NitrateVille.com

Ok here's a puzzle: Several sources list the 1916 serial that starred Grace Darling. Apparently some (all?) of the reels for this 30-chapter serial were found in the Marion Davies collection. But several sources list a 1918 serial that starred Davies? Other sources don't mention this 1918 film at all? Was Davies in a Fairfax serial in 1918? Or is this just confused because she had the 1916 film in her private collection?

I searched on Chronicling America (newspapers) for any pages with the terms
Marion Davies and Fairfax or Beatrice. I found no useful connections between the two.

There are hundreds of hits on her name or the name Beatrice Fairfax.

I DID NOT search for any serial of some other name with Marion Davies.

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/" target="_blank

Rick

Although Guiles and Basinger mention this as a Davies serial, I find no other direct references....

BEATRICE FAIRFAX was not a true serial, although it was marketed as one and is listed as one in various reference books. It's a series of two-reelers, thematically linked and featuring the same leads but without a central plot or primary villain. Grace Darling and Harry Fox were the leads; others who appeared over the course of the series were Allan Murnane, M. W. "Mike" Rale, Bessie Wharton, and Warner Oland -- Wharton stock company members all. I've seen several of the preserved episodes but have yet to spot Davies. I believe the series, made and released in 1916, predates Hearst's relationship with her.

"Beatrice Fairfax" was a columnist for the Hearst papers. Her real name was Marie Manning, and the column -- originally titled "Letters for Beatrice" -- dispensed advice along "Dear Abby" lines for several decades. I believe it was the first of its kind. Manning was occasionally spelled by other Hearst staffers but was the column's primary author.

The series was produced in Ithaca by the Wharton brothers, who at the time were closely tied to Hearst's International Film Service. They also produced the Hearst-financed Irene Castle serial, PATRIA.

Milton Sills also appeared in some episodes.

LOC has this series, minus the first reel, and it's in their Marion Davies Collection. I think this is where the confusion comes from. The dates never made sense to me for Davies being part of this. Yet both Fred Lawrence Guiles and Jeanine Basinger claim this is a Davies film.They both do a whole paragraph on Hearst and Davies (as Beatrice) involved with this serial in 1918. Major errors. Why Davies would have had this serial in her private collection is anyone's guess.

Thanks all for the confirmation.

Just as an aside, the surviving episodes of Beatrice Fairfax are available from The Serial Squadron (http://www.serialsquadron.com" target="_blank) in two volumes. Episode 10, Play Ball, stars Olive Thomas. I find them very charming, although Grace Darling (as Beatrice) is a little underwhelming. I prefer her partner / confidante Jimmy Barton (Harry Fox) to be loads of fun; almost a proto-Jimmy Olsen.

Thanks for the info.... I ordered the set. I know nothing about Grace Darling but Harry Fox was a star vaudevillian and was teamed on and off stage with Evelyn Brent for years.

Got my copy today.... terrific....

Nice introductory piece on the "real" Beatrice Fairfax and early serials.

First episode is missing but is sketched in by audio. Picture quality on #2 is quite good. Harry Fox is fun.

Finished this off tonight. Excellent. Harry Fox is a wonderful find. Terrific picture quality. Great music (Eric Stedman?).

The stories are not linked and there are no cliff hangers, but it's quite good. Actors to look for: Warner Oland, Olive Thomas, Elaine Hammerstein.

drednm wrote:LOC has this series, minus the first reel, and it's in their Marion Davies Collection. I think this is where the confusion comes from. The dates never made sense to me for Davies being part of this. Yet both Fred Lawrence Guiles and Jeanine Basinger claim this is a Davies film.They both do a whole paragraph on Hearst and Davies (as Beatrice) involved with this serial in 1918. Major errors. Why Davies would have had this serial in her private collection is anyone's guess.

Thanks all for the confirmation.

Not much of a guess. Davies-- International Film Service. That's the connection: Davies/Hearst. It was in her vault, and probably got there after she hooked up with Hearst--most likely in the 1920s or 1930s--but it has no other direct connection to Davies that i am aware of.

Now that I've seen it. Davies had zero connection to the serial. Some still list Hearst as a producer but he got no screen credit. Not sure what Hearst's connection to the Whartons in Ithaca was.

drednm wrote:Now that I've seen it. Davies had zero connection to the serial. Some still list Hearst as a producer but he got no screen credit. Not sure what Hearst's connection to the Whartons in Ithaca was.

The Whartons were essentially producers for hire, not unlike the Balboa Amusement Producing Company. Much of their work was made to order. I don't think Hearst ever took a producer credit. Occasionally his name would appear as in The Hearst-Pathe Weekly, or occasionally Hearst-Cosmopolitan Productions. But I don't ever recall him haveing a single screen card as a producer on any of his films.