WHEN KNIGHTHOOD WAS IN FLOWER
D: Robert G. Vignola (1922) ¢ ¢ 1/2
Marion Davies, Lyn Harding, William Norris,
William Powell, Forrest Stanley, Flora Finch
A silent costume adventure starring William Randolph Hearst's girlfriend as Mary Queen of Scots. In this account of her early life, Mary's just turned 16 and her big brother, Henry VIII, wants to marry her off to the doddering king of France, when Mary breaks with royal protocol by falling in love with a commoner. Hearst liked seeing Davies in period pieces, and this is one of them. It looks like a million bucks, and it should: It cost a million and a half to produce. There are swordfights and chases on horseback, treachery and romance, daring rescues and narrow escapes, but at two hours, it feels kind of long. Skinny, young William H. Powell, in his second film and still more than a decade away from "The Thin Man", plays a knave who wants to deflower the queen.
