Marion Davies Hostess at Hearst Castle

happy meal hello there my name is sean i'm gonna pull my mask off because i am within more than six feet and we're like about 10 feet right now but don't forget about these things they're very very helpful for your longevity i work for the california department of parks and recreation called california state parks i've had the privilege to be at this house my entire term of service over 40 years as some of my fellow guides like to point out gosh sean you've been there longer than mr hurst lived there and i take that as a great compliment what i wanted to talk with you about though today was a young lady named marion davies her real name was doris but it wasn't a powerful stage named for her she and her sisters chose the name davies as as a promotional name they wanted very badly to be on broadway in the theater and plays in new york city and that's where william randolph hearst the man who owned this house came across marion davies hurst and marion hit off a wonderful partnership not they were confidants they were companions hearst and his wife millicent wilson hurst were on the verge of a separation millicent was the great grand lady of social standing in new york city and her charities are legendary even to this day about the milk fund for children of new york city but hurst and marion would come across one another in about a hundred years ago so 1917 1918 in that sense sure enough she was delightful and he was the undisputed lord of the press of the united states of america marion loved theater and she couldn't have found a better compatriot to go into the theater with than william randolph hearst she danced she sang she made silent films she made talkies in 1923 22 2223 she was the number one female box office star in the american nation so she went from the ziegfeld theater in new york city to hollywood and production crews there she released films through mgm and warner brothers she had her own production company with mr hearst called cosmopolitan just like his magazine and this house was so famous in its time that there was an old joke about san simeon california was just the northern division of hollywood in that sense everybody waited for that phone call that said marion davies is trying to reach you please call hassi under one from that moment forward you're in the hands of this estate no longer where you came from in hollywood los angeles anywhere in that area down there marian davies and william randolph hurst lived at san simeon on and off from the 1920s to the 1940s surrounding us is an art collection that's almost unbelievable but here today i thought we might talk about marion and her social responsibilities and abilities as she said about mr hearst he was a good host but he didn't always understand the way society needs to function in 1923 emily post put out her blue book most widely read book in america that was non-fiction at that time and it talked about the responsibilities of a guest when visiting and a host when guests were visiting so there were two sides of that coin not just one side here in this room the assembly room one of 14 living rooms in the main house there was a card table there were jigsaw puzzle tables can you imagine playing charades with charlie chaplin and douglas fairbanks senior these guys know how to do it quietly very very well on the silver screen but what we might do is walk over here and take a look at the jigsaw puzzle table the baby grand wurlitzer was in that corner and it could be someone as unique as charlie chaplin playing the night away the way that mr hearst had the puzzles made was in different shapes and you can see them there you can see saws and arrows and animal shapes always kind of interesting in that sense and remember marion was was beyond well known as a film actress she would have known exactly what this slate was for to begin the scenes in her films if you've never seen a marian davies film well the first one she co-wrote herself it was called runaway romani and runaway romani was out and available for viewing in 1917 it was produced by her brother-in-law very interesting fellow uh uh letter was his name and it was his son charlie letter uh he always called mary an auntie marion in that sense uh who would bring uh such a successful play of kismet to the broadway stage that he won the tony for that so think of the room you're with and think about what what it would be like you took the invitation what were your expectations what did you want to do who did you want to meet marian davies was very good at it's like a deck of social cards putting them together in that sense she was also a very good matchmaker and the younger group treated her much like a den mother and the older group were not only in all of her ability on the silver screen but william randolph hearst as i mentioned earlier is the great press lord in the history of america those who had not met mary before would have known her from the silver screen she was movie star beautiful bright and brilliant and everyone that seems to be in her circle never forgot what this visit to san simeon was like and everybody including actors like david niven cary grant uh randolph scott all talked on how she was the social hostess here at saint cinnian another term that was used was chatelaine once hearst and his wife separated um marian davies was the dominant force here at san simeon as for for this room itself well think about what it would be like not only coming in on tonight how about coming to christmas when the trees went floor to ceiling in that sense and over here charlie chaplin was playing the piano that's what it comes down to they did serve cocktails before dinner in this room uh prohibition never quite reached san simeon but as the actor david niven said wine flowed like glue on top of the hill hers kept a wine cellar of thousands of bottles uh he was he did occasionally drink german beer he would taste very sweet wines but all in all he was not that much impressed with alcohol but it was still served at san simeon so if you're having a game of jigsaw that's what they called it the game of jigsaw or you're here to to meet a hearst executive think about what your motives would be to be at san simeon why would you have accepted that invitation not just how famous he is but how famous well marian davies was marion was top five box office at one time in this nation she was a little over five foot tall about five and a half feet somewhere in that range she was a blonde and as uh francis mary the first woman ever to win the academy award for a original screenplay said she was a natural comedian david niven again to mention him said even sitting there speaking with you she seemed on the the verge of just laughing out loud and trying to engage you and make you feel better about yourself here at san simeon she mingled with the guests she brought the guests much closer together so she's a film star she was also a philanthropist uh the davies children's clinic associated with ucla uh comes to mind very quickly in other words marion always adored children and always thought the world of them and as mr hearst once was asked about it he said kids they always need a break in that sense but let's continue our little journey into marrying davey's world