ZANDER THE GREAT (1925)

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Sun Nov 01, 2009 9:26 pm

I rewatched Zander the Great today, a solid Marion Davies comedy adventure about an orphan who gets taken into a household where the old lady (Hedda Hopper) eventually dies, leaving Marion with baby Zander, whose father left years ago to adventure in Mexico.

Marion takes off in a Ford with Zander and his rabbits to looks for his daddy. On the border she gets involved with a gang of thieves headed by Harrison Ford. He says he's the kid's daddy but when Marion discovers they are bootleggers wanted by the local sheriff (Hobart Bosworth) she decides to leave. But the kid is abducted and Marion gets involved in a skirmish with Black Bart (George Siegmann) and his band of marauders until there is a big shootout and happy ending with a twist.

Davies is terrific, and her opening scenes at the orphanage are very funny.

Danny · Post by **Danny** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:18 am

Sounds great. Hopefully this will be shown on TCM sometime.

Danny

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:26 am

the print was ok but not great and there is a music track... this version was put out on VHS by Videobrary years ago.....

Gagman 66 · Post by **Gagman 66** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 12:54 pm

Ed,

I am not sure that Warner's owns this movie? I couldn't find it on any of the lists of holdings. Could this feature have slipped into the Public Domain somehow?

There are new pleas to bring back the dormant YOUNG FILM COMPOSERS COMPETITION, but it doesn't look like it will return in 2010. Would like to be proven wrong.

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 12:59 pm

I assume if Videobrary issued a VHS the film is PD.... VB issued several Davies silents....

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 1:14 pm

apparently Videobrary put out

When Knighthood Was in Flower
Little Old New York
Janice Meredith
Zander the Great
Beauty's Worth

Gagman 66 · Post by **Gagman 66** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 3:07 pm

Ed,

ZANDER THE GREAT does have the MGM Logo and lion at the start, so maybe it is owned by Warner's? I was hoping someone could confirm the facts in this thread. So I am pretty disappointed.

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:02 am

Interesting, Jeff.... But I thought the old Videobrary only dealt with public domain films?

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:13 am

Of these others, Janice Meredith was also MGM.

Did I tell you I found by accident the last 15 minutes of Janice Meredith, which the seller had stuck on the DVD with Zander the Great. But long before that I had found a complete copy on one DVD.

This is a long film based on the best-selling novel of the same name (the British version of the film is The Beautiful Rebel by Paul Leicester Ford.

This is exactly the kind of role Hearst liked to see Davies in. And like their earlier hit historical films like When Knighthood Was in Flow and Little Old New York there's lost costumery and historical accuracy. But Janice Meredith was a flop with a budget of $1M.

Davies has a few great scenes, W.C. Fields has a cameo, and the scene with Washington crossing the Delaware is superbly done.