arrive in a small conservative and religion-oriented town.
As soon as she arrives, Polly is furious at the suspected influence the church
has on the circus advertisements by covering her bare legs with skirt and pant
shaped fabric. She instantly storms down to the church to confront the
minister.
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| Polly at the circus |
She finds the reverend to be the young, handsome, quick-witted and
very charming Rev. John Hartley (Clark Gable). He tells her that it is not his fault, but
censorship regulations that require her body parts to be covered. They appear
to like each other – the beginnings of a typical Hollywood love/hate
relationship.
Later that day, on Polly’s first performance as a trapeze
artist, she is distracted by a heckler and falls to the ground. She only just
survives and is taken to Rev. Hartley’s house. On doctor’s orders not to remove
her, Polly is forced to recover in his house for a couple of months. Bonding
over their equally strong sense of humour and Polly’s new found interest in the
Bible, they slowly fall in love. On the night before Polly is set to leave, she
cooks John a late night sandwich, and they profess their feelings through
passages in the Bible.
Later that night, John’s servant Downey (Raymond Hatton) attacks Polly, yelling that the ‘jezebel’ has brought sin to the house by seducing the reverend. He is not the only one upset about the relationship, John’s uncle and the bishop of the parish Reverend James Northcott (C. Aubrey Smith) refuses to acknowledge the marriage and threatens to fire John from his position at the church.
Nevertheless, the couple
marries and John plans to accept a position in a different church. Rumors of
the past of Mrs. John Hartley, helped along by Rev. James, follow the couple
and John is unable to find steady employment. They are forced to move into a
small, dingy apartment and are unable to pay their household bills but both still
seem deeply in love. One night they have an argument,
Polly tells John that he should look for work in areas other than the church;
however, it is clear that it is John’s great passion and he will not give it
up. Polly is sad and guilty that she is keeping her husband from what he loves.
To Polly, there is only one solution, leave John. She talks with his uncle and
finds that he would not get his job back even if they divorced or separated, and
realises, to society, John would only be accepted back in the church as a
widower. First, she persuades John into thinking she doesn’t love him anymore and
returns to the circus. A few days later, Rev. James goes to see John, under the
impression Polly is about to commit suicide to save Johns reputation.
Meanwhile, jaded and depressed, Polly begins her trapeze routine without the
help of a net.
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| Polly ready to begin her act |
Thankfully, John and Rev. James hot on her heels.
Far from being a quintessential Precode, ‘Polly of
the Circus’ appears to be a typical all-star movie. Basically, it is a movie to
watch not for the script or plot, but for Marion Davies and Clark Gable. Made
four years before Davies and Gable’s more popular collaboration ‘Cain and Mabel’
(1936), ‘Polly’ is a good film with lots of great dialogue and a fast-moving
pace but where it does lack is in the plot department. It does have a clear
sequence of events and the characters are clearly defined; however, as many
hour long Precodes suffer, needs to expand some plot elements and show the
audience more. For example, the nature of Polly is never fully developed. The
viewer is given snippets of her past, such as, growing up in circus life and
her obvious openness about sex but is left to assume she is not a pure
character and accept that the parish dislike her without knowing much of her.
Having not seen a Marion Davies picture before, I was
surprised to note how talented and charming she appeared. As, the girlfriend of
newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, she is often painted as a women who
used his influence and wealth to extend her acting career. To me, at times Marion
seems reminiscent of Joan Crawford in Rain in both their free-spirited, flirty
natures and their similar almond eyes and you cannot deny that both women were
beautiful. During the film it is easy to see that Marion was an accomplished
silent actress; there are several wonderful slapstick comedy scenes – mainly with
Rev. John’s servant Downey – and Marion’s funny lifelike impressions of some of
the smaller characters.  |
| Marion having fun |
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| Clark without his moustache |
“Having viewpoints is alright, but putting paper
bloomers on them is an insult.” And.
“Don’t paw me, are you one of those fellas that has
to put his arms all over a girl.”
Overall, ‘Polly of the Circus’ is a good film and
worthwhile if you only have time to watch a short movie. It is not a great film
or even a classic Precode, but I think most Marion Davies or Clark Gable fans
will appreciate it.
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| 'Polly of the Circus' publicity shot |
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