while you think about some of the movies that she made the patsy uh five and dime uh maybe how about show people if you want to watch a marion davies film get show people you will see her ability at mimicry when she's playing herself in a guest of movie stars as she comes in to play another film star she's very very good at it mr hearst by the way thought very highly of marion's abilities she thought that he put her into sometimes two serious films but but her saw not only her comedic side but he saw her her practical side too she was a very well-known film star at a time when film was becoming dominant in the united states of america marian davies would have mingled amongst the guests here saying hello to new arrivals and saying welcome back to earlier arrivals mr hearst would walk the room too but not as much as she did and usually after about half an hour to 15 minutes of time had gone by before mr hurst would announce dinner the way to announce dinner wasn't just to go over and ring a simple silver bell as would have been done at his great home mclaren in new york city here mr hearst at the ranch would ring the copper cowbell so why don't we go into dinner and see what we have for today [Music] dinner at san simeon was an overwhelming event to many of the guests that were here not everybody was aware that it was his mother's camping china or picnic ware that he was using at the dinner table but they recognized the bottles of ketchup and mustard and mayonnaise and peanut butter and the the famous paper napkins uh mr hurst reliving his youth maybe uh when he was camping out at san simeon but he never did the courtesy of telling us why he sat the table that way so all of it is supposition what is not supposition is that you're flanked by tapestries and choir stalls and paleo banners and the ceiling above you the room is roughly 28 feet wide by 27 feet tall i know plays a trick on your mind but uh groucho marx said he thought it was 60 feet it's not mr hearst sat center north marion davies sat center south every other person filled in by place card so if you thought i'll just run up there and sit right by mr hurst maybe you would the first two or three nights you were here but as other guests came you might find yourself moving down either side of the table the west end or the east end and yet some guests in oral histories have been very clear they never got to sit near the center of the table marian davies would always take this premier seat next to mr hearst and then guests like cary grant randolph scott george bernard shaw the great irish wit would sit here as he did one night at dinner david niven said the food was hearty and ranch-like they served man eating steaks the bigger and bloodier the better for mr hearst marion here as usual holding social court everybody wanting her to intercede for them to william randolph hearst and she would do it for some and for others well she even arranged a few marriages up here at san sillion so here you are having a scrumptious feast at dinner this is doris duke beside me yes you can think duke university that crowd in other words you're flanked by the tapestries that have been entertaining people for centuries and here they still entertain the guests but san simeon was legendary as was william randolph hearst and as for his thoughts on marion davies i think maybe some of the best came from a producer actor director named orson welles orson welles was asked once that he might contribute a forward to a book that was written by marian davies called the times we had and in that forward he said she was never his possession but he was her suitor they truly loved each other he said the story of citizen kane is never about love the story of william randolph hearst and marian davies was remember breakfast was short order at san simeon lunch was buffet maybe even last night's leftover but dinner was served by menu and ladies would be comfortable in a cocktail dress and gentlemen would be accepted in a three-piece suit for the evening the only time that hurst ever thought of true formality was when someone like president calvin coolidge was here and his wife grace but the way for us is towards the theater think of the film stars and the directors you're here with uh most of the cream of hollywood in that sense and they want to go see this evening's film which is brand new it hasn't even been released yet and it was flown up by courier plane to the hearst airfield just this afternoon for the guests to watch so we'll continue through the rehab the big iron screen that surrounds me towards the theater marion davies who made her livelihood in film staged when she was younger filmed in the teens twenties thirties she made roughly half a hundred films she was beloved at any studio she was at mgm warner brothers didn't make any difference marion davies never did anything small in any small way she would invite her guests and mr hearst guests into this room mr hearst would take the chair closest to the aisle marion would take the chair right next to him usually one of their dogs with them she had a dog that was a dachshund he had a dog that was a dachshund and they would sit here to watch the film as the guests filled in the roughly 50 seats that are here the rows were whiter in mr hirst time and there were ottomans to rest your feet on for the film marion said it was the toughest audience that you could get a hold of because this was their livelihood this was their business if you remember we talked earlier about the slate in that sense and how to start a scene and how a scene should be ended and they said action and then towards the end they would say cut well this is all part of marion's life as was she part of mr hurst's life in that sense anyone who saw them together said it was obviously affection to the max in that sense hearst himself would make films captain blood uh the perils of pauline the thin man tarzan the eight man but of all his principal players of course his favorite was marian davies the projectionist here was a man named young louis who was one of the children of a louis head of the chinese community in san luis obispo california he always said in oral histories it was a very very good job to have in the 1930s showing movies at san simeon and the movie you might be watching as we alluded to earlier might be flown up from hollywood or los angeles just for mr hurst and his guests howard hughes cary grant randolph scott clark gable anybody who happened to be here marion and mr hearst will be here the phone in front of them serves a purpose you can the buttons lower or raise the volume but also if hearst didn't like the film that would be kind of bad if you were the director he would call mr louie back in the projection booth and say something to the effect of let's have something good on and something good always meant a marion davies film i hope you enjoyed your time here today i also hope that you would think about what your life would be like had you gotten that phone call marion davies is trying to reach you call hassie under one as marion would end the scene that's a wrap you

Channel: Hearst Castle

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Id: UzIvZV7KbF8

Length: 15min 49sec (949 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 11 2022