Marion Davies ticklish foot worship(more from the silent era)

[The Internet]

There are at least two scenes where Marion Davies gets tickled in her movies....both scenes are in an excellent documentary about her, one right near the beginning.

This weird clip however is from the private home movies of William Randolph Hearst. They're hamming it up for the camera, and then the intertitles were put on later, by Hearst.

In the scene, Marion Davies has her feet worshipped by an admirer and judging by her reaction, it tickles her. (or seems to...)

Judge for yourself, here's the clip:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/j2krq3e1sw1jv01/Marion_Davies_in_Hearst_home_movies.mp4/file
Rosebud!!!!!! 😉

 

[Oddjob0226]

Here is a Yourube clip of a lesser quality. Incredibly sensual in its time and place!

Youtu.be/MApubpr_UkQ

 

[TeeHeeLawrence]

Leo (or should that be Dearest?),<br>
Any surviving tickle (and foot fun) scenes of the silent era are much appreciated by this film buff. Each example posted puts the lie to a modern perception that silent movies were simply too primitive to be of much interest, and the equally arrogant notion that movies before sound lacked a playful and knowing sense about sex. They're abundant with sensuality and sly humor--even if we think it was all campy vamps and pie fights (not that those aren't fun, too).<p>
Marion Davies is sadly underappreciated today, remembered mostly for being the apparent inspiration for the tone-deaf reluctant opera diva in CITIZEN KANE. Davies was a truly gifted comic actor (I recommend 1928's SHOW PEOPLE and THE PATSY as clear proof.) and, considering her loyalty to the overpowering Hearst in his protracted, painful decline, a rather good soul. Too many of her movies were overstuffed costume pictures, no fault of hers, but Hearst's whim. If she had made more contemporary comedies (and musical comedies when sound came in), her films would be better remembered and better regarded.<p>
Thank you (and Oddy) for the home movie links. It's like being a frog on a lily pad in the palatial pool at San Simeon! (BTW, the foot worshipper in the clip is Edmund Goulding, who, a few years later, directed the most prestigious GRAND HOTEL and, much later, NIGHTMARE ALLEY, one of the most perverse of film noirs.

 

[OmahaTickler]

Shocking how hot that was. I admit I was very skeptical. Old-school fears about getting sick from drafts and such persisted even into the '20s, and even in warm climates like LA, you rarely saw barefoot women in early films. Also, Victorian codes of propriety persisted, and a barefoot woman carried a sexual shorthand meaning, so much so that some states had laws that made it illegal for women to be barefoot in cars because of the assumption that there was fooling around going on, and thus, "indecency" in public. So to see such explicit out-in-the-open foot play on film, with Davies either acting (or if there's a god, genuinely) almost orgasmic during the worship, is all the more amazing.

 

[The Internet]

Leo (or should that be Dearest?),<br>
Any surviving tickle (and foot fun) scenes of the silent era are much appreciated by this film buff. Each example posted puts the lie to a modern perception that silent movies were simply too primitive to be of much interest, and the equally arrogant notion that movies before sound lacked a playful and knowing sense about sex. They're abundant with sensuality and sly humor--even if we think it was all campy vamps and pie fights (not that those aren't fun, too).<p>View attachment 488896
Marion Davies is sadly underappreciated today, remembered mostly for being the apparent inspiration for the tone-deaf reluctant opera diva in CITIZEN KANE. Davies was a truly gifted comic actor (I recommend 1928's SHOW PEOPLE and THE PATSY as clear proof.) and, considering her loyalty to the overpowering Hearst in his protracted, painful decline, a rather good soul. Too many of her movies were overstuffed costume pictures, no fault of hers, but Hearst's whim. If she had made more contemporary comedies (and musical comedies when sound came in), her films would be better remembered and better regarded.<p>
Thank you (and Oddy) for the home movie links. It's like being a frog on a lily pad in the palatial pool at San Simeon! (BTW, the foot worshipper in the clip is Edmund Goulding, who, a few years later, directed the most prestigious GRAND HOTEL and, much later, NIGHTMARE ALLEY, one of the most perverse of film noirs.

TeeHee Lawrence (first off.....LOVE the name).......what can I say, I am OBSESSED with this early era of film......and you see a movie like "The Last Laugh", or "Sunrise", or "Faust", or "True Heart Susie", or any of the Douglas Fairbanks movies, or Erich Von Stroheim's films, "The Man Who Laughs", or about fifty other movies I can rattle off the top of my head.....you see those films, they are among the greatest movies ever made, sound or no sound. I can talk about this all day long. I see you can too. I'm a fanatic. And it's always good to connect with another! So feel free to message me more about this........perhaps this here isn't the place.....but I indeed am a kindred spirit.

Now as far as (ticklish) Marion Davies goes......good! She should have been tickled! 🙂

 

[The Internet]

So to see such explicit out-in-the-open foot play on film, with Davies either acting (or if there's a god, genuinely) almost orgasmic during the worship, is all the more amazing.

Hey just a couple things: 1.) This is a private home movie, so this wasn't in the movie theatres. That said, the silent era is way more risque than movies became in the 30s right through to the early 60s. I can talk about this forever, but for these purposes I can say, right from the earliest days of film, late 180ss-early 1900s, the foot is a common symbol of desire, glimpsing an ankle is absolutely the height of scandal.

Secondly, I think it wasn't acting because she gets tickled in at least two scenes that I've seen, and those ARE acted. I think she was acting getting her feet worshipped, but the looks of impending laughter, I don't think that's acted.

 

[milagros317]

Great clip! Thanks for the link. 😀

 

[Restraints]

And wonderful word play! Oh, for better equipment . . .

 

[Oddjob0226]

There was no Hayes/Breen Code in the silent era 🙂

 

[rwd1731]

Definitely a ticklish reaction, IMO! Great clip - thanks very much for posting.

There are at least two scenes where Marion Davies gets tickled in her movies....both scenes are in an excellent documentary about her, one right near the beginning.

This weird clip however is from the private home movies of William Randolph Hearst. They're hamming it up for the camera, and then the intertitles were put on later, by Hearst.

In the scene, Marion Davies has her feet worshipped by an admirer and judging by her reaction, it tickles her. (or seems to...)

Judge for yourself, here's the clip just with the part in question:
http://www72.zippyshare.com/v/0ivh8vWR/file.html

Rosebud!!!!!! 😉