Line #24 Film/ShowPeople


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/showpeople_9562.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Dramatic mood: Joy.]]
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4	''Show People'' is a 1928 silent film directed by Creator/KingVidor.
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6	The film is a lighthearted comic satire of Hollywood movie making at the end of the silent film era. Creator/MarionDavies stars as Peggy Pepper, a wide-eyed innocent Georgia hillbilly who comes to Hollywood to make it big as a dramatic actress. Instead, by chance, she winds up starring in slapstick comedies. She falls in love with her co-star Billy Boone, played by William Haines, but when she gets her big break and makes the transition to drama, their romance is threatened.
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8	When analysts of ''Film/CitizenKane'' talk about how the real Marion Davies was actually a gifted comic actress, this is the film they're most likely to mention.
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10	----
11	!This film provides examples of:
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13	* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: Peggy, after she switches from comedy to dramatic roles. She gets better by the end.
14	* BadBadActing: Peggy's presentation of the dramatic moods when auditioning for an acting job.
15	* TheCameo: Filled with celebrity cameos from stars of the day, from the minor to the huge. A complete listing: Renee Adoree, George K. Arthur, Creator/CharlieChaplin (sans makeup and so unrecognizable), Lew Cody, Karl Dane, Marion Davies (see CelebrityParadox below), Creator/DouglasFairbanks, Creator/JohnGilbert (twice), Elinor Glyn, William S. Hart, Leatrice Joy, Rod La Rocque, Robert Z. Leonard, Mae Murray, Louella Parsons, Aileen Pringle, Dorothy Sebastian, Norma Tallmadge, Estelle Taylor, King Vidor, and Claire Windsor.
16	* CaptainObvious: Peggy rides down Hollywood Boulevard and sees business after business with "Hollywood" in the name and concludes that "This must be Hollywood."
17	* CelebrityParadox: Marion Davies, in addition to starring as Peggy, makes a cameo appearance as Marion Davies. Peggy is unimpressed.
18	* ComedyGhetto: InUniverse, Peggy thinks comedy should be in a ghetto. She thinks TrueArtIsAngsty.
19	* CreatorCameo: Director King Vidor appears in the last scene as himself.
20	* EnforcedMethodActing: In-universe. Assistants [[OnionTears slice onions]] for Peggy when she can't cry on command.
21	* HighClassGlass: Andre, the unbearably pretentious fake, can be seen wearing a monocle as he arrives to take Peggy out to a party.
22	* HollywoodCalifornia: Among other things this film is a remarkable portrait of Hollywood filmmaking in the late silent era.
23	* MythologyGag: In the last scene, Billy has finally made the jump to drama and is appearing in a World War I movie where he's in love with a peasant girl played by Peggy. King Vidor, of course, was director of the massive 1925 hit ''Film/TheBigParade'' in which an American GI falls in love with a French peasant girl.
24	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Peggy Pepper is a blend of silent film stars Gloria Swanson and Mae Murray. Her weird lip pucker is an imitation of Murray. Creator/GloriaSwanson, like Peggy, got her start in slapstick (Mack Sennett's Keystone Studio) before transitioning to grand costume dramas. Both Murray and Swanson married European noblemen; Murray's husband passed himself off as a prince just as "Count" Andre does in the film. Andre's appearance and mannerisms are an obvious parody of silent film heartthrob Creator/JohnGilbert; this did not stop Gilbert from making two cameos in the movie.
25	* OldShame: In-universe example; after Peggy makes the move to dramatic roles she is embarrassed about her early career in slapstick comedy.
26	* OnionTears: When Peggy can't cry on command, assistants slice onions for her.
27	* PieInTheFace: Peggy's initiation in slapstick is when she's sent into a film not knowing what to expect, only for the scene in question to be a pie fight.
28	* SelfDeprecation: The brief clip of ''Bardelys the Magnficent'' is followed up by Billy frowning and talking about how much it sucks. ''Bardelys'' was directed by King Vidor.
29	* ShowWithinAShow: Multiple fictional Films Within A Film, as well as one real film, ''Bardelys the Magnificent'', which Peggy and Billy see in a movie theater.
30	* {{Slapstick}}: Billy and the rest of his troupe make these movies. Peggy is mortified when she becomes a slapstick star instead of a dramatic actress.
31	* StageNames: In-universe example. When Peggy Pepper becomes a dramatic actress she changes her name to Patricia Pepoire.
32	* TomHanksSyndrome: InUniverse. Peggy goes through this, and it actually hurts her career, although she appears to have bounced back by the end. Billy apparently goes through this too at the end, when he's cast alongside Peggy in the WWI movie.
33	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Peggy's father, Col. Marmaduke Pepper, is prominently featured in the beginning of the movie but disappears later, not even showing up for Peggy's wedding day.

Context Film / ShowPeople