#004: Marianne
MARIANNE Release Date August 24, 1929 History Similar to Broadway Melody and Hallelujah, Marianne was filmed simultaneously as both sound and silent versions. While most of the casts were different for the two versions, they featured the same lead actress as the silent version, Marion Davies. Davies was a chorus girl turned silent film star who was nervous about the transition to sound. She would go on to make 16 sound films total over the next few years. Marianne is an interesting film to watch because it is a war nostalgia film. Today, these films usually cover three wars-- World War II, Korea, or Vietnam. In 1929, however, the nostalgia was for World War I, or The Great War as it was then known. The film is mainly about the army life of soldiers during the war and at the time the idea of a second world war was far from people's conception. Both versions of Marianne were released a decade after the Armistice, which made the nostalgia for...