The Fair Co-Ed

The Fair Co-Ed
The Fair Co-Ed
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Directed by	Sam Wood
Written by	Byron Morgan (scenario); Joseph Farnham (intertitles)
Based on	The Fair Co-Ed; by George Ade
Produced by	Irving Thalberg; Sam Wood; William Randolph Hearst
Starring	Marion Davies
Cinematography	John Seitz
Edited by	Conrad Nervig
Production; company	Cosmopolitan Productions
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	October 15, 1927;
Running time	70 minutes (7 reels)
Country	United States
Languages	1927 Silent Version; 1928 Sound Version (Synchronized); (English intertitles)
Budget	$347,000

The Fair Co-Ed, also known as The Varsity Girl, is a 1927 American silent film comedy starring Marion Davies and released through MGM. The film was produced by William Randolph Hearst, through Cosmopolitan Productions and directed by Sam Wood. The film was released in a sound version in 1928 with a synchronized musical score with sound effects.

The film is based on a 1909 play/musical comedy The Fair Co-Ed by George Ade which starred a young Elsie Janis, and opened on Broadway on February 1, 1909.^[2]

The film survives today, supposedly in the MGM/UA archives, now controlled by Warner Brothers.^[3]

Plot

The full film

Marion Bright enrolls in college to pursue a handsome young man, Bob, only to discover that he is coach of the women's basketball team there. Marion joins the team and becomes its star player, but becomes unpopular when she refuses to play a game after a disagreement with Bob. Happily for all, she has a change of heart and returns in time to help the team win the big game.

Cast

Marion Davies as Marion Bright
Johnny Mack Brown as Bob
Jane Winton as Betty
Thelma Hill as Rose
Lillian Leighton as Housekeeper
Gene Stone as Herbert
James Bradbury, Sr. as uncredited
Lou Costello as Extra
Joel McCrea as Student
Jacques Tourneur as Extra
Lillian Copeland as basketball player^[4]

Music

The sound version of this film featured a theme song entitled "The Fair Co-Ed" which was composed by William Axt and David Mendoza.

Production

Poster advertising the film playing in Concord, New Hampshire

In her 25th film, Marion Davies starred as a madcap college student with a yen for the basketball coach Johnny Mack Brown. William Randolph Hearst always disliked this film and disliked director Sam Wood. Hearst always referred to this film as "that cheap-looking comedy" that went for "yap laughs". But laughs there were as Davies joins the college basketball team to be near Brown and to spite her rival (Jane Winton). Davies races back and forth on basketball courts, zooms about in jalopies, and even climbs a tree in this one. One of the highlights in the shooting of this film was when Charles Lindbergh visited the set. Davies was his favorite movie star. This was another box-office hit for Davies.^[5]

Stills

A production still of a college event in the film
Production still of Marion Davies and Jane Winton
Production still of Johnny Mack Brown and Marion Davies

References

^ Slide, Anthony. Silent Topics: Essays on Undocumented Areas of Silent Film. Scarecrow Press. p 26
^ The Fair Co-ed as produced on Broadway at the Knickerbocker Theatre, February 1, 1909 - April 25, 1909; and the Criterion Theatre April 26, 1909 to May 29, 1909; IBDB.com
^ The Fair Co-Ed at silentera.com
^ Ph.D, Fran Becque (March 28, 2019). "Lillian Copeland, Alpha Epsilon Phi, #NotableSororityWomen, #WHM2019".
^ Lorusso, Edward (2017) The Silent Films of Marion Davies, CreateSpace, pp. 137-138.

External links

[1] Slide, Anthony. Silent Topics: Essays on Undocumented Areas of Silent Film. Scarecrow Press. p 26

[2] The Fair Co-ed as produced on Broadway at the Knickerbocker Theatre, February 1, 1909 - April 25, 1909; and the Criterion Theatre April 26, 1909 to May 29, 1909; IBDB.com

[3] The Fair Co-Ed at silentera.com

[auto2z-4] Ph.D, Fran Becque (March 28, 2019). "Lillian Copeland, Alpha Epsilon Phi, #NotableSororityWomen, #WHM2019".

[5] Lorusso, Edward (2017) The Silent Films of Marion Davies, CreateSpace, pp. 137-138.

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